Third-party application 'Apollo' announces service termination due to Reddit's API charge



It has become clear that the popular third-party Reddit client application ``

Apollo '' will end its service on June 30, 2023.

???? Apollo will close down on June 30th. Reddit's recent decisions and actions have unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue. Thank you so, so much for all the support over the years.
https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/144f6xm/apollo_will_close_down_on_june_30th_reddits/



Apollo for Reddit is shutting down
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754183/apollo-reddit-app-shutting-down-api



Apollo shutting down due to Reddit's unaffordable API - 9to5Mac
https://9to5mac.com/2023/06/08/apollo-app-shutting-down/

Reddit has announced that it will charge an API in April 2023 and limit the number of API requests by third-party apps that browse Reddit. Regarding this, Christian Selig, developer of Reddit's third-party application Apollo, criticized that `` the new API costs $ 20 million a year (about 2.8 billion yen) ''.

Possibility of Reddit blocking third-party apps, new API makes 7 billion requests per month, about 2.8 billion yen per year - GIGAZINE


by Alpha Photo

On June 9, 2023, Selig updated his Twitter account, stating, 'Apollo will be shutting down on June 30th. Reddit's recent decision has unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue for many years. Thank you very much for your tremendous support over the years,' he tweeted, announcing the end of Apollo's service on June 30.




Mr. Selig said that when he graduated from college eight years ago and finished his internship at Apple, he wanted to create Reddit's third-party client application for the iPhone, and started developing Apollo. Thanks to Apollo's popularity right from the beginning of its development, it seems that it has become possible to earn enough to live by developing applications.

However, everything changes when Reddit announces on April 18, 2023 that it will charge for API usage by third-party apps. Mr. Selig says that Reddit's decision to ``charge the API'' is ``understandable,'' but its pricing was too high at $0.24 (about 33 yen) per 1000 requests. In Apollo, the number of API requests in April 2023 was about 7 billion, so about $ 1.7 million (about 236 million yen) in monthly conversion, and $ 20 million (about 2.8 billion yen) in annual calculation It is calculated that it takes

Regarding this, Mr. Selig commented, ``If an API that has been used for free for 8 years suddenly incurs a huge cost, it is not something that can be handled in just 30 days.'' He added, 'Migrating a large number of users would require planning, testing, and passing app reviews, which is not economically viable. For me, it would be far cheaper to simply shut down.' It is also written.



Mr. Selig thought that ``If Apollo is worth $ 20 million a year, Reddit should buy Apollo,'' and he has proposed to Reddit to buy Apollo. Mr. Selig said in Apollo's sale proposal that he said, 'I will sell it for half 10 million dollars (about 1.4 billion yen).' However, Reddit CEO Steve Hoffman claims that ``Apollo has threatened us and demanded Reddit pay $10 million,'' Selig has threatened Reddit.

Selig said that when he made the sale offer, Hoffmann did not take it as a threat. In addition, he has releasedaudio files and transcripts of his calls with Reddit, claiming his innocence.

Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt declined to comment on Apollo's service termination, but said the company plans to release more information about charging for the API. In addition, CEO Hoffman plans to hold an AMA on Reddit on June 9th, local time, and plans to send out the latest information on API charging.

Join our CEO tomorrow to discuss the API : reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/144ho2x/join_our_ceo_tomorrow_to_discuss_the_api/



Many communities on Reddit will block new posts on June 12th to protest the API price change. In response to this protest, Reddit has announced that it will offer APIs at a special price for developers of accessibility apps.

In addition, Mr. Selig said that Apollo's API token will be deleted on the night of June 30, local time, and until then, it seems that 'operation will continue as before'. In addition, Mr. Selig wrote for Apollo's paid members, 'We are planning to refund according to the subscription period within the next few weeks.'

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