Apollo for Reddit Reviews

by EyesofBucket

I've been using Apollo for a couple weeks now, and I seriously don't get why people like it so much. The gestures are near impossible to consistently get right. In an attempt to upvote, I find myself either downvoting or jumping out of the subreddit. No problem, I'll just use the buttons. Now, I'm left-handed, which means I normally use the smaller buttons to the left. (I also found it frustrating that those cannot be swapped) After scrolling for a good while, I will find myself accidentally pressing the "Posts" button at the bottom instead of the upvote button, sending me all the way back to the top of the page. At that point, I generally close Apollo out of frustration, only to come back later and eventually have it happen again. I can tell the developers put a ton of effort into Apollo. Customization, a clean build, and so on make it very robust. It feels to me though that the devs don't actually use it outside of the office. Or, furthermore, it is only tested by the developers, who already understand every single aspect of how Apollo works. I'll be going back to the official Reddit app, but I'll keep this one around to see if it improves.

by KaosTrinity

I was really feeling Apollo (an AMAZING amount of customization options are available to optimize your viewing, as well as night mode and even icon customization [the last of which you do need to pay for]) right up until I was told it was p2p (pay-to-post).

Look, I get it. You need revenue to avoid filling this thing up with ads, because excessive ads can/will drive away users. And I totally understood the paid cosmetic customization decisions. But having posting behind a paywall was a huge no go for me. That’s literally what Reddit is, a giant *free to use* Internet forum for sharing ideas. You don’t have to buy Reddit gold to post (and though obviously those donors who do buy Reddit gold help keep it running, the average user is not required to donate), and if I don’t need to pay to use Reddit, I’m sure as heck not going to pay to use Reddit through a third party app.

For me, that was the big deal breaker. Otherwise, I think it’s a beautiful app and seemed very nicely done (I honestly really did enjoy the 15 minutes of browsing I did with it, there are some amazing features), but I’ll be sticking with the official Reddit app for now.

by Meme23579

So I've been using Apollo essentially from when it was created and I have and still do absolutely love. I only use a fraction of all the features it has to offer and even still it is by far the best Reddit mobile experience I've seen.

However, for the past week or so there's been a reoccurring glitch that has been incredibly frustrating. I'm using an iPhone 7 running iOS 11.2.1 for the record. So this usually occurs after I've been using Apollo for at least 10-15 minutes continuously. I'll be a few dozen posts down through my home page or one specific subreddit and suddenly I'll lose the ability to click on posts. I can scroll through the subreddit, click on the thumbnail, vote, and even use haptic touch or whatever it's called. But I can't click in a way that brings me to the post's "page" and thus there's no way I can view more than the top couple comments. The problems seems to fix itself temporarily when I force close Apollo and come back, but then I lose my place in the subreddit or on my home page. It's a very annoying problem on an app that has otherwise worked perfectly.
Please fix soon, and my rating will go back up to 5 stars.

by Dunked0n

I love this app, I have used it for months. And I paid for the pro and had an ultra subscription as well. The apps beautiful UI that blends well with the rest of iOS. However there are two things that bother me about Apollo . First, I feel Apollo adheres too well to the human interface guidelines. The apps hyper-minimalistic look creates a confusing and often buries you in a heap of menus with little to no pointers on what to do. This attempts to be remedied with occasional tips that pop up explaining some of the apps features. But it creates more of an annoyance to returning users or users just wanting to explore. Second, I feel like Apollo has too many features packed into one app as it attempts to cram casual and experienced browsing with searching and moderating. Features like the search bar are hidden while scrolling to make room for more of the screen, making it somewhat hard to get back up should you want to search in the middle of scrolling. Action sheets also tend to require a lot of scrolling to find a specific action, and some text is hard to select to go to subreddits and user pages. But this app overall is a really good app.

by Paramorgasm

They’re charging $0.99 per month to be notified of new messages. I’m talking to a depressed person and it’s awful that I missed their messages because of this. I now have to set an outside alarm to remind me to check messages regularly.
Most apps are bugging people to set up notifications. But here you have to pay for that. Yes, you read this correctly... people are required to PAY to be notified of messages.
this app is basically fine otherwise, and was superior to Narwal and the Reddit app (obviously), but wow this ruined it. Didn’t realize they were scrounging... (or arrogant?).
It’s not so much about the money, but the principle of it. What level of snob do you need to be to do this. You already have a tip jar, you have premium upgrades, you have Gold and Silver purchases. At some point, you didn’t stop to think that making your users pay for notifications (which benefits YOU as a company, reminding people to open Apollo !) might be on a bit of another level? I truly believed you saw your users as more than a product, but I guess I’m wrong.
Guess there’s always a catch.

by Joejoebinkz

Just upgraded to 1.1.5 and as I was expecting some additional functionality, the update from 1.1.1 appears to be a step backwards. Running iOS 11.2.1 on an iPhone X, there are bugs explicitly mentioned in the change log which have been made worse, specifically the filtering from r/All (shows as filtered via button change but not added to filter list, nor able to manually enter a subreddit to the list). The four new icons have an error when applying (a popup actually comes up to contact the developer if I’m seeing the message, and the issue persists). There are just a few things missing which will allow me to delete Alien Blue once and for all. A gallery mode based on the current subreddit, and the ability to use gestures to filter subreddits from r/All are nearly the only things keeping me from permanently switching to this app. Also from a UI perspective, in compact mode, lines to break up posts are probably not necessary, as each post is identical in height, and merely an appropriate amount of white/black space between posts should suffice.

Keep up the great work!

by Paul Dunahoo

this app is easily the best reddit app available for the iPhone, not only because of how full-featured it is but also because of its reliability (an issue with some other reddit clients I’ve tried).

My one complaint for most users is not that relevant to them, but it’s relevant enough to my situation that it is worth mentioning: 4” iPhone optimization could be a little bit better. (Models of iPhones with these screen sizes include the 5, 5s, 5c, and most importantly these days the SE). When I navigate to a subreddit the only immediately-available options for me in the navigation bar are a go back option, a change subreddit option, and a sort-by option. The rest of my options are hidden under an other button. While understandable, it can be somewhat annoying as the ability to customize this navigation bar to have smaller buttons so I can immediately access a submission button would be a welcome option. (Adding a compact mode for navigation would also suffice).

But really, that’s a minor complaint that mostly only effects me. Get this app and delete your other reddit client.

by Lcuein Veerron

I never write reviews for apps, but I fed that this app deserves one. this app has everything you’ll ever need in a Reddit app, plus more you didn't even know you needed.

Anything you want Apollo to be able to do, it’ll do for you. There are so many options to get it to work and feel exactly how you want. It feels less like a set experience and more like a build your own app.

The only two things that may concern some users is that Apollo can be buggy at times after a new updates, and that some features you have to either pay 1$ a month, 10$ a year, or 25$ for a lifetime.

But these cons really don’t make the experience any worse, even without a premium subscription you’re still going to get much more features than the official Reddit app, and the developer is constantly checking the this app subreddit and is very active looking for bug reports and taking in ideas for new features so anything that goes wrong is usually fixed within a couple hours to a day and if you want to request a feature the developer always listens.

Thank you u/iamthatis for an incredible Reddit browser and for all of the work you’ve put into something you’re giving for free/ very cheap.

TLDR:
Better than stock Reddit app in every way, very versatile and customizable, premium features are very cheap, and the developer genuinely cares about Apollo and community.

by TheSweeney2011

I love reddit. I spend a large portion of my free time on the site and I used to do this using Alien Blue, easily on of the best iOS reddit clients ever released. But after reddit swooped in and choked the life out of that precious app, I went on the hunt for a proper replacement. Two years ago, I stumbled across Apollo when it was first announced and decided to give it a try.

Things were tough for a while. One developer and a mountain of bugs and problems. So while I continued to use alternatives as my main reddit experience, I kept coming back to Apollo for more casual browsing. And finally Apollo is here and it's everything it was promised to be and more. Absolutely fantastic. Proper iPad support and a few other QOL features would make it even better, but it's worth not only a download and a five-star rating, but a solid purchase and extra tip as well.

Great job Christian and I can't wait to see where Apollo goes next.

by Notgreatbob84

this app is simply perfect, and you don’t really realize how many features you wanted in a Reddit app until you use this app. I used RiF for years and thought I really liked it, and when I made the switch to iOS about a year ago I was annoyed that I had to give it up. I tried 3 different apps on iOS before finally giving this app a shot, and that was that. It’s heaven compared to all of its competitors.

Swipe to upvote/downvote/save/reply along with haptic feedback is so convenient to use that I find myself engaging in comments far more than I did previously (there’s something so satisfying about that little “bzzt”). The ability to map your own gestures for different actions within Apollo is awesome too. On top of all that, it’s just a beautiful, sleek looking app that was clearly designed by someone who knows their stuff when it comes to UX.

this app also has its own subreddit, and Christian the sole developer is very active in it and is constantly adding features requested there. He’s a solid dude. Do yourself a favor and try it even if you think you love your current app. I can promise that you won’t regret it.

by Mehatch

I forgot I was in a new app. I already knew this place...i was immediately immersed in the experience of what a reddit app should have always been. My muscle memory took to it and navigated the sea of content with instantaneous attentive purchase and without thinking, without even learning...its like I was an expert without practice. It simply feels correct. It’s as if some part of me knew, always knew, like the childhood home of an amnesia victim, i knew where all the doorknobs were already, it all seems so familiar. It’s a reminder that beyond our ken, existing unreachable, is the True and Optimum reddit interface that others could only try to reach for, the golden door to content that was *supposed* to be all along...and though we had to wait this long for it... it must have always there, before reddit....before earth, outside of time, beyond the crystal sphere, the platonic ideal of a reddit app, now an anachronism crashed down out of the sky onto our imperfect mortal world. It’s perfect, and we don’t deserve it.

by Shfffkitdsfh

I was not a very avid reader on Reddit for a lot of different reasons. I wasn’t a fan of how the reddit app was laid out and I hated adds almost every other post so I searched around and saw this app and a few other variants and I must say. The customizability in this app and just the overall apps design is amazing. I immediately paid for the this app ultra lifetime option because I love supporting smaller creators and I just feel Christian did a much better job at making a reddit app than reddit themselves did. Ever since I downloaded Apollo it has been my go to place to view reddit and I have since become an avid reddit user. I also appreciate when devs will put things that they are updating in their notes rather than something lazy like “squashed bugs”. I have recommended so many friends to this app and they all pay for it now as well because it is a joy to just scroll through reddit on Apollo and customize the experience to make it your own. Thanks Christian!!

by F Lee Bites

while i like a lot of features in Apollo (the lack of ads and the clean, organised home page are really nice!), there are times when the minimalism makes Apollo a bit less than intuitive (half of the time, i couldn’t figure out how to use it) and the absolute dealbreaker was having pay simply to post. i get the need for revenue it in order to run an ad-free app, but it’s just not reddit if you have to pay for the bare minimum (i.e. the very thing Reddit is: a place where ppl go to post and read the posts of others). i could see paying for custom icons, notifs, and ad-free browsing, but posting…?

when i first downloaded Apollo, posting was free. idk if that was a one month trial or if this is a recent development, but either way, it’s pretty bad form (imho) in that is really cramps the spirit of what Reddit is here for. i’ll keep Apollo for a while to see if anything changes, but i surely won’t be using it while this pay-to-post model is in effect.

by Paxswill

From first use, Apollo is a joy to use. It integrates incredibly well with the rest of iOS. The default settings are mostly intuitive (especially for first time users) and for those places where Apollo doesn’t do what you expect, the available options are extensive.

What prompted me to write this review was actually a feature of the Ultra subscription (also available as a one time purchase). I’d put off purchasing Ultra for a while, as the biggest draw to me was the message/reply notifications but I still used Narwhal for that. I recently subscribed to support the developer, and got my first notification. It’s great, it feels like an iMessage notification with a quick reply sheet opening up so I can respond with the easy option to open the full app as well.

The one limitation I encounter with Apollo is the iPad interface. It is not as well thought out as the iPhone interface; it’s basically a scaled up version of the iPhone interface. But as an iPhone app, this is the best Reddit client I’ve used (I even prefer it over the old and new website on a “real” computer).

by Lena Banx

The this app app has so many features & customization that the official app doesn’t have. Fairly often when I’m scrolling through Reddit I read comments/posts complaining about problems with the Reddit app that I have never had to experience. Also - no ads every other post! You can get even more optimization if you pay but to access most things there is no paywall required. The only thing that might be a downside if your looking for an entirely free option is that any notifications you’d normally get (like comment replies, comments on your posts, private messages, etc..) are completely disabled unless you are paying the monthly $1 or $2 basic subscription fee for Apollo . Can’t really blame the dev for choosing to do that though because it’s a great incentive to get people to sign up. Either way the creators definitely deserve the moey! It’s an amazing app and they are continuously making Apollo better and better.

by Sorensjon7

I’ve been an avid user of the official Reddit app and have done years of time wasting on it but have been recently using both since downloading this app as they each have their own individual benefits.

However, I recently upgraded to the Ultra plan and made a one time purchase to unlock certain features and was well worth it and will be using this app as my primary Reddit app, not seeing any real need now to switch between. It also was impactful when I discovered the multireddit option on this app, that allows the individualized creation of a thematic, conglomerate of subreddits combined into one

The customization options really are great and implement features I’d hoped the official app would have done long ago, most of which were available without purchase of any add ons. I also appreciate how the devs of Apollo respect the platform created by Reddit, (loading both apps produce the exact same content) and not trying to alter how the site runs or the algorithms used, just improved UI functionality and options.

by NorthBearOne

Christian you’ve done an awesome job with this app and it’s hands down my favorite app!! However, because I was just permanently banned for “racism” for discussing experiencing racism as a white child in Hawaii (where I grew up) and how I can’t relate to systemic racism experienced by actual minorities but can appreciate the experience in what it taught me, (with sources about white “haoles” and black “papolos” getting targeted by locals) I will not be able to use Apollo any more.

The moderators petitioned for an IP ban and the admins approved it without even discussing it with me and said I was promoting racist propaganda against native Hawaiians?! It’s such a clearly documented occurrence my head spun when I woke up to a ban email this morning!! Anyway, I wish I could financially support you without having to stay subscribed to anything attached to Reddit. Do you have a gofundme or patreon?? I never thought to look at the subreddit to see if you did. I hope the website admins and mods don’t turn on you or other users of this app anytime soon.

by Wonderfulhuman

I got this app when it first came out and now I can’t go back to the official Reddit app. I paid 99¢ or $1.99 for the paid version initially, and even though I don’t have the premium subscription version I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. The initial payment was well worth it - Apollo is the best third party Reddit client without a doubt. There’s no ads, an intuitive UI, almost every feature the Reddit app has plus extra. The customer service is great too; when I got a new phone and couldn’t figure out how to restore my purchase, I emailed the developer and he got back to me within an hour. I would’ve paid for it again, though. It’s constantly being updated with fresh new features for both one time purchase members and premium members. One thing I would suggest is a way to implement the new Reddit chat feature into Apollo , but I’m sure the developer is working on it. I recommend Apollo to every friend of mine that uses Reddit. Dev, keep up the great work!

by HeffTheLegend

(Full disclosure: I spend a lot of time on Reddit)
Formally a Reddit app user and and then Alien Blue, now to this app… I know some people may bark about a glitch here and rate Apollo lower at times. Get over it. Bugs happen. Personally I haven’t seen a ton that impacted me. But Christian is super dedicated to his work and always making it better. He has by far made my mobile experience using my favorite website nothing short of amazing. Early in the morning, during work breaks, on the iron throne, or late at night this is Apollo for you. If you are transitioning from another app, SURE you are going to face a transitional period. It’s been made so customizable and I’ve got it dialed in to what works best for me. The day gif and video scrubbing arrived I think I hit the electronic “nut!” button on my office desk like 10 times. Not only has it been great on the iPhone, it’s been great on the iPad as well. Pay him for Apollo . It’s worth it. I don’t purchase apps, but he is building this for the people… not some massive company… he’s just one of us. I’d give this six stars if I could.

by Vuk Stajic

When i saw reddit(iphone app), it was confusing, i didnt know how to go to different subbredit(i am not that good at english) and it was complicated, but appolo is much simpler, i can go to different subbs more simply, everything is designed just for ios, overall, ist easy to use. But the problem is that i need to pay for stuff that is one of the reasong people go on reddit, to post, and you make us pay for that, i am still giving Apollo 5 stars, its amazing, but the need to pay for posting and notifications is just weird. But one more reason to pay, that made me give this 5 stars, is that is an idie app, and its really nice from him to make this “ios version” of reddit for us to use, that is 50% of the reason why i paid 6.99$ for premium, other 50% is to make posts. And i dont understand how to get awards of coins here, but i dont care about those. So overall, Apollo is great, i reccommend, but only if you are willing to give at least 4.99$(one time purchase) to be able to post, change icon, etc. But even if you dont, Apollo is great, it goes with ios.

by Despicableteat

Comment threads are easier to follow and I like the personalized settings (although you can’t personalize much unless you pay money), but I generally dislike Apollo ’s formatting. I don’t like that the subreddit of a post and the time it was posted are both listed at the bottom of the post as opposed to the top of it like it is on the official reddit app. I have to scroll past the content to see what subreddit it’s on in order to properly contextualize what I’m looking at, which bothers me. I also dislike how you have to manually choose how you want posts filtered on each subreddit every time you visit a subreddit. For example, there are certain subreddits that I like to have filtered by new posts (such as r/instantkarma & r/JusticeServed). The official Reddit app remembers what I last set each subreddit to, whereas this app does not and I have to manually change the post filter every time. If there’s some way around this that I’ve missed someone please enlighten me. Until then, Apollo isn’t quite doing it for me and I’m regretting spending money on it.

by WchrisW

When Apollo works as intended, it is awesome. Tons of useful features, beautiful UI, smooth and customizable.
When Apollo doesn’t work as intended...well, I’ve gone back using to the official Reddit app. The bug where I forget to re-orientate the screen before I exit a video and my position on the page suddenly changes and the font goes all wonky on certain posts: frustrating. The bug that occurs when clicking directly on a gif or video link and it refuses to play/load until I click through the comments: infuriating. The bug where only the first 20 or so links show up regardless of how many times I refresh, causing me to kill & restart Apollo (sometimes several times): untenable.
I appreciate the effort the dev has put into building Apollo, but the updates come out far too slowly (yes, I did pay for the premium version), and the bugs are far too frustrating to justify my continued use.
Here’s to hoping future versions are better. I will keep an open mind.
*iPhone 7+ 256gb with over 50% storage avail.

by Borebomb

I first got this app because of r/iossettups, which almost unanimously said that this app is the best reddit app. I went out on a limb and downloaded it, and at first I thought it was trash. However, I tried to give it a chance, and after about two weeks I couldn’t go back to the default app. I don’t usually buy apps, but I decided to make an exception and used one of my gift cards to try this app pro. And oh my god, it was an amazing decision. I felt like I had achieved enlightenment, that I had found the one true reddit app. But I wasn’t done yet. I wasn’t in to subscriptions, but this was right around the time I helped start up r/simfascism, and I felt like I really needed notifications. So, I whipped out my gift cards, and ten minutes later, I had purchased this app ultra lifetime. It was beautiful, it felt like I was gazing upon a god. Then I stopped using reddit for a while, but once r/nosleep popped up on my radar, I came back. At this current moment I use this app mainly to browse text based subreddits, and have become a lurker. However, I must say that this app looks and feels like the most well integrated iOS app I’ve seen. Honestly, I could mistake its design for that of a default iOS app. It is worth the money, and y’all should get it.

by Zapata7516

Came from another Reddit app called Antenna. It was one of the best mobile Reddit experiences I ever had, simple and clean and so many useful gestures I wouldn’t have to lift a fingir sometimes. Sadly Apollo hasn’t been updated in a month or so but before that performance was getting real bad with stuttering and crashing frequently. While on the Antenna sub people were recommending Apollo as an alternative to the official Reddit app. Although I had to make a donation to unlock gestures to get it to work similarly to Antenna this new app is far superior in many ways. It’s really fast and snappy and actually loads everything with no major problems so far. Some more positives is the dark mode on this app is far superior to Antenna’s, and if you have an iPhone X there’s a darker mode to take advantage of the OLED panel. I’ve made this my default Reddit app now although I will still go back and forth with my old ones if the performance ever improves but for now I’m gonna use this app heavily now!!!

by VladDaImpaler09

I switched out of the official Reddit app when I got frustrated with some of its issues and stumbled upon this app. I loved its features and swiping (much better and more fluid than the official app) but after this latest update oh my god! I may post a reply and not see it appear in the thread unless I leave and open the thread and search through and find who I replied to like a needle on the haystack. What is even worse is when Apollo completely stalls after hitting submit when commenting. Did it go through?—No, hours later it’ll prompt that something went wrong and when I open up a comment again it’ll put in what I wrote (like it was a draft mode) **scoff** how does that help me, now I gotta figure out what thread and who I replied to. Sometimes it was a long thread, the one just now was a simple comment. Apollo needs a fixing after this past update cause this issue has gotten old real fast.

by Malefic11677

this app is by far the most-used app on my phone (and now I have the ScreenTime reports to prove it). It is orders of magnitude better than the “official” reddit app and is superior in every way. It is fast and smooth and packed with features. I especially love that I can pick the theme I want, change the icon, and remove ads! The thing I hated most about the official app was the ads that were disguised as legitimate posts and with this app that’s all gone!

I bought the Pro upgrade months ago to gain access to additional features and it was one of the few in-app purchases I have never regretted or felt like wasn’t worth the cost. Today the developer released an update adding a bunch of new features that require a very reasonable (seems underpriced to be honest) monthly subscription, and like a true bro he has the option to unlock it for life with a onetime purchase! I hate monthly and even yearly subscriptions so I especially appreciated this option.

All that by itself should convince you that Apollo is worth it, but the thing that really seals the deal is the developer. He is amazing. Super active with feedback and very open in his communication about the status of Apollo ’s development and requested features.