How did we arrive to this decision? Four of the most active moderators, (u/Discord_Show, u/helenalena, u/SquandasNutCheese, u/IbSunPraisin) have collectively agreed to make the subreddit private to protest reddit’s recent policy change on API calls, making it so expensive that it will kill third-party apps as a result. According to our subreddit’s analytics, the majority of redditors access r/NBASpurs on iOS and Android, and most of them use Apollo or Reddit Is Fun. I use Boost myself on my phone, and [old.reddit.com](http://old.reddit.com) with [RES (Reddit Enhancement Suite)](https://redditenhancementsuite.com) and [uBlock Origin](https://ublockorigin.com) on desktop. u/SquandasNutCheese uses Reddit is Fun. We’ve tried the official reddit app and I must say, it’s nothing short of rubbish. Utter trash, save for the chat feature but that has a couple bugs as well.
And another important point: Third-party apps offer an ad-free experience, so users on those platforms are not generating ad revenue for reddit. This is most likely why the policy was changed, to force users to switch to the official app.
[Here’s a example comparison of reddit is fun vs the official app.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BikiniBottomTwitter/comments/13xk3lu/-/jmj3nfg)
[And here’s a great infographic that r/videos created.](https://i.redd.it/zqptto18e34b1.jpg)
You’ve probably heard of the news somewhere else, but I’ve copied and pasted it for your reference below:
>A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.
>On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from [Apollo](https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/13ws4w3/had_a_call_with_reddit_to_discuss_pricing_bad) to [Reddit is Fun](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditisfun/comments/13wxepd/rif_dev_here_reddits_api_changes_will_likely_kill/) to [Narwhal](https://www.reddit.com/r/getnarwhal/comments/13wv038/reddit_have_quoted_the_apollo_devs_a_ridiculous/jmdqtyt/) to [BaconReader](https://www.reddit.com/r/baconreader/comments/13wveb2/reddit_api_changes_and_baconreader/).
>Even if you’re not a mobile user and don’t use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.
>This isn’t only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.
>Some people with visual impairments have problems using the official mobile app, and the removal of third-party apps may significantly hinder their ability to browse Reddit in general. [More info here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/13zbf3n/reddit_to_the_visually_impaired_you_no_longer/)
>NSFW content is no longer going to be available in the API. This means that, even if third-party apps continue to survive, or even if you pay a fee to use a third-party app, you will not be able to access NSFW content on it. You will only be able to access it on the official Reddit app. Additionally, some service bots (such as video downloaders or maybe remindme bots) will not be able to access anything NSFW. In more major cases, it may become harder for moderators of NSFW subreddits to combat serious violations such as CSAM due to certain mod tools being restricted from accessing NSFW content.
>**What’s the plan?**
>On June 12th at 12:00AM EST, [many subreddits](https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/) will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren’t able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn’t something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn’t the goal, and it isn’t the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they’ve broken, we’ll use the community and buzz we’ve built between then and now as a tool for further action.
>**What can you do?**
>* Complain. Message the mods of r/reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message u/reddit: submit a [support request](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/requests/new): comment in relevant threads on r/reddit, such as [this one](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/12qwagm/an_update_regarding_reddits_api/), leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
>* Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at r/ModCoord.
>* Boycott and spread the word…to Reddit’s competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 14th, instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
>* Don’t be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
We’ll reassess the future of the subreddit at the 48th hour and will update you all accordingly. Don’t worry about missing any important events, the draft is scheduled on the 22nd, so we’ll get the chance to act like we’re winning our sixth championship and six more as we draft Wemby.
If you’d like to discuss the Finals with your fellow Spurs fans, head on to [discord.gg/nbaspurs](http://discord.gg/nbaspurs). We’ve got friendly veterans on there who will welcome you with open arms (namely u/Noteful, u/ImNotChineseOk, u/FancyTodd, u/iro3, u/WorldClassDBag, u/SavosDeaworth, u/Stavanator, u/Roman21023 among many others). I haven’t been active there in years, but you bet I’ll hang out with y’all.
You can always post and comment r/nba as usual if you prefer the usual reddit experience, but as mentioned above, we encourage you to stay off reddit during the 48-hour window.
Let us know if you have questions! As always, please be respectful when presenting your arguments for/against this move.
Again, the discord server is [discord.gg/nbaspurs](http://discord.gg/nbaspurs). See you there, hopefully soon!
Edit: I’m heading to bed as it’s midnight over here. Feel free to tag the other mods to answer your hot questions with even hotter takes!
And reassessing the future of the subreddit doesn’t mean it gets shut down permanently, so please don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Extension of the protest duration will be democratically decided. Some mods might step down and/or leave reddit entirely. The future is cloudy at the moment, but I’m confident enough to say that we care about your best interests.
by helenalena
30 Comments
I can respect this decision – thanks for the update mods.
As an ardent relay user for the past 8+ years, this is exactly what I am hoping to see. Thanks mods.
So now I gotta download discord for my Spurs community?
Reddit is my main time-waster. But the mods here do a fantastic job behind the scenes and are some of my favorites and in solidarity I’ll stay off reddit for at least those 48 hours.
Will be interesting to see how many of my other subs go private, might have to peek to see, but otherwise no reddit browsing, I promise.
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Can somebody maybe ELI5? I only use reddit for 2 years and never used any other app than the reddit one…i didn’t even know there were other apps that you can access reddit with
Can someone give me a TLDR? Long ass post, seems like the subreddit won’t be continuing? I’ve here for 10 years
Thank you for doing this! 12 years on reddit, 10 years exclusively on RIF mobile app. I don’t wanna lose yall forever !! (I won’t come back if RIF is done)
Dam I hope this sub doesn’t dissolve permanently. I get y’all’s perspective and hope y’all get what y’all want. Guess I’ll have to get my jollies off in NBACJ 😔
I’m all for the decision you guys made and really appreciate the reasoning/situation that came about it. Let the boycott begin from June 12-14th.
What does this accomplish, other than annoying your subscribers? I seriously doubt the people making these decisions frequent our sub.
Totally understand.
Also… Didn’t know until last week I had another option for app usage, so have only ever used the Reddit app and it’s been fine? Not great but gets the job done.
Nothing wrong with shutting down for two days. r/LAClippers does it every year when they lose in the playoffs after talking loads of shit.
I’m glad to see that there are only a few toddler tantrum responses. If yall don’t like this choice, I stand in solidarity with your threat to leave.
We won’t miss you. You don’t fit the *team* culture anyway.
Sad to see this hit a sub I frequent, but I’ve seen other subs doing this and support the boycott as a whole.
Guess I wanted to half ass support from the sidelines lmao
Guess I will finally join the discord to cope with my r/nbaspurs withdrawals for those 2 days.
This is more on the “if you don’t change your mind after 48 hours” thing. Can you just pass on the mod jobs to someone else? Seems like a bit of overkill to tank an entire subreddit just because 4 people can’t access it via third party tools.
I still have no idea what’s going on
I’m all for it. Thanks for your reasoning.
The writing is on the wall for reddit’s downfall and I’ll happily switch to the discord.
Usually things like this should be *decided democratically.
rif user here. Used the official app exactly once and it was abject garbage. Appreciate this sub & y’all. GSG!
If we have to use the official reddit app, how will we know what the Spurs record was halfway through the 2022 season?
I’ll catch you guys offline and help resurrect the spurs Discord during those days
I don’t use these apps myself, but I’m all for supporting everybody else who does. This reminds me of xlabs recently being shut down because they also enhanced another company’s product
Way to chase people away from the subreddit at a time that we are on an upswing in popularity.
But hey, at least y’all made that very noble post about not chasing away new fans the other day!
I totally respect the protest from the mods! I gotta be honest and say I understand this very little, but nothing wrong with a peaceful and harmeless protest of two days!
As an Apollo user I completely support this. I commented a lot on here with my original username, same without the v2 before I got locked out of that due to 2 factor issue.
I’m sorry some people don’t understand the issue at hand and that you’re getting a bit of flack on this. Hopefully the protest will have some impact.
Yeah like a 2 day protest will do anything
I was using reddit.com for my reddit experience, dammit I knew I was doing it wrong.
I’m here to support for real but if I’m being honest I don’t recall a poll being made so it’s hard to say what we as a collective agree on.
Don’t understand why I’m being downvoted lol I just wanted to know if I had a say in the matter.