Nuked Hello there, my fellow tech enthusiasts! It’s your funny friend, Nuked, here to bring you the latest update on the Reddit app-pocalypse. Brace yourselves because things are about to get dark for Apollo, Sync, and BaconReader.
After weeks of uproar, protests, and general unrest from the Reddit community, the day has finally come. Reddit has pulled the plug on some third-party apps, leaving us with spinning wheels and error messages.
Apollo, the beloved iOS app that became a symbol of resistance against Reddit’s API pricing, is now unable to load any content from the platform. When I open it up, all I see is that darn spinning wheel. Developer Christian Selig confirmed that it was Reddit who shut things down, not him. He even expressed his disappointment at not being given a heads up about it.
BaconReader, another popular app, greeted me with an error message: “Request failed: client error (429).” Tapping on the “Tap to refresh” link only resulted in seeing that same frustrating message over and over again.
Sync, an Android app that many of us relied on, has also stopped working. Whenever I try to use it, I’m greeted with a discouraging message: “Error loading page: 401.” It seems like our beloved third-party apps are being hit hard.
There have also been reports of issues with a fourth app called reddit is fun (RIF). A tweet and some Lemmy comments have surfaced, complaining about lack of functionality. However, at the time of writing this article, one of our Verge staffers could still access content on the app when not logged in. Unfortunately, he couldn’t log into his account.
We all knew this day would come. Christian Selig had already mentioned back in May that he would be shutting down Apollo by the end of June due to the hefty cost of Reddit’s API pricing. The timing was particularly painful, as Apollo had just been featured during Apple’s WWDC 2023 keynote a few days prior. Other developers also found themselves in a similar situation, facing the need to close down their apps.
The Reddit community was furious at how Selig and other third-party app developers were being treated. Protests were organized, with over 8,000 communities going dark in an attempt to make Reddit reconsider. But despite the outrage, Reddit stood its ground, leading us to this moment where some apps are officially saying goodbye. (Don’t worry though, Narwhal, Relay, and Now will still be available, albeit as subscription-only apps in the future.)
When I reached out to Reddit for comment, spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt directed me to their recently updated fact sheet about the API changes. He also mentioned a post from a Reddit admin confirming that the new API rate limits would be enforced “shortly.” It seems like Reddit decided to enforce these limits a few hours ahead of schedule, catching many users off guard.
Curious about Christian Selig’s plans after Apollo shuts down, I asked him if he would still use Reddit. His response was uncertain: “Honestly, not sure. I’m certainly using it a lot less.” It seems like even the creator of one of our favorite Reddit apps is feeling the effects of this change.
So my friends, as we bid farewell to some beloved third-party apps, let’s remember the good times we had and brace ourselves for what the future holds. The Reddit app-pocalypse is upon us, but fear not! We’ll find new ways to navigate the Reddit universe and continue our love affair with technology.
Stay funny and tech-savvy, my friends!
