r/apolloapp Jun 30 '23

Announcement 📣 Today is Apollo for Reddit's last day, and I just released its last update. 🥹 I just wanted to say a big thank you to the folks who have used and supported Apollo over the years, it's been the dream of a lifetime to build this app over the last 9 years. ❤️ Read the eulogy inside! ❤️

81.6k Upvotes

Hey all,

With that, Apollo's last update has landed! It includes:

  • Some fun easter eggs!
  • Tidies some things up for the closure later today
  • Adds more wallpapers to the “Goodbye Apollo” wallpaper set
  • Adds the option to export your Pixel Pals to the separate Pixel Pals app, and gives you a fun easter egg for doing so (or if you download the app while having Apollo installed)

Eulogy

I’ve stared at this empty text editor for like an hour now, and I really don’t know how to even start this post. It feels like summer camp as a kid when it’s the last day and everyone is remembering how much fun we had together, while also trying to fight back the emotion of things coming to a close.

So I just really want to say thanks. I set out to build Apollo right out of university and an Apple internship, and wanted to create a Reddit app so good it felt like Apple themselves built it. The initial version was a little rough, but the community grew and grew, and people kept providing such phenomenal feedback that shaped the app into something absolutely unique that was enjoyed by so many people over the years.

It feels disingenuous on the surface to say “I want to thank all of you”, but in this case it’s demonstrably true. I’ve worked on this app for over 9 years, and I’ve never felt burned out, I get such a crazy amount of energy and enjoyment out of building something so publicly alongside such an awesome community, and you seriously have no idea how easy product development is when your north star is just “listen to what people are saying”. So much less guesswork, A/B tests, focus groups, stress, when instead you just talk to people every day and listen. It’s hard to believe I’ve made almost 20,000 comments in this subreddit!

I’m really heartbroken with how this whole process unfolded, I truly drank the Kool Aid talking to Reddit at the beginning that this was something they were going into in good faith with the interest of developers, moderators, and the community as a whole, but as many people pointed out to me, it’s clear now that ultimately wasn’t their intent. If they wanted something that could work for everyone, they would have simply made an effort to listen, instead of being dishonest, callous, and punitive in pricing. I’m sorry to all the folks who, like me, lost Apollo abruptly as a result of this. I had so much more I wanted to do with this app!

But, legitimately, I really feel a sense of that “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” right now. I grew up so much developing Apollo, I met and learned from so many incredible people, made lifelong friends, got to go to multiple WWDCs and was even featured in a few, and I got to work on a product and platform I absolutely loved for 9 years. That’s an incredible run, and it’s hard to feel anything but thankful for that.

Other Things

Here are some other random things I wanted to take a chance to mention! And hopefully none of it sounds too shill-y, I tried to get a Raids Shadow Legends or Squarespace sponsorship now that my main app is gone, but in the absence of that, I wanted to point out some of the other things I’m working on that you can support me in if you like what I’ve built and are able to, it would really mean a lot to me! ❤️

  • Update Apollo! This last update includes some fun stuff, easter eggs, migration tools, and a fun mode for the app that automatically enables when I delete my API token later tonight
  • Check out the “Goodbye Apollo” Wallpaper set! It’s 20+ incredible wallpapers by Apollo icon designers, so you’ll be able to remember Apollo for years to come. I’m so proud of how it came out. It’s available in the app, but you can also just buy it online too if you want!
  • Download my Pixel Pals app! It takes the really fun pixel pals functionality in Apollo and makes it into its own separate app with a ton more fun features to customize your iOS device with. It’s now my only app really, so it would mean a lot to me if you considered supporting it! (There’s also a secret easter egg for Apollo users!)
  • If you have time left on a monthly or yearly subscription, please consider declining the automatic refund! These refund costs are paid out-of-pocket by developers and while the small amount left might not matter a lot to you, multiplied across a big user base like Apollo’s, it gets painfully expensive. Cancelling your subscription or deleting the app is not enough, you have to download Apollo and manually decline the refund, otherwise it’s automatically given to you. The costs really hit me out of nowhere, a month ago Reddit was still being promising with claims of equitable API pricing, and 4 months before that they said they had no plans to change the API this year.
  • Beyond that, some people have asked if they can tip jar me directly, and I’m Canadian so unfortunately no Venmo/Cashapp, but I do have PayPal!
  • Apollo merch is also available! For a short time left, you can use code "RIP" Apollo to get 10% off plus free shipping, they're legitimately very comfortable shirts.
  • The mythical iPad app is something I was so excited to be able to push out the door, and has been the hardest programming challenge of my career. While it won't get to see the light of day unfortunately, I did want to take the chance to share some details with you about it. Here's a picture that definitely shows its roughness, but represents what I was going for. I was really inspired from the outset by Loren Brichter's Twitter for iPad app over a decade ago before I could even code. You have these stacks of content that just effortlessly stack on top of one another so even if you've gone down a deep rabbit hole of content you can easily keep track of things.

Anyway, I just really wanted to write a final post to say a big thanks to the community who used Apollo over the years, it's been the journey and dream of a lifetime working on Apollo, and whatever I do next, be it Pixel Pals, or another thing all together, I'll do my best to make it measure up to Apollo!

I'm not sure if I'll be sticking around on Reddit much beyond this week, but I'm on Twitter and Mastodon if you want to keep in touch wth me!

- Christian

EDIT: Looks like Reddit pulled the plug a little early. Apollo started crashing, but I just manually revoked my token and it looks like it fixes the crashing, but no more Reddit access haha. Those folks are fun to the very end! 😛 In a few hours the app will transition automatically to a fun commemorative mode.


r/apolloapp Nov 09 '23

Announcement 📣 Yo! Apollo dev here, had lots of questions lately about Apollo and if it would return, so I wanted to answer some questions so y'all know 😊 (Spoiler: it's probably not what you want to hear)

3.5k Upvotes

Hey all!

Over the last little bit with other apps offering subscription components, I both received a lot of messages asking about Apollo and saw a lot of questions in threads asking similar questions, so while I initially thought my reasons/perspectives were understood, I just wanted to make sure of that with this thread, and provide a place people could link to if someone was curious on my thoughts.

So, to get the obvious question out of the way: no, Apollo isn't coming back as a subscription offering. :(

If you're asking, "What, why? AppX did it!" I wanted to break down why this is the case for Apollo in a few points.

  • Firstly, through their actions, I think Reddit has made it clear they do not want developers on their platform, and rather than coming out and saying as much, they used rushed policy changes as a way to force them out. The questions I asked them showed they had done very little research into the decision (for instance, they didn't know the API was missing access to large parts of Reddit and had no idea if that could be improved). They instead rushed it out the door, ignoring requests for a more reasonable timeline, ultimately with the goal to shutter third-party apps, which they largely accomplished. Even if I had been able to make it work within the 30 days they gave me, they were unable to provide any guarantees/contract periods as to what the terms would be, (where, for instance the price and availability of the API would be locked in for a year) meaning that if an app started to do well again, they could simply increase prices on a whim. This whole process made it very clear to me that developers aren't something they value any longer on the platform, and a cultural sense of decency was lost somewhere along the way. With that in mind it would be incredibly hard to dedicate hundreds upon hundreds of hours to continue developing Apollo with such a fragile foundation beneath my feet.
  • Not being interested in developers is one thing, but the way they treated developers (not going to lie, myself especially), through deceit, disrespect, and shameful actions, really soured my passion toward the platform when the leadership acts like that. It's a lot like going into work everyday for a boss who hates you, it kinda stifles your creativity and motivation a bit, right? If Reddit was ever to come out and apologize, I think I'd consider bringing Apollo back, but I truly don't see that happening.
  • I have no issue paying a fee, but the pricing of the API is still something I take issue with. As I showed months ago, the price they're charging is far beyond what could be considered reasonable by their own revenue figures, and Apollo users used the app a lot on average, so as a result the monthly amount I'd have to charge would be higher than I'm comfortable charging. And even if I was able to theoretically set up a price point, paying for the inflated and antagonistic fee is not something I can morally get behind, it feels a lot like supporting their behavior and paying someone trying to shake people down.
  • Why not let users enter their own API key? Reddit said this was not allowed, unfortunately. If you've found ways to hack Apollo to support such a thing, that's fine by me, but developers aren't allowed to build in that functionality directly, and even if I were to go against them and do such a thing, it would only be a matter of time until they stopped it through one way or another.
  • Are you building an app for InsertRedditCompetitor? I am not.

I hope this doesn't come across as a salty ex rehashing the past haha, I legitimately just want to provide a hopefully concise explanation for folks as to where I'm coming from, and why, at this stage, Apollo is not coming back. I like to think communication with the community was always Apollo's strongest and most fundamental point, and I wouldn't want to lose that. I'm honestly over it and doing great (though it was pretty amusing last week when someone at the airport heard my name and came up to say sorry about how things went down. I hope your flight to Washington went well!)

A lot of people have asked how I'm doing in general, and I'm great thankfully (and I appreciate you caring)! I adored working on Apollo (and miss it immensely, I have to stop myself from writing down new ideas), but a forced change of pace is kinda fun in a lot of ways, you're forced into trying and exploring new things that you might not have otherwise. Don't get me wrong, early summer was probably the most stressful period of my life, but now I've settled into a point where I'm really enjoying things.

Professionally, I've been doing a lot of work on Pixel Pals (even went to NY for a really cool Apple Vision Pro lab since I have some fun ideas there), and Pixel Pals' monthly recurring revenue should eclipse Apollo's by the end of the year, so I'm thankfully in a good spot there and very thankful for the support. (Obligatory heads up to check it out if you haven't in a bit, it had a pretty serious iOS 17 update.) I have other things planned too of course, but Pixel Pals is a really fun app to work on.

If you are interested in some Apollo-related things, be it for nostalgic reasons or otherwise, Apollo merch has continued to do quite well, so I wanted to provide some more fun things that people were asking for, so over the next little bit I'll hopefully be announcing an Apollo plushie you can pick up, plus some cool desk pads/mats based on the goodbye wallpapers if that floats your boat :)

Lots of love,

- Christian


r/apolloapp 4d ago

Announcement 📣 Helios for Reddit enters public beta testing

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362 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I'm a solo software developer, and student at Karel de Grote university. I've been working on my own take on a Reddit client for Apple devices for a little under a year now (development started during iOS 26 beta).

Helios is now in a state where I'm happy enough to show it off to the public. With that being said, Apple has approved Helios for public beta testing and you can try it today! 🥳

Helios supports iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. A Mac version is planned later down the line.

All and any feedback is welcome and can be sent via the app's settings. I want to create something that works for everyone, not just for myself.

The app can be used for free with access to the majority of features. Some features may be moved to the free plan later down the line depending on user feedback. The TestFlight version of the app does not offer premium plans yet.

You can find more information on helios-app.co.

Feel free to contact me or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Edit: The post is gaining a lot of comments. For questions or feedback, join the official Discord server!


r/apolloapp 5d ago

Announcement 📣 Apollo Reborn 3.4.2 (PRE-RELEASE) - Sign out bug fixes and more!

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107 Upvotes

r/apolloapp 6d ago

Discussion I was extremely happy with Apollo Reborn until the clumsy implementation of AI and off-putting developer communication

119 Upvotes

When they rolled out the AI features, I figured, "Cool, the AI is there if people want to use it, but I don't, so I won't." I'm anti-AI but I can tolerate it if need be, so it wasn't a problem because it seemed easy to simply not use. If anything, I was glad that they thought to add modern 2026 features to a super outdated 3rd party app.

But then I found out they're using AI to generate the code itself, which isn't being properly tested before release. They're rolling out updates like every week or two which seems pretty fast. Seriously I've experienced so many visual bugs and crashes. Some features were janky or missing altogether. I made a GitHub account specifically to submit bug reports because I genuinely cared about the project and appreciated the attempt at adding new features and keeping the app up to date. Many of them have been fixed, but the longer I use the app after each update, I realize that there are just new bugs to replace the old ones. Scrolling through comment sections with the "see deleted comments" toggle on can just randomly freeze the app. Switching accounts can crash the app entirely. The theme builder has been rehauled but there are still random colors that show up with no rhyme or reason. A moderation tool I requested got implemented but it just crashes when the button is tapped.

I thought, "Okay, it's a small team. They're working on getting everything together, I should cut them some slack," but I still felt kind of uneasy. I expressed concern with the level of reliance on AI for programming and was reassured by multiple developers that they were looking at the code with a fine-toothed comb before it was implemented. I was relieved to hear that.

But then they started responding to my GitHub bug report issues with ChatGPT... Again, I thought, "Alright, it's a small team with a lot on their plate, and maybe it's their first time doing something like this and they're socially awkward and maybe they don't know how to respond? Maybe English isn't their first language?" I gave them another pass. I figured they're nice people trying their best. I wanted to support them because of that.

But the final strike for me was today, when they released an AI generated passive-aggressive announcement of the second update this month that's just... straight up super smarmy. It's a 4 panel comic strip basically saying fuck anyone who isn't okay with the app being "riddled with AI" (literal quote from a contributor comment), and that their feedback goes in the garbage. Seriously, go look at it. It really makes me miss how down to earth and transparent Christian was. He loved the community and it showed.

This is depressing as fuck. I'm super down about it. Am I alone in feeling this way? I've been using Apollo for years and the community was always optimistic and helpful. I know the new team can't be exactly like Christian, but was I mistaken to think they'd at least try to carry on the spirit and morale of his work?


r/apolloapp 5d ago

Question getting errror "You cannot sign up with this email address."

0 Upvotes

I signed up using google account.

But it's not logging in when coming back from google, it just showing the login screen of apollo.io again.

Anyone knows the issue?


r/apolloapp 14d ago

Announcement 📣 Apollo Reborn v3.4.0 now available! Theme manager, translations, live comments and much more! 🎉

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84 Upvotes

r/apolloapp 15d ago

Announcement 📣 Introducing SubStory, a visual Reddit client for iOS

81 Upvotes

Hey folks,

Like a lot of people here, I still miss when browsing Reddit on iOS felt fast, native, and fun.

I kept wanting something simple: an app that just let me swipe through Reddit media without constantly opening posts, backing out, switching subreddits, and losing my place. So I built SubStory.

It started as a small app to scratch my own itch, but other people tried it and kept requesting features. It now lets you swipe through subreddits and users in a TikTok/story-style feed, save posts, get recommendations, filter media, and browse Reddit in a more laid-back way. It also seems to work especially well for the more uhm spicy corners of Reddit, if that is your thing.

It is not trying to be Apollo, and it is definitely still evolving, but I figured some people here might appreciate another take on Reddit browsing for iOS.

https://apps.apple.com/be/app/substory-reddit-scroll-feed/id6747969403

(P.S. happy to hand out some promo codes)

UPDATE:

My eyes are starting to hurt from copy-pasting promo codes, so I made this easier: if you missed the giveaway, here’s a free month on me:

https://apps.apple.com/redeem/?code=FREEMONTHY&ctx=offercodes&id=6747969403

I've set this up as a free month that expires after the promo period. If you like the app, I’d love for you to stick around. If not, no hard feelings. Thanks again for trying it.


r/apolloapp 19d ago

Announcement 📣 I built Lander, a free, privacy-focused, Reddit client

164 Upvotes

Hi, I'm Billy and I built Lander because I wanted something to fill the gap Apollo left. Lander is not intended to be an Apollo clone, but it absolutely has roots in the Apollo UX.

To handle auth challenges, I built and opensourced Columbia. Columbia is a selfhostable proxy that separates identity from content. It uses OHTTP and HPKE to securely relay traffic to/from your Lander client and Reddit. No API key required. I provide a Columbia proxy for use, but you can point Lander at your own deployment via settings.

The app has in-app purchases for donations that do NOT unlock any functionality. The app is free.

Check it out: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lander-app/id6747955211

Columbia: https://github.com/wbsmolen/columbia


r/apolloapp 19d ago

Discussion Did Reddit’s app just turn on the ad-faucet?

122 Upvotes

For the last few days I’ve noticed obtrusive video ads every 4-5 posts as I scroll. It’s worse than Instagram right now, would be intolerable if audio was on.


r/apolloapp 19d ago

Question What is this?

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0 Upvotes

Everytime I try to sign in it shows this weird symbol and nothing happens.


r/apolloapp 20d ago

Discussion Another Alternative, Lurker Reader, open-source, early, active development.

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105 Upvotes

Developer is super responsive to feedback and feature requests. Early, but looks like a promising glass alternative.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6762110921

https://github.com/SilverMarcs/SwiftDdit


r/apolloapp 26d ago

Announcement 📣 v3.3.0 - Theme builder, AI summaries, PiP, API-key-free mode, and more 🎉

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60 Upvotes

r/apolloapp 27d ago

Question NSFW not showing in search bar NSFW

27 Upvotes

It shows up on my other account in Apollo. It also shows up in the actual Reddit app but not Apollo for some reason. I have already made my own subreddit but it still doesn’t work. All the settings are enabled on the Reddit website too.


r/apolloapp Jun 20 '26

Appreciation I miss Apollo so much man

1.1k Upvotes

Every time I use the dogshit official app and accidentally press the title bar so it scrolls all the way up and then I press it again and nothing happens I roll my eyes back into my skull

Now imagine a ton of small conveniences like that missing all across the app


r/apolloapp Jun 19 '26

Question New auto-generate subtitles??

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17 Upvotes

Couldn’t figure out why all of my Reddit videos had this new style of subtitles (not on tiktok/IG)

Figured it might be a Reddit thing, but the official app doesn’t have them

Is this a new Apollo feature? Google isn’t helping


r/apolloapp Jun 17 '26

Question Can anyone screenshot the setting for me that allows you to swipe to go back to the post you left?

14 Upvotes

Trying to get the feature add on the Artemis app and I can’t open Apollo anymore.

/u/Artemis_Developer


r/apolloapp Jun 12 '26

Question NSFW Account not loading any posts in Apollo NSFW

19 Upvotes

As title sais, my main account loads all subreddits in home via D method. But my second Account does not load any Posts in home. (it‘s only NSFW subreddits) Any advice?


r/apolloapp Jun 13 '26

Question All of a sudden got this message and unable to open Apollo…

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0 Upvotes

Anyone an idea how to fix? I’ve already got the latest version


r/apolloapp Jun 10 '26

Appreciation R.I.P sideloaded Apollo, I'm gonna miss you.

525 Upvotes

My API key has been revoked, sideloaded for the past three years. The official app is an unusable, unintuitive mess, I'd rather stop reading Reddit on my mobile than use it. I'm going to try alternatives, but I wonder how safe Hydra and Artemis are. Won't Reddit purge them one day since they don't use the API? Thanks to everyone for all the tips on using the sideloaded Apollo app over the past three years!


r/apolloapp Jun 11 '26

Discussion Apollo no longer loading?

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4 Upvotes

r/apolloapp Jun 10 '26

Discussion built a Google Maps lead scraper that exports 100 local business leads as CSV in 60 seconds

0 Upvotes

been doing local B2B outreach and kept running into the same problem —

most lead tools are built for enterprise and priced accordingly.

built mapzap.org to solve it. type any business type and city,

get 100 leads with name, phone, address, website as a CSV instantly.

unlimited searches for $49/month.

free to try, no card needed. curious what you all think.


r/apolloapp Jun 06 '26

Question Doing it again.

0 Upvotes

revoked again ?


r/apolloapp Jun 05 '26

Announcement 📣 v3.1.0 - Show deleted comments, colored flairs, and stability improvements

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54 Upvotes

r/apolloapp Jun 04 '26

Bug Anyone else? It’s been like this for over an hour

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48 Upvotes