https://www.neowin.net/news/reddit-now-says-it-will-allow-free-api-access-for-developers-of-accessibility-apps/
Reddit says that developers who make non-commercial accessibility apps that make use of the online forum's API services will now get "exemptions from our large-scale pricing terms."
I would describe Apollo as an accessibility app in the sense that the regular Reddit app is unusable.
I think this only applies to non-commercial apps. Since Apollo has a subscription I doubt it.
How do they define "accessibility app". It sounds like almost every third party app is more accessible than the official app. So they're all addressing accessibility needs.
I believe it's a bait.
Over at r/ModCoord they say they held a private call with some developers, none of the 3rd party apps devs were invited apparently.
There's a sticky post containing full notes of the call (I don't know if it's ok to link reddit here so I won't), their promises are really vague, "promising" to let some apps use the API for free is only one of them, they're offering to postpone the API changes if mods don't close the subs, and they're making a lot of excuses for their very lacking tools, "promising" they'll do better this time.
If we consider they're going public later this year, it makes sense they're trying to damage control as much as possible so the protest doesn't ruin their IPO, while actually having no intention to follow up on their words.
If magazines start picking up on their empty words, like the article you linked, it could appear redditors are protesting for nothing, that would be really sad.
r/askhistorians has a good post about Reddit promises as well as other information about the API change here.
That's a really good explanation (if not one of the best IMO) focusing on the effects from a mod perspective. Not surprising that they've got a handy record of Reddit's many past failed promises too
You're allowed to link AFAIK. Here's the comment with all the details:
so the protest doesn't ruin their IPO
OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH that's why they're nuking everything. It's only going to get worse once shareholders are involved. Guess I'll stay on Lemmy then. shrug
Stickied comment here is what /r/Blind, one of the most prominent fighters for the accessibility features, has to say about it.
They weren't even invited.
"Non-commercial," AKA give us all your hard work for free. No subscriptions, you won't be compensated for your work. How are you supposed to make enough to support your app as a dev in this scenario? You're not. It's all PR damage control and it's pathetic. Once again trying to profit off free labour.
So include accessibility features in your already existing third party app and problem solved? Or does it need to be an app exclusively for people with disabilities?
"Non-commercial" is still going to kill all development for all the third party apps regardless. This is surprisingly worse than their original decision, because now they can try and pretend like it's other people's problems to make their website accessable.
that's not true. There are open source 3rd-parties like Infinity that are non-commercial.
The developer hasn't said Infinity's being killed afaik, he appears to be considering having users enter their own Reddit API keys, although really that's going to be a barrier for some
This isn't a viable solution in my opinion though, depending on whatever restrictions Reddit chooses. Atm we know the new API won't allow access to NSFW labelled content, but there could be other limitations coming when users start plugging their own keys into apps
Thanks, I have no idea what "entering your own API key" even means, so yeah, definitely a barrier for me
a totalitarian content vacuum, they created nothing : everything is written by you, linked by you and curated by you and now they want to charge you for looking at it.
what the fuck happened to the internet.
It's a cycle. Everyone wants their piece of the pie, and a lot of companies shoot themselves in the foot trying to get it. I hope more people move to lemmy. It has real long term potential.
By submitting Your Content to Reddit, you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform, or publicly display Your Content in any medium and for any purpose, including commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so.
This has been their policy for a long time
So if I post a link to a full length Star Wars movie, reddit now own the rights and distribution to said movie?
That aside, their policy doesn't mean anything if nobody is posting content for them to claim as their own and make money off of it.
It is the only natural conclusion of the market economy and societies that use it. Just check what is happening to democratic institutions globally. :)
They also send 7 million dollar estimate to community app with no monetization or ads so you can't take what they say to face value.
What's to stop all 3rd party app users migrating to accessibility focused 3rd party apps rather than the 1st party one?
"non-commercial". Resumable that means the app devs can't make money from it. Which excludes many of the most popular apps
yes, they're following the same approach. I'm really curious, didn't they see all the backslash that elon mask's actions had? Or did they see it but they believe that since twitter is still online, it means that they were correct actions?
i dont think this was out of much calculation other than pure capitalist and/or fascistic instinct. and im talking more on saying "teehee look we arent fully bad, have some crumbs" after breaking legs
I can't wait for Reddit to "meet us halfway" between their absurd API policy and what we currently have, and somehow expect us to be greatful.
