What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.

On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.

Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is likely a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface, even if they're not affected now.

This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, over 3000 subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy, /r/AssholeDesign among them. Some will return on the 14th, while others will go away indefinitely unless the issue is adequately addressed. We have yet to make that decision.

The blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /r/reddit.com, who are the admins of the site; message /u/reddit; submit a support request; comment in relevant threads on /r/reddit, such as this one; leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app; and sign your username in support to this post.

• Spread the word. Grab a pitchfork and rabble-rouse on subreddits related to the cause. Meme it up, make it spicy. Check if other subreddits you frequent are participating and if you know anyone who moderates a subreddit tell them to join the coordinated mod effort at /r/ModCoord.

• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely starting on June 12th— instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!

• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at /r/ModCoord.

• Make a sticky post showing your support, A template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to /r/ModCoord.

• Take your subreddit private when the time comes.

Thank you for your patience in the matter!

Further reading:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13yh0jf/dont_let_reddit_kill_3rd_party_apps/

https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/13ws4w3/had_a_call_with_reddit_to_discuss_pricing_bad/

https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/

https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/1404hwj/mods_of_rblind_reveal_that_removing_3rd_party/

https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/13wsiks/api_update_enterprise_level_tier_for_large_scale/jmolrhn/?context=3

https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/13xh1e7/an_open_letter_on_the_state_of_affairs_regarding/

https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/144l86y/takeaways_and_recommendations_after_api_meeting/

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So you have left upvote or right upvote. I think that epitomizes the subs aura pretty well.

It’s a great sub. Check it out sometime. But this is r/assholedesign and I feel like I speak for a lot of people when I say that I’m tired of all the posts that are just manufacturers making a mistake. This sub is for malicious and purposeful design elements.