This was extensively discusseds by Apollo developers themselves, also in HN threads. There are technical hurdles on how to implement this (don't remember the details atm) but the more important point is that Reddit is not interested. They don't want money from subscriptions. Serving the API costs them nothing. They want the much bigger ad/tracking income -> having the userbase use 1st party apps.
Well, yeah, that's exactly what I don't understand - why the heck aren't they interested in user subscriptions. This is so incredibly short-sighted.
The ad/tracking revenues can't be more than few bucks a month per user, can it? It's, of course, "easier" to do several large transactions than a boatload of small ones, but that "easier" is just a matter of respective backend scaffolding. For large volume retail transactions Stripe built it, many others did too. Given non-zero funding, it's not like it's a rocket science really.
A lot of people are very firmly hooked into Reddit. You ask them to pay - they will pay. But you start changing Reddit - their hooks will come off and they will leave. How is it not obvious to Reddit is beyond me.
The same reason why FB was not interested in subscriptions. Few bucks/month/all your users guaranteed is much MUCH more than a bit more bucks/month a fraction of that userbase. Would the less money still be a good, and also fair business? Sure. But they will now have shareholders and they demand growth.
Well, fish rots from the head, so FB's choice has never been a shocker. On the other hand Reddit is in a _superb_ position to not go that route and try something different. One can hope, you know.
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