Apollo developer requests users to decline refunds, releases Goodbye Apollo wallpapers

Popular third-party Reddit app Apollo is counting its final days and will shut down on July 1. Its developer Christian Selig has now requested subscribers to opt out of the automatic refund as those costs will be borne out of his pocket. An updated version of the app gives users an option to decline automatic pro-rated refunds which may add up to $250,000.

Apollo's developer Christian Selig stated:

I just released the update, similar to what Tweetbot and Twitterrific went through earlier in the year, where you can opt out of your automatic pro-rated refund if you have remaining time-left. These refund costs are out-of-pocket for developers, and totalling it up looks to be about $250K in refund costs, so if you consider opting out of your refund, I greatly appreciate your kindness there.

Bidding farewell to the app, the developer worked with some paid designers to create a "Goodbye Apollo" wallpaper set. It's a collection of 20 wallpapers designed for phones, tablets, and desktops "so you'll be able to remember Apollo years after it's gone." Users can unlock the collection with an in-app donation "that helps with refund costs," Selig said.

The developer also announced that various paid features of the app have been unlocked and are free to use, including the theming options. He has added "over a dozen new icons" that were previously queued for release in the future.

Apollo's unexpected demise came in the wake of Reddit's API pricing update which according to many developers was considered unaffordable. Selig estimated that the price hike will cost about $20 million per year to keep the app running.

The inflated API pricing motivated thousands of subreddits to join a protest widely known as the Reddit Blackout that lasted for a period of 48 hours between June 12 and June 14. Many subreddits chose to remain private for an indefinite period of time hoping some relaxations come from Reddit's end.

As part of damage control, the company said it will allow free API access for developers of accessibility apps. It released a fact sheet claiming that around 80% of its top 5,000 communities were open.

Reddit also suffered an outage amid the ongoing protests and some controversial comments from its CEO. Ransomware group BlackCat claimed that it had access to over 80GB of Reddit's data from a breach that happened in February this year and threatened to leak it. More recently, Minecraft developer Mojang Studios announced that it will stop posting official updates via Reddit.

Via Apple Insider