Live data from Hacker News

Apollo will close down on June 30th

old.reddit.com

91–100 of 1001 posts

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#92
post #46
post #9

Bad move from Reddit's end. Apollo is one of my most used apps because I absolutely refuse to use the official app. Just like the new Reddit experience on desktop version, the mobile app is just as terrible. Clunky, slow, not user friendly. No thanks.

And exactly what are they losing from business perspective? Few users that generate only costs?

Others are saying "power users", but... I agree with you. It is just an assumption that the "power users" make the product better, although a reasonable one. However, Reddit was pretty awesome, arguably much better, before there were semi-professional power users and moderators.

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#93

I'm not a user of Apollo, and honestly have been perfectly fine using old.reddit.com on both mobile and desktop. That said, while I realize it's just his side of the story, the Apollo developer comes across as imminently reasonable and rational (and he apparently has the receipts to back it up), while Reddit comes across as embodying typical corporate greed. On a related note, I think everyone should understand that,…

I turned on my 1Blocker app for ios to block Reddit for the first time in months after this drama.

I only name drop the app because it has served me well for ad blocking and custom rules (like blocking Reddit).

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#94
post #70

I don't have any dogs in this race, but Apollo should be careful about recording calls. Just because he is in a one-party location doesn't mean he hasn't violated the law wherever the other party is if they are in a two-party location and he didn't have consent from the other party.

That's not how that works.

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#96
I hope Apollo's not overplaying their hand here, though it's super interesting hearing these conversations from the inside. It's clear reddit's got it out for the 3p apps, and I'm personally leaving reddit over this (longtime RIF user), but this post is a bit concerning.

It focuses on the "[apollo can] quiet down [for $10M]" topic in the conversation, and the apparent misunderstanding between Apollo and Reddit, Reddit taking "quiet down" to mean "go away quietly, without a lot of public noise", as a threat.

Apollo states that they meant "go dark", "reduce API usage", "reduce reddit opportunity cost". But for that position to make sense, Apollo would need some leverage here. They're using Reddit's API and platform behind the scenes - they have no leverage I can see. What am I missing?

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#97
post #45

Can’t Apollo be open-sourced and the tokens of the original app be used? I’d absolutely donate on a monthly basis.

You'd likely have to enter an API agreement with Reddit, and it's unlikely they'd be willing to run you through the sales funnel and write up a contract just sell you what's effectively a $3/mo API plan.

That said, open sourcing the app would be great to archive it for posterity.

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#98

For what it's worth, I'm looking forward to July 1. Twitter had become a chore, but I didn't quit altogether until I was pushed out by losing the one client I found decent. It's been for the better. Like Twitter, Reddit has been on a long decline and has long since become a habit I stick to for no real reason other than that it's familiar.

Same boat. It's going to be pretty trivial to stop browsing reddit once Apollo is gone. I'll probably still read links through google search from time to time, but it'll be a 99% reduction in usage for me.

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#99

I see two pretty distinct issues here: 1) most people's favourite app is going to die, and 2) many subreddits will be negatively affected by this move: prime example is /r/AskHistorians. Personally, 1) is not really an issue and people are enjoying the outrage train, and that's ok and valid and whatever, but it's a third party app. It's a no-brainer decision to try to kill it if it's hindering your ability to make mo…

That is of course their right, but they way they went about it is really scummy. Third-party apps, and the user-contributed content they engendered, built Reddit. Without its users, Reddit has nothing, is nothing. Just another forum site.

They could have simply said "Due to business pressures, we're going to stop offering our API in 1 year" and honestly, nobody would have blinked an eye.

Or they could have said "Due to business pressures, we're going to include advertisements in the API. Any clients found deliberately not displaying the ads will have their API keys permanently revoked."

Or they could have said "Due to business pressures, we're going to stop offering free API access. Users who subscribe to Reddit can use their own personal API keys with a limit of 1000 calls per day."

They did none of those things; they raised prices to a point that was completely untenable and gave app developers 30 days to FOAD.

Re: Apollo will close down on June 30th

#100
post #70

I don't have any dogs in this race, but Apollo should be careful about recording calls. Just because he is in a one-party location doesn't mean he hasn't violated the law wherever the other party is if they are in a two-party location and he didn't have consent from the other party.

Just in case anyone sees this and takes it seriously: this is absolutely not now that works.
Post reply on HN