I just set up all the subreddits I still want to following in Reeder, an RSS app. I'm able scroll through the posts ad free. It the occurred to me that this is a loss of revenue to Reddit. Could RSS be the new target for onerous fees?
It could be the case that RSS usage is small compared to 3rd party apps like Apollo so not of much concern. It also may be the case that it isn't possible for Reddit to charge for the usage. If they can't charge, they may just disable RSS altogether. I'm only guessing. I'll take off my tinfoil hat now.
Is it really a loss in revenue if you used a 3rd party app previously?
If you want to bypass Reddit, why not just set up RSS for the things you get from Reddit instead? Most news sites have RSS. You could almost certainly find a feed for most of the stuff posted to Reddit.
Thing with me is I don't want the raw stream of dozens of articles each day. I've used RSS feeds with Reddit for years now using the Top Week feed for each important subreddit. I haven't been able to find a way to get that sort of curated information stream anywhere else. Essentially I get around the top 12 articles/pictures/text-posts each day that real people think are actually important for each of my interests. Open to suggestions, though.
Whether it's really a loss in revenue is not the relevant question to the people making decisions at Reddit. They're looking for sources of new revenue, and if they think they can monetize the feeds, then you know they will try.