Several popular third-party Reddit apps shut down

It’s sad to note that several popular third-party Reddit apps such as Apollo, BaconReader, and Sync for Reddit are no longer operational, while a few have chosen to charge users for access, now that the website’s new API rules are in effect. In a lengthy post bidding farewell, Apollo founder Christian Selig said Reddit pulled the plug a little too early, cutting off the app’s access to content on the website.

Selig previously said that it would cost him $20 million a year under the new rules to keep Apollo running as is, and while the app does offer subscriptions, it’s not earning enough to be able to cover that amount. He announced in early June that the app will be shutting down by the end of the month. 

Another popular Reddit app, BaconReader, is now also gone. Users who fire up the app will see a notice thanking them and explaining that it’s no longer operational due to “changes with the Reddit API.” It’s the same situation with Sync for Reddit, which has also sent its users a notification of its shutdown. At least two third-party clients will live on, but they will begin charging users to be able to afford paying for API access.

Relay for Reddit announced that it’s moving to a subscription model in the coming weeks, with the developer promising that they’ll attempt to hit the lowest price point possible, likely in an attempt to keep subscription prices affordable. Now Reddit has also posted an announcement that it will introduce subscriptions to cover the cost of API access, though it doesn’t have a timeline for the rollout yet. 

Reddit announced back in April that it will start charging companies for API access starting on July 1st, mostly in order to get paid for any data used to train large language models for generative AI. “The Reddit corpus of data is really valuable,” Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told The New York Times in an interview. “But we don’t need to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free.” However, the change also affects third-party clients, prompting communities to stage protests by going private in mid-June. 

While most of the subreddits that participated are already back, some of the most popular ones allowed explicit posts for some time to hit the company where it hurts its wallet because advertisers can’t target NSFW communities. As for subreddits that still remain closed, Reddit’s administrators have reportedly threatened to remove them if they don’t reopen this weekend.