On July 1, Reddit will enact a new API policy that charges exorbitant fees to developers of third-party apps for the website, which is having the effect of shutting down these popular apps, including Reddit is Fun, Sync for Reddit, and more.
As confirmed today, both Sync for Reddit and Reddit is Fun (RIF) will be shutting down on June 30. The popular third-party Reddit apps for Android have amassed millions upon millions of downloads and are especially popular among Reddit’s most active users.
Reddit is Fun (RIF) has been an especially popular choice for Android users, as the app has always been exclusive to the Android platform. It has over 5 million downloads from the Play Store. Meanwhile, Sync for Reddit is also shutting down both its Android and iOS apps.
Reddit’s new paid API, announced last month, has been a death knell to many third-party apps due to the intense costs associated with the API, as well as the changes the API imposed. Under the new rules, third-party Reddit apps cannot run ads, cannot show explicit (NSFW) content, and are hit with other restrictions.
The popular third-party Reddit client Apollo, exclusively available on iOS, has helped to shine a spotlight on Reddit’s harsh terms. That client, which is also shutting down, would have had to pay upwards of $20 million per year, making the app drastically more expensive for users.
In a post, the developer of RIF explains that the costs to keep the app running would mirror that of Apollo, despite RIF generating income “remotely near this number.”
What about other popular third-party Reddit clients on Android? The developer of Boost for Reddit has suggested that a shutdown may be in the cards, but it hasn’t been explicitly confirmed yet. There’s also no confirmation on BaconReader just yet. The developer of Infinity for Reddit has suggested the idea of individual payment for each user’s API use.
RIP third-party Reddit apps. You were all wonderful in your own unique ways.
On a related note, the r/Android subreddit, the most popular Android community on Reddit, will go dark for 48 hours on June 12 in protest of the API changes.
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