Update from DBrady, creator of Relay for Reddit (not me!):
Update: Relay will continue to operate from July 1st. It will be moving to a subscription model in the coming weeks but, for now, it’s available for everyone to use free of charge and ad-free!
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in updating everyone on the future of Relay. It’s taken until now for me to work things out.
For the time being, Relay is going to be free for everyone to use (this means no fees and no ads) while i continue optimising API calls and finalising subscription prices. I’m working hard to get call volumes down and i’ll try my best to hit as low a price point as possible, at least for a base tier that covers 85-90% of users. At the higher end of usage it’s looking like i’ll need to implement a few different price points but this is still something i need to figure out. I’ll let you know when i do.
Thanks again for all the incredible messages over the last week. I’ve seen them all and they really mean a lot - knowing how long some people have been using Relay for is amazing. For anyone moving on from here, thanks for supporting Relay over the last 12 years - i’m forever grateful.
Relay Pro (should now be free to use): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=reddit.news
Relay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2sTb4GzEz4
Cheers,
Dave
To each their own but when Apollo died, Reddit died for me. It would feel disrespectful to continue to use Reddit at this point, both to the devs forced off and to myself.
It’s disheartening that they are the ones that got screwed and yet they keep supporting the company…
It make sense in the short term. Even if this only works for 6 or 12 months, they might make more to live on in that time, than they would converting the app to Lemmy right now, simply due to the massive difference in user-count.
It might be the “right” call to stick with Reddit, getting the scraps that are still there, while Lemmy is still only just taking off. They can always jump ship later, though others will have a head start by then.
Ethically? Different matter.
They, and the Infinity dev, will just get fucked by Reddit in some way. Again.
And narwhal. I can’t see this working in the long run. They are only granting access to a subset of content, in exchange for a price that people don’t have to pay if they use the “real” app. This is doomed to slowly bleed users and die.
This seems quite clever by Reddit. It looks like there’s some deal that if they remove ads from their apps they get free api usage for a few months. Seems suspicous that both apps doing this have removed ads.
This will soften the blow a little for Reddit as now at least 1 decent sized 3rd party app on each platform (Android/IOS) will continue to work for a while.
A clever PR move that changes nothing.
I don’t see how this would be successful. It’s a gutted version of the API as it is. Sanitized. No NSFW subs. Reddit as it was is dead and even if Apollo and BaconReader came back I would still not go back.
Some people have trouble letting go I guess. First of all, after all that has happened why any developer would choose to continue doing business with Reddit is beyond me. Reddit has demonstrated they will shaft you on a moment’s notice (ok a month’s notice), go back on their word, lie about developers for PR points, etc. Reddit is not a good business partner.
Second, who is this even for? What percentage of Relay users are going to pay for a limited version of Reddit with usage limits? The only reason Reddit is making these deals with Relay and Narwhal is because Reddit thinks they won’t succeed in staying alive. Reddit thinks the vast majority of Relay/Narwhal users will decide its too expensive to use these apps to get a worse experience, so will end up on the official app. Reddit gets to hold these up as examples of reasonable developers who were willing to work with Reddit, unlike those crying babies that are closing their apps. And if Reddit is wrong, and Relay/Narwhal stay profitable and active, then we’re just back to point 1 - Reddit will just turn the screws on the API pricing until they get crushed.
This just feels like an abusive relationship. Dave just needs to accept reality - Reddit TPA’s are dead (and Reddit as a whole isn’t long for this world either). I’ve used Relay for years, very disappointed in the developer. I’m still deleting July 1.
Thanks for this well-written roundup of what’s going on. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. I just hope the dev doesn’t rack up debt in the time the app is free…
It does seem like Reddit is giving these apps some rope to hang on to… Whether they’ll hang in the bad way remains to be seen.
The instant removal of ads is definitely coming from Reddit. Reddit is already putting on the screws, in a way, preventing these devs from making any ad-revenue in the interrim.
Until the subscription option actually becomes available, the devs will have NO source of income.
Exactly this. Relay was a great app and I will miss it and Reddit. I would love for Dbrady to start fresh with Relay for Lemmy but I imagine that is quite a bit of work and maybe he just doesn’t feel up to it. I wish him the best no matter what happens!
Reddit gets to hold these up as examples of reasonable developers who were willing to work with Reddit, unlike those crying babies that are closing their apps.
This deserves to be repeated. Like… I get why one would want to not let their project die, but we all know this is exactly what’s going to happen. These few who remain will funnel a ton of money into Reddit’s pocket for a worse experience all so that they can be used to further slander the devs of the 3PAs who were forced out from the API changes. In a couple months when the last few 3PAs inevitably go under, I don’t know if a single tear will be shed because the writing on the wall is so obvious.
I also use Relay, and I’m not sure how I feel about this move. I’m using reddit less and less since the blackout, and mostly just to check on the protest at this point. I love the Relay app, and DBrady is an incredible dev, but I refuse to give money to reddit after this whole debacle, especially for an app that will be stripped of it’s full capability,
I just feel bad for the devs of TPA. They created so much value for reddit when reddit didn’t even HAVE an app. Then reddit shafts them so hard for all the work they put in. Fuck reddit.
I uninstalled Relay and moved on. Kinda wished DBrady would have done the same. I don’t want Reddit get paid for their shitty behaviour.
Even with a subscription cost for the API, users still won’t be getting any NSFW posts. That includes porn obviously but there was also tons of non-porn NSFW content in subs like /r/drugs, /r/sex, etc.
