I’ve seen the app Apollo as the center of the reddit protest (it was mentioned and cited more than any other app in relevant posts). I’ve also seen many Lemmy clients in development taking inspiration from it.
As a lifetime Android user I’ve never been able to use it, and I’ve never gotten a proper answer to “why not just use the official app?” What made it different from the official application and other unofficial clients that consequently made it so popular among Redditors?
I used the official Reddit app for a long time, but I ultimately switched to Apollo for three reasons.
Firstly, Reddit collects a lot of data through their official app. I’ve been slowly working on controlling my digital privacy, so the official Reddit app had to go.
Second, the official Reddit app is littered with ads. This really does hurt the user experience.
Lastly, once I started using Apollo I fell in love with how customizable it is. While I don’t have anything against the official Reddit app’s UI, I much prefer being able to customize it to my liking.
As for why Apollo got so much attention, it mostly comes down to its popularity and just how transparent its creator has been throughout the entire API fiasco.
When I got my iPad I initially used the official Reddit app, having used it on Android, but then I went and got Apollo since it was advertised everywhere on the App Store. Apple seemed to really like it in particular.
And yeah, they were right. The user experience is so much better on Apollo than it is on the official app. Personal favourite feature was the ability to share an image of the post/comments you want, it made screenshotting comments a lot easier on the iPad.
Oddly enough, I saw some bootlicking “cope-and-seethe” type (apparent) right-wingers trying to muddy the waters on the eulogy post. If that is the future of Reddit then I’m so glad I’m gone from there and glad Apollo won’t be a part of that.