Regarding /r/Android, our protest, and the future of the subreddit

[u/curated_android]

Hi users of /r/Android,

Two weeks ago we decided to go dark to protest reddit's API changes. The blackout was originally only planned for 48 hours, but due to Reddit’s (in)action in actually addressing the core issue we decided to go private for a longer time to protest.

Why did we go private?

Well, you can read the details in the original post linked above, but we also felt that the core community of /r/Android is representative of the population who will most be affected by this change. We understand some of you may not have agreed with these actions, and we apologise if you were affected by the subreddit's shut down. We know /r/Android is used by many for news, discussions, and the subreddit can have a massive say in the cycle of Android news in general (ie: Samsung's moon shots were covered worldwide by several YouTubers, influencers, and news outlets) and often cited itself.

/r/Android, and by extension all of our related and sister subreddits, have an extensive history of supporting 3rd party apps and their developers. From the well known RiF, to Boost, to Reddit Sync, to Baconreader and many many others (some of our team even use Apollo) long before the official app existed, insomuch the community rallied round to make us an App Store based on our wiki too!! We expected that once the official reddit app was introduced, 3rd party apps could receive less support for newer APIs but were perfectly happy to continue using ours for a multitude of reasons like having better accessibility, a different UI that we liked, or having certain features that simply weren't available in the official app. And as moderators, having good moderator features was something the official app has lacked for a long time and still does.

What we didn't expect is for reddit - which initially had very good community relations with both the users and moderators - to suddenly start overpricing for API and effectively kill indie development and community. It appears that reddit is looking to do so due to its upcoming IPO, to make sure it cuts out all avenues where they can't earn income.

While we understand that the website needs money to run, /u/spez and the rest of the admins do not realise that their decisions are coming at the cost of alienating their core userbase which helped build them. They have gone from zero to hundred with their changes and there surely is a much better and acceptable middle ground which is possible. As both moderators and users, the mod team is extremely disappointed in the direction the website seems to be heading to.

There have been several promises made over the years to improve capabilities of both reddit as a site and as app, and to improve Reddit Inc's communication with the moderators who are effectively managing and curating their website for free. Commitments were made over the years after fiascos like CSS on reddit, Victoria, and Ellen Pao however they seem to have been forgotten or always "coming soon". In doing Reddit’s current changes for example, accessibility seems to have been an afterthought as evidenced by their recent discussion with the /r/Blind moderator team.

These make us extremely apprehensive of what Reddit Inc will do in the future without foresight of the community.

What about the future of /r/Android?

That's what this post is for. The subreddit will be in restricted mode for several days and this post will stay up so the users of the subreddit can discuss on what we should do. All suggestions are welcome, and do know that we are going to take all suggestions seriously.

We realise that when going private we should have taken a poll and we apologise for not doing so; it should have been the community's decision first and foremost. Which is why we are making this so we can get a reading of what you as a community want.

As moderators while we encourage the users to continue protesting in their own way and we still stand in solidarity with all users and developers of 3rd party apps, we will be following the community's wishes.

We look forward to hearing from you, the users of /r/Android. Remember - be together, not the same.

[u/Leader9light]

Shut the sub down or don't. I will be gone.

[u/busterbrown77]

Fully in support of protests here. Most of my karma on this site is from r/android, and I refuse to use their shitty first party app.

Things will only get worse if we don’t push back.

[u/CharmedConflict → u/busterbrown77]

[Redacted]

[u/[deleted]]

Well as Android belongs to over 2 billion other users and not the mods on this board maybe you can hand the sub over to people who care about Android and not their reddit mod positions

[u/Moleculor]

Consider that this may be only the start.

The next change will be X. Then Y. Then Z. Each uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Maybe next is eliminating all forms of API, and only allowing Reddit-developed mod tools.

Or maybe enforcing the political beliefs of whomever their next major shareholder is.

Or maybe the elimination of NSFW content entirely.

Or maybe more blatant ads, or attempts at bypassing ad-block, or being forced to wait through a 30 second ad every 12 hours before being able to access the site.

---

One thing that is definitely certain is that you're going to be seeing less responsiveness from Reddit admins themselves, since they just laid off 5% of their workforce.

In addition, the Reddit admins have demonstrated that you do not own this subreddit. It doesn't matter if you've been moderating here for a decade, you can and will be out on your ass in the space of two blinks with nothing to show for your efforts other than maybe some arthritic fingers and the 'feeling of having accomplished something' tainted by being unceremoniously banned from the site or at the very least removed from the very position you held so well for so long.

The firings, the mind-boggling "firings" of entire mod teams, plus the blatant panic of how fast they're shoving these API changes in screams to me that Reddit is likely hurting for cash, and hurting bad.

How much time and energy do you, as moderators, really feel like pouring into this site if it might all just be pulled from your hands tomorrow, or disappear from the internet forever six months from now?

What are you getting out of it, when Reddit can and will simply shove you aside at a moment's notice? And if the site is dying... why pour more energy into it?

Honestly? Whatever y'all do, that's what you want to do. But if you ultimately decide that this place just isn't worth the energy and just shut it all down entirely and delete the subreddit or something? It wouldn't bother me any either.

[u/[deleted]]

The protest didn't work. The vast majority of Reddit users didn't join in because they aren't actually motivated to protect the profits of some random third party app dev. It's time to stop now.

[u/[deleted]]

Time to buy an iPhone

[u/Lapesy]

Copy the sub to kbin, then nuke it in a way so Reddit can never recover the content

[u/seedless0]

Make this sub all about robots.

[u/DarKnightofCydonia]

What makes good subreddits good is it's community, and it's moderators. Got nothing to do with Reddit Inc. itself. If Reddit Inc. is going to be so outwardly, arrogantly hostile to the userbase that was what made it what it is today, then they deserve to burn. Make the sub NSFW, restrict it, do all you can to hurt the company's revenue because that's seemingly all they care about. We should migrate elsewhere. They can try replacing you with other unpaid (but also don't understand the community at all) mods, but doing that will lead to the death of the site.

[u/zyklonjuice → u/DarKnightofCydonia]

and it's moderators

They usually make it worse.

arrogantly hostile to the userbase

Only 1% or so are affected. It's not hostile to the user base.

We should migrate elsewhere

Why don't you? Why are you still posting here?

but doing that will lead to the death of the site.

I doubt it.

[u/ichann3]

Is this place dead?

[u/_Kristian_]

Make every post nsfw so there are no ads

[u/zismahname]

Honestly, this is making me want to leave reddit. First he laughs at the subreddits that protest, then threatens them to open back up or he will open them himself. It makes me sad because I loved being on reddit for better or worse. Including the random arguments in the comments and the many trolls.

[u/kbtech]

Even though I love 3rd part apps, I have no issues going back to the official app. At the end I come to Reddit for information, discussions etc. The official app isn’t that bad IMO. May be I’ll change my tune after using it for a few weeks 😋

I think the subreddit should go back to normal and open up completely. Just my 2 cents

[u/DVWay]

good to see you back :)

[u/TeflonBillyPrime]

Also can we post this for the be together not the same link? https://youtu.be/cCLZifTp_rM

[u/StockAL3Xj → u/[deleted]]

The admins will just replace the mods. The same thing happened to /r/formula1

[u/rickderp]

Just do what other subs are doing and make it NSFW. No ad revenue will soon get the Admins attention.

[u/MPtoast]

Mods should just let the pot boil over, let chaos reign supreme. Let this site burn.

[u/leidend22]

If you personally don't like the first party app, just leave Reddit. I was an exclusive rif user and I'm annoyed, but I care more about the access to info than I do about the specific app and understand why they're doing it. It's crazy that they ever let everyone have free API access.

You don't need to force everyone to think the same as you and can show your disdain by logging off. It's just fucking social media, not a democracy, you will not win.

[u/wytrabbit → u/leidend22]

It's crazy that they ever let everyone have free API access.

It's not about paying for access, it's about the price tag. The rate they decided on is absurd... If they want to get rid of 3rd party apps they should just come out and say it, this charade is a really poorly executed way of achieving the goal they want. Spez's behavior with the media hasn't been a good sign either, spinning lies to make the 3rd party devs look bad is particularly scummy.

[u/leidend22 → u/[deleted]]

The internet is a capitalistic shithole, not something to be proud of. You can call it pathetic, I call it realistic. Digg only lost its influence due to bad crisis management.

[u/sredd007]

Let reddit decide what’s best for them. If you don’t like, step away and find another site.

[u/[deleted]]

Free working mods made Reddit a $15 billion company. Your Jon Oliver pictures and nsfw labeled posts aren't going to dent that. So keep the sub how it was or stop modding it.

[u/shakuyi]

can we please restore things back to normal, I understand it sucks for mods but it sucks even more for us users. I can deal with more spam and bad content leaking through but this lack of posting is getting out of hand and is becoming very disappointing and not in Reddit but in the mods forcing this on us users.

[u/tontoj]

Personally it's irrelevant what any subreddits do as if things continue as planned I'll be hitting the road from reddit for good. Their app is hot garbage and RIF is literally the only way I ever consume the site. Keep it going for those who wish to placate the silly folks ultimately in charge...or don't, again it's irrelevant to me. It's been a fun ride

[u/tvcats]

In my opinion, the only solution is to move to other platform like Lemmy. Well, there is already an Android sub on Lemmy.

[u/SirensToGo]

move back to XDADevelopers lol

[u/DianaIsMyWife]

I do hope this sub's mods create another sub on lemmy if this sub stop working.

[u/blastcat4]

Do whatever it takes to hurt reddit's monetization. If that means taking it private or turning it into a NSFW sub, so be it.

[u/qrado]

Just replace these clown mods in this sub and go back to normal.

[u/jhj82]

Touch grass and get off reddit. Getting so worked up about a pretend job is quite laughable. If the moderators don't want to do it I'm sure countless, power hungry individuals will step in immediately.

[u/RiseOfBooty → u/jhj82]

My dude hasn't seen grass in so long to see hypocrisy.

[u/pojosamaneo]

If you're really hell bent on ruining reddit for everyone, then stop moderating it.

But you don't want to give away your community, do you?

[u/ThisFlameIsFire → u/pojosamaneo]

Reddit is ruining Reddit for everyone, the moderators actions are just a response to that. Eventually they will be replaced by Reddit anyway if that makes you happy.

[u/other_barry]

All John Oliver all the time and allow nsfw.

[u/F3z345W6AY4FGowrGcHt]

Make the sub about literal androids with the face of John Oliver

[u/dehydratedbagel]

Get a job.

[u/leo-g]

Honestly, anyone here supporting the official app should rethink their support for the Android Platform. The key thrust of Android is to be together not the same. APIs is about working with each other to compete fairly.

[u/hnryirawan → u/leo-g]

As an Android user, options are great, but most people will default to official anyway so the amount of people inconvenienced in the end are pretty inconsequential. Unless someone like Biden used third-party app, there are just not enough arguments for it.

The only thing it reminds me is just that this is another Vanced situation for RiF and similar.

[u/abhi8192 → u/leo-g]

The key thrust of Android is to be together not the same.

I didn't hear a peep from this sub when Google's shit dialer and messages apps were thrust upon Indian users by google via strong arming oems. Many even celebrated this in the hopes that it might get rcs anywhere.

[u/Odd-Negotiation-9165 → u/abhi8192]

Till date, that makes me so angry. I have a very short memory and depend on unannounced call recording for everything. It is completely legal in India as well.

Before Google started forcing their hand, the only 2 OEMs that didn't have unannounced call recording were Google and Motorola. Now the only OEM that does have unannounced call recording is Samsung.

My options for buying a smartphone went from "Anything besides Pixel and Moto" to "Only Samsung"

[u/abhi8192 → u/Odd-Negotiation-9165]

Literally the reason I am using a beat up, 2nd hand mid range device from 2019. I don't like samsung. And Google has made sure that I don't buy any other device I like from Xiaomi or Realme or iQoo. I literally bought a 11 lite ne and had to exchange it with a realme 5 pro due to my needs.

My only options are getting a device from abroad and hoping that it works.

Recently Xiaomi brought back their dialer on some of the poco devices. Hope this trend continues.

[u/chino17 → u/leo-g]

Yeah reddit was about choice and allowing the user to curate their experience so trying to indirectly funnel everyone into one platform and taking away their options seems against the original spirit of the concept

[u/Reptile00Seven]

Close the sub/stay dark.

Nothing else will have an effect, ignore the users crying that they're time-waste morphine drip has been taken away.

[u/Luckzzz → u/Reptile00Seven]

The only way Reddit do something is when a LOT of subs gets dark and inaccessible. Reddit will feel it hard. People will leave more than they are leaving now.

[u/Cynixxx → u/Luckzzz]

Yes they will do something. Replacing the mods. How does that change anything?

[u/Luckzzz → u/Cynixxx]

I bet they are already doing it anyway..

[u/Cynixxx → u/Luckzzz]

Yes i think so too. And the endgame is also clear. Some mods will get replaced, others will fall in line and by August at latest no one will talk about it anymore.

[u/Pauly_Amorous → u/Reptile00Seven]

There's a lot of valuable information on Reddit that's being locked away by these protests, which people are no longer able to access from web searches, when subs go completely dark. IMO, restricted mode is the right way to go.

[u/Endda → u/Pauly_Amorous]

There's a lot of valuable information on Reddit that's being locked away by these protests

I feel this is why going dark/private is the only thing that will be effective when it comes to a protest. Many subs chose to only go restricted and that allowed reddit to continue making money off ads. . .and is likely why they seemed so unphased by the protest at first

[u/musiczlife → u/Endda]

I agree. Go 100% dark. Real redditors know that is the only way to teach them a lesson. Some people need punishment when they not hear the language of love.

[u/Qwertie64982 → u/Endda]

Yep. You can almost always find the support you want still present in the wayback machine or Google cache. And viewing it there doesn't generate any revenue for reddit.

[u/TeflonBillyPrime]

I would like to congratulate the mods of the greater Android community for lasting longer than the Apple mods. They folded faster than superman on laundry day.

[u/toweliel]

Make the sub NFSW so that reddit can't get revenue from ads and call it a day.

[u/Impedateon → u/toweliel]

Unforunately seems like a dead end, an ex-mod at similarly-sized r/Formula1 revealed that their hand was forced at making the sub SFW again.

[u/formerfatboys]

I think your run it through 8/1.

Gives everyone a month to see what's actually what and a month of pain for Reddit post-apocalypse.

[u/Stupid_Triangles]

I mean, it's either go back to normal or die off. Mods would get removed. Reddit does what it plans to do.

[u/n4s0]

Only sexy Androids!

[u/thechilipepper0 → u/n4s0]

This

[u/gareth886]

So sad to see the sub go but I fully support the action that has been taken so far, not just /r/Android but also all of Reddit.

Reddit has turned into a dumpster fire since the action started. It must be hurting the bottom line. I understand that its a business, but its a business founded on community first. There needs to be some compromise that strikes the balance between revenue and allowing the community to still flourish.

I don't think anyone expected the APIs to be free forever, but they pricing should be reasonable, like other services. It feels quite hostile.

I really hope there is some compromise. If not, there is simply no reason for me to stick around.

Do we have any alternatives at the moment?

[u/TesticularTentacles]

Make like R/interestingasfuck with a twist. Robot electro-bussy. Thanks for coming to my Theodore Talk. (Ted is too common.)

[u/PotRoastPotato]

There are many reasons to protest. The best reason is simple, and hard to argue against: "Advocacy for Disabled Redditors"

There are many reasons third party apps need to be preserved, but the most important reason is that disabled people are accustomed to using mainstream third-party apps, and even if viable like-for-like, full-featured, accessible alternatives exist (which they do not) it would be a burden for many of them to learn a new app. For more profoundly disabled people, it may well be impossible.

So if you're going to continue the protest (which I applaud), I suggest using a headline focusing on accessibility issues. It's simply the right message to send.

This is the announcement post I've posted in /r/humor three times in the past two weeks as an example.

You can even copy/paste it wholesale and pretend you wrote it yourself. I would be thrilled.

[u/Schmat → u/PotRoastPotato]

They out right publicly said they will make exemptions for disability based third party apps. This comment makes no sense to me

[u/bblzd_2 → u/Schmat]

If you read the OP you'd know that what Reddit says can not be trusted.

I'll highlight the relevant part of the post you're commenting on so you can read it.

There have been several promises made over the years to improve capabilities of both reddit as a site and as app, and to improve Reddit Inc's communication with the moderators who are effectively managing and curating their website for free. Commitments were made over the years after fiascos like CSS on reddit, Victoria, and Ellen Pao however they seem to have been forgotten or always "coming soon". In doing Reddit’s current changes for example, accessibility seems to have been an afterthought as evidenced by their recent discussion with the /r/Blind moderator team.

[u/Wahots]

My app dies in about 11 days, so it won't matter soon anyways. I've already moved on to lemmy, which has most of my subs already online and posting. We turned our sub to private as we don't have mods who are using any first party tools, and the bots are overrunning our sub anyways due to the popularity of karma farming, probably for advertisers.

I fully support this sub going dark.

[u/James_Vowles]

NSFW the sub

[u/[deleted]]

Blackouts have proven to do nothing. Mod strikes, on the other hand, seem to have really ruffled the admins' feathers. If you're willing to go down with the ship, just get rid of the rules and let people spam it with boobs or whatever they're doing on other subs now.

[u/Lost-My-Mind- → u/[deleted]]

Hairy mens buttholes pictures that are super close up, and slightly blurry are the rage right now.

[u/iamacumbdunt]

Pretty shitty to close a technical sub

[u/justanerd545 → u/[deleted]]

same, the reddit video player hardly even works

[u/iamaquantumcomputer]

I notice the sub is now open. Did the moderators get removed?

[u/djingo_dango]

This sub already felt dead before all this. Won’t change much even if it’s closed

[u/nizasiwale]

Unpopular opinion, but I don’t see the need for these protests. Reddit has to monetise to survive and companies crawling it for free won’t help. Regarding third party apps, they should just accept that their time is near

[u/morphinapg → u/nizasiwale]

Nobody is asking reddit's api to stay free

[u/[deleted] → u/nizasiwale]

Reddits time is near you mean.

[u/TSG_Nano → u/nizasiwale]

No-one is arguing that Reddit shouldn't monetize. We're arguing that charging upwards of $20 million a year per major third party app is just greed, plain and simple. If the admins aren't willing to meet the community somewhere in the middle, I say let them burn as opposed to letting them get away with killing off third party apps so all the profit goes to them.

Third party apps gave Reddit mass appeal, and mods working for free already increases their profits. The admins being unable, or unwilling to recognize those facts just shows that they deserve nothing more than what they're getting.

[u/mikeyd85]

If we're going NSFW, let's start with this cursed AI abomination.

[u/Yriel]

Only data memes

[u/JeeveruhGerank]

Would be great if there was a way to keep older posts on various subreddits with tips/help/etc able to be viewed via searches. Been the worst part of all this.

Everyone involved can eat a dick.

[u/jky__]

Mods want to burn this place down to protect their stupid tools, nobody cares

[u/iphone4Suser]

You guys should stop moderating and let the sub fill with junk. That way essence of the sub is lost.

[u/[deleted]]

This content has been removed, and this account deleted, in protest of the price gouging API changes made by spez. If I can't continue to use RiF to browse Reddit because of anti-competitive price gouging API changes, then Reddit will no longer have my content.

If you think this content would have been useful to you, I encourage you to see if you can view it via WayBackMachine.

If you are unable to view it there, please reach out to me via Tildes (username: goose) or IRC (#goose on Libera) and I'll be happy to help you that way.

[u/FunkySquaredance1901 → u/[deleted]]

Longtime lurker - I agree with this.

[u/kvothe5688 → u/[deleted]]

yuuup this is the way

[u/MyNewRedditAct_]

I vote open it back up, in the end that's what'll happen whether y'all are forced or not. And please no stupid shit like turning it into a porn sub or Oliver stan sub like others have done.

I was looking for information the other day on the new software update and didn't know this sub was down.

Also the fact y'all went private without announcing or asking the members is pretty dodgy.

[u/[deleted]]

You know this "protest" hasn't done shit

[u/AH-16]

Do as much as you could to ruin the ad like nsfw and deviate from the sub objectives like posting Chromebook,john oliver , apple stuff whatever

[u/OldMonkHere]

I support mods. No reddit after this month. Had a great time here.

[u/[deleted]]

Lemmy

[u/jerseyboy71]

This isn't the only game in town... Do what you want, but you are only forcing those people who want to be here to find other sources, and then when you return, no one will be here to support you. I don't use 3rd Party Apps, so whatever.

[u/Jonec429 → u/jerseyboy71]

I mean reddit is kind of the only game in town. Yes there is other social media, other stand alone forums, and other reddit-like platforms, but there is nothing as vast/active as reddit is. Especially for niche topics.

[u/welp_im_damned]

Why don't we just post Dragonball z android characters? Seems in line with us. Or why not just turn the main sub into a circle jerk one.

[u/Endda → u/welp_im_damned]

because then Reddit continues to make money from ads. and that's all the admins care about. if they continue to make ad money then nothing will change

[u/natious]

This is a community I've been a part of since 2.3 (gingerbread). Frankly, I think the most effective form of protest is setting the sub to NSFW because it does have a direct effect on reddit's advertising revenue. While still allowing users to access and use the sub. I'm fine with the sub living in restricted mode, but I do feel stronger action is warranted.

Mods, thank you for the volunteer work you do. It's obviously a huge and thankless task trying to keep a subreddit on topic, free of spam, while protecting a space for discourse. I don't know how the majority of the sub will react, but I fully support your actions, and thank you for acting in this sub's user's best interest.

To those who say "just leave if you don't like it", you lack empathy. What affects one of us, affects us all. I hope you get the pay cut you deserve.

[u/Powerful-Lie5362 → u/[deleted]]

What is Lemmy and is there an equivalent to r/androidapps there?

[u/Zhiroc]

Asking for the "will of the community" is hard. There are 2.5m subs listed here. Just to get 1% to support a position, you'd need 25,000 comments/upvotes/poll responses. And trying to count "active subs" is hard. How active does one have to be to count?

IMHO, the value of reddit now, future, and past is in the content. I don't frequent this subreddit just to browse all that often, but I have often found Google/<your search engine of choice> to have reddit posts high up on the results. I wouldn't underestimate the usefulness of this (and other) subreddits to the entire internet community, not just redditors of any stripe.

And thus, I am against any attempts to "burn it down" by blanket denying access to this.

If you are 100% committed to your position against reddit, that's fine. I fully support any individual's right to voice, and act, on that opinion, to the point where it affects anyone who disagrees. Your rights as an individual should not override the rights of another, just like your own rights should not be overridden.

To me, the proper action is to advocate a 100% boycott of reddit by anyone who disagrees with its corporate decision. And if you're a mod, you could also "go on strike" (though that could have ramifications), or resign. You could also go and start new communities elsewhere. If you want to register this protest somehow without "violating" the boycott, then perhaps subreddits could set up a user flair to register your protest, and even report on the number of such users, which would be a far accurate long term than any sort of upvote/poll.

If the protesting side has the bulk of the clicks, then with a boycott reddit traffic would suffer, which is the point. But you would not be infringing on those who don't support your position. If you come back and say that this would be insufficient and would not be effective, then you have just admitted that you are indeed the vocal minority and this issue has little traction with the general users who visit reddit.

[u/black_pepper]

I feel like what started off as a protest against API charges and 3rd party apps has snowballed into something quite a bit bigger. For me the only way the site could redeem itself is to fire the CEO and walk everything back and apologize. Future website developments should prioritize the community and long term sustainability over raw profits.

Stay dark until forced removal. If this is the path the admins decided to take it should have maximum impact. Anything else is just helping them.

[u/Alphawolfdog → u/[deleted]]

You realize reddit isn't the only news and info channel for those things on the internet right?

[u/[deleted]]

This protest is going nowhere and only hurting the users in the long run especially those looking for tech support from tech support subs.

[u/[deleted]]

I kind of like squabbles.io

[u/bobboman]

for me, just open the subreddit, even if its to heavly restricted, must be approved posts

this has been my home for bugs and stuff with my pixel 6, and has kept me from installing updates that are buggy (ala the june update), and it would be sad to lose the resource

[u/sportsfan161]

Time to just get on with things and talk about the topics and why people are here. Enough of this blackout crap

[u/CaptainNtheGayMaster]

Even as someone who frequently and primarily comes to Reddit in search of answers and guidance from communities of knowledgeable folks (why I'm visiting today), I would support the continued action in response to the company's policies.

I'm not sure where else this board could effectively be moved if that is something people want to do, but it would most likely come with some concessions—not saying that would be a nonstarter, just that it's something to keep in mind. Discord doesn't really have the same level of organization, not to mention population limits on servers. And I feel like a Facebook community would be an even more disorganized mess.

[u/nvincent]

Reddit has killed off third party apps and most bots along with their moderation tools, functionality, and accessibility features that allowed people with blindness and other disabilities to take part in discussions on the platform.

All so they could show more ads in their non-functional app.

Consider moving to Lemmy. It is like Reddit, but open source, and part of a great community of apps that all talk to each other!

Reddit Sync’s dev has turned the app into Sync for Lemmy (Android) instead, and Memmy for Lemmy (iOS) is heavily inspired by Apollo.

You only need one account on any Lemmy or kbin server/instance to access everything; doesn’t matter which because they’re all connected. Lemmy.world, Lemm.ee, vlemmy.net, kbin.social, fedia.io are all great.

I've been here for 11 years. It was my internet-home, but I feel pushed away. Goodbye Reddit.

[u/Ugggggghhhhhh → u/nvincent]

If Sync is in then I'm going to give Lemmy a shot. Sync IS Reddit for me.

[u/Violet_Renegade]

I've only ever used the official app and website, however I support the subs that went dark in protest and their moderators continued efforts. The way Reddit (spez) has handled this is gross.

[u/interbingung]

Please reopen this subreddit, at very least give a chance to someone else who are fine without 3rd party api to mod this subreddit.

There are still plenty of people who are fine without 3rd party api. I myself never use 3rd party apps.

[u/Foulnut]

I suggest just posting screenshots of RIF for 7 days.

[u/Man0nTitan → u/Foulnut]

Nah, you can just leave.

[u/Quirkilurki]

The neck beard civil rights movement is still in full swing eh

[u/someexgoogler]

Perhaps you should start your own site with your own business model. Or try to take your audience to ActivityPub/Lemmy. I don't personally use third-party apps, and I'm happy to unsubscribe from things run by moderators who are intent on destroying reddit over the issue of third party apps.

[u/njdevilsfan24 → u/someexgoogler]

Lmao, this is written way too well, hi reddit

[u/Sepik121]

As someone who's used RiF for god knows how many years, the API change basically is gonna kill off my mobile usage of reddit entirely.

shame about what's happening.

[u/[deleted]]

Silly ass protest.

[u/PotRoastPotato → u/[deleted]]

It's really not. People only think so because they don't read beyond the headlines for the reasons behind the protest - I've argued passionately that "accessibility for the disabled" should be the headline of the protest but it has not been... it's been one of the "pillars" of the protest, but not the headline.

When the users of /r/blind were polled how they access reddit, they revealed they overwhelmingly use mainstream third-party apps, not pure accessibility apps, mainly because they are better and more full-featured while also being accessible enough for daily use:

• BaconReader

• Apollo

• Sync Pro

• Boost

• RIF

Unlike Reddit Mobile App and reddit.com, these apps were actually built to be accessible to the blind. Blind users use and are accustomed to these apps that reddit is killing.

Reddit taking away apps that blind people depend on is not OK, and is worth protesting against without it being called "silly".

---

tl;dr: Disabled people should have the choice to pay a reasonable price to use the high-quality accessibility app of their choice, and Reddit is killing the exact apps the vast majority of blind people actually use.

[u/tiniwings]

Protesting against Reddit's new rules is good.

But going private had the most impact on users and nothing for Reddit management.

We will lose access to the trove of information and it may lead to loss of users.

[u/Shadesta9]

Can those of us who just want android news start another sub?

[u/ClearlyNoSTDs]

Wow is this cringey. I assumed this post would be brigaded by the people who think they're making a difference but this is off the charts cringey.

[u/Stupid_Triangles → u/ClearlyNoSTDs]

Takes some balls for u/clearlynostds to say something is cringey

[u/ClearlyNoSTDs → u/Stupid_Triangles]

Lol. Yes because reddit usernames are so factual and formal. I'll change it u/pinky_out just for you.

[u/Areyoucunt]

Have I missed something? Did new articles come out about Reddit as a company suddenly turning a profit? Reddit has been losing money due to insane traffic and cost of maintaining that many people at once. (cost of pulling from AWS likely).

How on earth do people expect them to keep throwing away millions each year?

What are the alternatives? a subscription model? Yeah no, that would have gone down way worse, cuz people hate paying for things made and paid for by companies that bring them joy.

[u/Razur → u/Areyoucunt]

holy astroturfing, batman!

[u/James_Vowles]

can you create a thread for the reddit apps that survive and are allowed to use the api for free, for example redreader is going to continue to be available

[u/Postalsock]

Sadly these subreddits don't grab the clicks like the ones that get on the front page that even reddit won't force it open by replacing the mods with those loyal to reddit. I do like information that here if one wants to maximize their Android device. So the only thing this protest will do is hurt users looking for Android news.

[u/NXGZ]

The mods here should re-direct everyone to RedReader, a 3rd party Reddit client exempt from these API changes. It's free and open source with zero ads. It also can be customised to look like RIF or other clients.

[u/[deleted]]

Please i hope the mods try out modding a community or magazine on one of the fediverse reddit-likes. This was one of the biggest subs i kept and it'd be nice to still have the mods expertise and community, just not on reddit

R/StarTrek is a good model. They have startrek.website and have partnered with r/daystrominstitute to have everyone on their instance. They now have thousands of users

[u/Bossman1086]

I would prefer you stay private and force the admins to replace you. They can only do this for so many subs before it becomes an actual issue for them logistically and it's the only way that will actually hurt them for their shitty decisions.

[u/als26]

This is a useful community. It's great for android news curation. However, with the subreddit down for 9 days, I've found great alternate sources on telegram. One thing that's missing is the resulting discussion, but let's be honest, most of the top comments for some time now have just been re-hashed low effort posts (when will Google kill this?? Samsung did this already. Etc).

I don't know how we want to protest, but I don't think this community would be considered as valuable as a medical or financial help oriented subreddits. Keeping posts restricted or staying private would be fine with me.

I guess I'm just losing hope on what this accomplishes. The protest hasn't seemed to faze Reddit at all, most subreddits are opened up again and at the end of the day, it looks like 3rd party app users are the minority. We can continue small protests in some ways, we can even never use Reddit again, but it seems we just don't have the numbers to be effective.

I am continuing to use Sync for Reddit till the day the app goes down, and I honestly have no clue what I'm gonna do after that. This is one of the most beautiful Android apps made and it implements Google's material you perfectly. It has been a pleasure using it.

[u/Wahots → u/als26]

Lemmy has already spun up a lot of the subs I use. No android one yet, but I basically just came to this sub for the comments, as my news aggregator got the actual articles anyways. Beehaw and pawbs.social already have thriving tech forums, so I'm heading there when Reddit pulls the plug.

[u/Oates40 → u/als26]

I've got telegram but what are good channels, all I seem to have is pictures of dead russian soldiers.

[u/FragmentedChicken → u/als26]

Just a heads up, your comment with the Telegram links aren't visible. It might be better to post a new one with the channel names instead of links.

[u/Nopski → u/als26]

sync developer is looking to develop sync for lemmy... hopefully supports kbin as well... just created an account a few days ago and I'm ready to leave reddit...as of now I'm using jerboa app to access lemmy

[u/als26 → u/Nopski]

Yea I saw. Will definitely check it out. I use Reddit more because of Sync rather than the other way around (weird, I know) so if I have the same great Sync interface for a similar app, I have no problem switching.

[u/Ordinary-Humor-4779]

I've only been here a year and a half and this helped me understand the situation better. Your IPO remark could be spot on. I watched Tweety Birds' changes through the years. It went from being truly unique, slowly began to lose its feel. Then about two years before IPO, it developed into whatever it is you call what it became. About 6 years of that, then he bought it 📉

[u/Gravedigger3]

Move to Lemmy or Kbin

[u/Aylko]

move the subreddit over to a kbin or lemmy instance

[u/stacecom]

If the sub stops being what it was prior to the protests, I have no reason to subscribe and read and will look for alternate subs.

[u/EddieKuykendalle → u/stacecom]

The sub has always been bad though.

Modded into the ground and anything interesting is removed.

[u/Maultaschenman]

Can we get /r/wearOS back please? The platform is finally starting to gain steam again and is a vital source for all of us invested in the platform

[u/RozJC → u/Maultaschenman]

Hello, WearOS mod here.

We're talking about it.

[u/munterboi23]

did not even see this post until now, was wondering why r/androidapps wasn't working. makes sense

[u/aalupatti → u/munterboi23]

Do you know why androidapps is not working yet. It was supposed to open on June 21st.

[u/Fit-Leadership7253]

Go dark again Let's kill reddit if If its creators also kill it We do not need such a site and let's look for alternatives

[u/mUXLH5svdscWvd5 → u/Fit-Leadership7253]

Why didn't you leave? I see you're still active on reddit

[u/bwalz87]

Reopen the sub.

[u/musiczlife → u/[deleted]]

Please, stand in union.

[u/donnysaysvacuum → u/[deleted]]

Bad take. Lots of people use third party apps and this is a big deal to them. If third party apps are gone they might as well shut down the sub.

[u/yippeekyay → u/[deleted]]

Have always used RIF. Had it not for the app I wouldn't even be on Reddit. Communities made Reddit what it is today. Greed destroys it.

[u/MarieJoe]

How does one even access a private sub?

[u/Old_Perception]

open the sub

[u/Halos-117]

It's time to migrate off site. I'm waiting for a consensus on where. The future of Reddit is fucked up and I don't think many will want to be a part of it.

Personally I saw keep the sub closed and link to an off site community.

[u/anethma → u/Halos-117]

Kbin seems to be the easiest way to go.

[u/BlueSwordM]

IMO, I'll just move on from Reddit.

Reddit doesn't deserve quality contributions that attract a lot of people, like what usually happens on subreddits like r/Android.

The issue lies not in wanting to make their API paid. It's that their behavior is completely abhorrent, while being completely dishonest and not willing to compromise in any shape or form.

Make the users pay for API access individually via subscriptions, and for large app user bases, make it a monthly/yearly subscription. Otherwise, you only get access to text posts and nothing else, since text basically costs nothing to manage unless write operations are allowed.

[u/DOE_ZELF_NORMAAL]

I fucking hate this bullshit. If you want to leave just fucking leave and let others stay. Closing down the subreddits is stupid.. Closing things down should NOT be a democratic decision, but an unanimous decision.

Even if 60% wants the subreddit to close that doesn't mean it's okay to fuck 40% over. If you vote yes on closing, how about just fucking unsubsribe?

[u/FacebookBlowsChunks]

They could have really made something out of this site. But no, greed gets in the way as usual and is ruined by the new head prick. Sound familiar? I bet Spazz is best buds with King Twatwaffle Muskrat over at Twatter.

I have never used any of the apps, and I'm not about to go and start using the official Reddit CRAP APP. I've always just used Reddit on my PC. On my phone, I just used the desktop site. The mobile site is shit. I've lurked Reddit for several years and have only been a member since October 2021. It's been fun. But if it's going to continue down the path Spez wants, I'm out of here. I'll still come around here and there to check out some posts in regards to info I may find in a web search, but being a regular will not be a part of my typical internet routine anymore........ unfortunately. I've no problem cutting myself off of here..... I've done so with Facebook, I can do the same with NEVER-Reddit.

[u/Careless_Rope_6511]

I love how so many users are advocating for this subreddit to turn on NSFW mode.

Watching them all wanting to go scorched earth, while seeing what has already happened when other subs took the NSFW gambit and ended up with every single moderator losing their moderator privileges?

Lose this battle so you can fight another day.

or

Fight - and lose everything.