No, he wouldn’t. He’d have to start passing on the cost of the new API pricing + his fair share as dev, to the users of Apollo. Nothing about how the app currently functions would have to change, just the amount users pay to use the app under the new pricing.
He never even offered that as an option. (Not that I’ve seen or been told by him as a subscriber.) He apparently decided that doing so wasn’t worth it and pulled the plug. And to be clear, as the app developer that’s fully his right and I support his decision.
I’m old enough to know that sometimes in life you’ve just “had it,” and it’s time to walk away.
Besides the pricing, the other big change is that NSFW content will no longer be available via API. It’s been kind of overshadowed by everything else, but even if the pricing was reasonable, how the app currently functions would still be changing.
I think one of the big issues for him was monetary liability. Even if he did pass the API costs on to willing users, he still wasn’t going to be making much -if any- more money.
It’s kinda like somebody offering you $1 to get a $20 bill across the street safely - vs - someone offering you $1 to get $20,000 across the street safely.
If something went wrong with the $20, then no big deal. But if something went wrong with the $20,000, then oh shit. A dollar isn’t worth that headache.
Same thing with Apollo going completely sub based at $5 or $10 a month. If something was slightly off about his accounting or API call guesstimates or anything else, he could easily be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars that the subscription fees didn’t cover that month or quarter or year.
He explained that 30 days was not enough to design and roll out a whole new pricing scheme, and he would have to start paying the increased fee for all his existing lifetime subscribers, in the hopes that enough people would subscribe to the new schemes to offset the cost.
A change like that is not something you undertake lightly.
I don’t blame him, he’d have to start over on his project he’s worked on for years. I wouldn’t want to do it either lol
No, he wouldn’t. He’d have to start passing on the cost of the new API pricing + his fair share as dev, to the users of Apollo. Nothing about how the app currently functions would have to change, just the amount users pay to use the app under the new pricing.
He never even offered that as an option. (Not that I’ve seen or been told by him as a subscriber.) He apparently decided that doing so wasn’t worth it and pulled the plug. And to be clear, as the app developer that’s fully his right and I support his decision.
I’m old enough to know that sometimes in life you’ve just “had it,” and it’s time to walk away.
he said some of his busy users would cost $15-20/mo. That’s definitely too much for most people for something like this
It’s crystal clear that Reddit wants 3PAs gone. No point trying to work with them when they’ll be making it an uphill battle the whole way.
Besides the pricing, the other big change is that NSFW content will no longer be available via API. It’s been kind of overshadowed by everything else, but even if the pricing was reasonable, how the app currently functions would still be changing.
I feel for him too.
I think one of the big issues for him was monetary liability. Even if he did pass the API costs on to willing users, he still wasn’t going to be making much -if any- more money.
It’s kinda like somebody offering you $1 to get a $20 bill across the street safely - vs - someone offering you $1 to get $20,000 across the street safely.
If something went wrong with the $20, then no big deal. But if something went wrong with the $20,000, then oh shit. A dollar isn’t worth that headache.
Same thing with Apollo going completely sub based at $5 or $10 a month. If something was slightly off about his accounting or API call guesstimates or anything else, he could easily be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars that the subscription fees didn’t cover that month or quarter or year.
I would’t be able to sleep like that.
Very valid point. Thank you!
Reddit has charged this in such a way that it makes 3rd party apps unsustainable to run - no point offering something that isn’t remotely competitive.
I think I misread the comment, I thought you were asking why he doesn’t just make an app for Lemmy. Sorry, just woke up
He explained that 30 days was not enough to design and roll out a whole new pricing scheme, and he would have to start paying the increased fee for all his existing lifetime subscribers, in the hopes that enough people would subscribe to the new schemes to offset the cost.
A change like that is not something you undertake lightly.