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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman publicly addressed the community on Friday over the company’s recent API policy changes. He made it clear that the proposed API pricing rules would stay, effectively signaling the end of several third-party Reddit apps. Many big names, including Apollo, Reddit is Fun (aka RIF), ReddPlanet, and Sync, have already announced plans to shut down at the end of this month.
This unrest at Reddit began after the company announced plans to charge for its APIs in April. It wanted to block free large-scale use of its data and monetize it with paid APIs. However, the prices it has set are proving a bit too steep for indie developers running third-party clients for Reddit. Christian Selig, the developer of iOS-only Reddit app Apollo says the new API prices would cost the app more than $20 million a year. The operating cost of RIF would also be “in the same ballpark,” even though the app “does not earn anywhere remotely near this number”.
Reddit CEO discussed these API changes during an AMA session
Shortly after these developers announced plans to shut down their apps, Reddit CEO hosted an AMA (ask me anything) session to address the public’s concerns. Unfortunately, he showed no signs of giving concessions to third-party apps. “Reddit needs to be a self-sustaining business, and to do that, we can no longer subsidize commercial entities that require large-scale data use,” he said in his AMA post. “Some apps such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun, and Sync have decided this pricing doesn’t work for their businesses and will close before pricing goes into effect.”
While Huffman mostly avoided questions about Reddit’s relationship with third-party developers, he took a dig at Apollo’s developer. Selig recently said that Reddit accused him of threatening and blackmailing the company, though he didn’t do anything as such. He shared a recording of the audio call with a company representative to prove his side of the story. “His ‘joke’ is the least of our issues,” Huffman said about it. “His behavior and communications with us have been all over the place — saying one thing to us while saying something completely different externally…to the point where I don’t know how we could do business with him.”
One of the biggest complaints of third-party developers along with high API prices is the short window of 30 days Reddit gave them. They had to decide whether or not to keep the app and make necessary changes to it within a month. Huffman acknowledged that it was a “tight timeline”. He added that the company is continuing to work with developers who are willing to stay. “For what it’s worth, this includes many of the apps that haven’t been taking the spotlight this week,” he said.
However, the ReddPlanet developer chipped in saying that they’ve “attempted multiple times to get in contact with Reddit regarding these changes. Every attempt has been ignored. This is a blatant lie”. Several other developers had the same complaint. Huffman responded to one of them, apologizing for the delay. He added that the company will respond to all of them.
The official Reddit app will get new features
With many third-party apps going down, Reddit is focusing on improving the official app. Huffman shared some of the planned new features. “There are a couple of things we are focused on right now: mod tools, specifically an improved mod queue this month and improved mod log, mod mail after; and we’re doing a bunch of work on feeds and comments to make them more cohesive. We are also going to make the official Reddit apps more accessible.”
Speaking of accessibility, Reddit will continue to offer free access to its APIs for “non-commercial, accessibility-focused apps and tools”. However, the Reddit community is still not happy about the company’s handling of third-party apps and developers. Thousands of popular subreddits have gone private indefinitely in protest. It remains to be seen how Reddit responds to this mass outrage.
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