Today, many popular third-party Reddit apps are shutting down due to the company’s new API pricing policy. These include some big names like Apollo, ReddPlanet, Sync, Reddit is Fun (RIF), and BaconReader. But not all third-party options are going away. A few will live on. Developers of Narwhal, MultiTab, Infinity, and Relay have confirmed that their apps will be around even after Reddit’s API changes go into effect on July 1st. They plan to cover the hefty API fee with subscriptions.
“Narwhal is not going anywhere on July 1st. Subscriptions will be coming over the next few months,” the iOS-only Reddit app’s developer Rick Harrison wrote in a post. He plans to charge anything between $4 to $7 per month, though the subscription may still come with a limit on the number of API requests that users can make every month. Harrison suggested that most users would never cross this limit. The few power users can pay extra or top-up their accounts for additional API requests. The changes will come as part of “Narwhal 2” over the next few months.
It will be a subscriber-only model with a “complete rewrite” of the app, with no ads, updated design, and new features. The final subscription price will be decided in the coming weeks, depending on API calls per user. Users may get up to sixty minutes of a free trial when they first download the app, Harrison revealed in an email to The Verge. He “declined to answer if he had worked out some kind of deal with Reddit.” This is notable because Reddit has accused developers of Apollo and RIF of not wanting to work with the company, a claim that both developers have refuted.
MultiTab, Infinity, and Relay will also cover Reddit’s API costs with subscriptions
MultiTab, Infinity, and Relay are the few other third-party Reddit apps that will live beyond June 30. All of them will depend on subscriptions to cover the API costs. MultiTab developer has already announced that they are increasing that app’s subscription prices. A monthly subscription will now cost $2.99, while you can get a year of access for $6.99.
Android-only Reddit app Infinity is also turning to a subscription-only model. Its developer plans to charge $3 per month. But if Play Store’s fee proves to be too much, they may remove the app from there and offer it through GitHub. Relay for Reddit is considering a similar pricing structure and will remove free access. Apps like RedReader, Dystopia, and Luna, meanwhile, have received accessibility exemptions from Reddit and will remain available without any major changes.
2023-06-30 15:12:21