Reddit not too long ago applied vital modifications to its API, which resulted in lots of third-party apps giving up on the platform. And now that the official Reddit app is just about the one method to entry the social community on the cellphone, the corporate desires to push customers to pay for its Premium tier.
This week, the Reddit iOS app was up to date with an unsightly new icon. And if you happen to don’t prefer it, you’ll must pay to vary it.
Reddit desires to power customers to pay for prettier icons
As famous by my colleague Benjamin Mayo, the default Reddit app icon has been modified to a pixelated 8-bit paintings named “OrangeRed.” The Reddit app affords customized icon choices for customers, however there’s a catch. The customized icons are solely obtainable to Reddit Premium subscribers. And guess what? The unique icon stays obtainable behind that paywall.
Reddit affords two free icon choices “for a restricted time,” however neither resembles the unique Reddit emblem. Most icon choices, together with the unique one, require a subscription. Reddit Premium prices $5.99 monthly or $49.99 per 12 months. Nonetheless, for customers subscribing by the iOS app, the subscription is dearer – $6.99 monthly or $59.99 per 12 months.
This transfer comes as Reddit has been attempting to earn more money by charging builders who need to use its API to develop third-party Reddit purchasers. In line with Christian Selig, the developer behind the now-discontinued Apollo, the API would price $20 million per 12 months for an app like Apollo, which had about 7 billion API requests monthly.
Customers have been abandoning the platform
For the reason that shutdown of Reddit’s third-party apps, many customers have deserted the platform. A current report revealed that Reddit’s entry metrics have been falling ever since.
In protest, many subreddits have turn out to be personal and inaccessible to the general public. Others stated they’d cease moderating their subreddits, which might find yourself hurting Reddit’s income from advertisers. The state of affairs escalated to the purpose the place Reddit CEO requested staff to not put on any Reddit merch in public to keep away from harassment from customers.
As for the Reddit app replace with the brand new icon, it’s now obtainable on the App Retailer – and good luck with that.
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