r/MacApps Community Quality & Status Check
It has been three months since one of the biggest changes occurred in this sub with our trust vs. transparency tier-based posting requirements: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1ryaeex/rmacapps_mods_went_too_far_whats_changing_phase_3/ Over the last month, 5,400+ comments and posts have been removed by a combination of Reddit bots, sub automations, and fairly heavy moderation. I'm not sure how sustainable this is for the community, and I don't want to create too much friction for members and developers. At the same time, I hope it has ensured that better-quality apps make it to the main feed, while still ensuring a good variety ends up in the megathread. I'm curious what regulars here think, how you have perceived changes to the sub, and any improvement-centric feedback you may have, especially pertaining to the tier system, PCP (problem, comparison, pricing) post formatting requirements, megathread, or anything else. Other recent changes: - Added "Read-the-rules" bot, which removes any post by anyone who has not marked that they have read the rules. - Experimenting with Github guard, which as of a few minutes ago is updated to only comment on posts, not every comment (it was getting annoying). - Blacklist in the sidebar. In the interest of further transparency, here are some fun stats: Removal stats: Growth is strong, though there has been an 8–9% drop in visits over the last 30 days. More people less engaged isn't the best sign.
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I'm new here, so take this as a newcomer/developer perspective: I understand the stricter rules, and the PCP format actually seems useful because it forces posts to explain the problem, alternatives, and pricing instead of just dropping a link. The only friction I ran into is that the posting requirements are hard to understand from the user side until you're blocked. A short "new dev path" in the rules/sidebar could help: comment normally for a bit, read the rules, use PCP, include GitHub/identity info if relevant, then post. That would keep the quality bar without making the first failure feel mysterious.
Yeah, I'm trying to think of a better way to communicate this as well. When I have the time, I'd like to throw up a flowchart that simplifies down the thread rule 8 links to with all the details.
The PCP format alone has been a massive improvement. Before that, half the posts were just "check out my app" with a screenshot and zero context about what it actually solves. Now I can scan the feed and immediately tell if something is relevant to me. The tier system initially seemed heavy-handed, but honestly it makes sense. When a dev is willing to link their GitHub and stand behind their work, I take the app way more seriously. The 8-9% dip in visits doesn't worry me either, quality engagement > raw traffic every time. One thought on the GitHub guard bot. Glad it's post-only now. When it was hitting every comment thread it added a lot of noise. Is there any plan to surface the tier info in post flairs? That would save a click when browsing. Appreciate the transparency with the stats. Running a sub this size with actual quality standards is a thankless grind, so genuinely, thanks for putting in the work.
Tier info in post flairs would come at the expense of existing flairs, so likely not, since we can’t have both.
so much work goes into this. thank you again and again. tbh, the feeling got way better, so i’d say mission accomplished! i feel way less “stealing my time” than i had before. currently even like totally gone. feels good, thank you again. that been said mixed feelings about the git thing. but we will accommodate, as it basically is a good idea
If you have suggestions for it, these can be passed on to the dev, u/sophias_bush. I am thankful for the changes made already, which have enabled us to keep using it, while scaling down how active/spammy it is in a thread.
Fairly great , in the quality of apps in general I think we’re at a point where 90% if not all devs have come to realize AI or agentic coding (not vibing the code) is here to stay, so the AI disclosure was kind of a waste of time. But getting developers disclosure and GitHub links are welcome additions. The read the rules bot was a bit confusing initially when i first submitted a post, but straightforward enough
I've added rule 9 to help clarify this; couldn't squeeze it into the character limit of #1. Might have to bump it up to #2.
Overall, a really big fan of your changes! The post quality has meaningfully improved over the last weeks compared to what it was just a few months ago. Not sure if I'm a fan of the GitHub bot, though. It doesn't feel to me like the requirements it's looking for are truly relevant enough to measure a project's reputation. For example; not sure if "5+ stars" is really a meaningful benchmark, "Entity Status" is largely irrelevant or counterproductive for an indie developer community and could easily be bypassed anyway (there's no real requirement to opening a GitHub org), and honestly it'd be better if it looked at other repositories by the same developer, too, as a trust signal. If there's popular previous projects and the developer has a long history on GitHub, that's a bigger trust signal to me than a 30-day old repository with 5+ stars.
I have upped it to 100+ stars, as that is the benchmark we set in r/MacApps. u/sophias_bush may be interested in your suggestions here, as I like the idea of letting other repos be a guide too. If a user has a 10,000 star repo, and then starts a new project with less than 100 stars, perhaps that should not be penalized in the same way.
Fewer people engaged doesn't concern me considering the average quality of post has gone up. Great job mods.
I personally think it’s great. I always felt part of what makes a good macOS app is the developer behind it and I think standing by your work and telling folks who you are greatly contributes to the quality of an app.
It's great to see the numbers displayed so openly. There's a clear improvement in signal-to-noise ratio each time I open the sub. It might help engagement drop if high-karma regulars nominated one megathread app per week for the sidebar spotlight. Another idea - create a short "top comments this week" summary post. They both stay well within the existing guardrails.
I'm a newcomer to Reddit and this sub but I,d like to share something. First, a huge thank you to the moderators. It's rare to find a subreddit that is managed so passionately and thoughtfully. Thanks to your hard work I always feel safe using this place. Also I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, but since I'm a beginner here I'm not sure about the rules. When I find a great app, is it okay to create a new post if I provide enough details? I often feel like saying, "This app is so useful and cute! Someone please hear me out! Does anyone feel the same?" but I hesitate because I don't know if that's allowed. Anyway, thanks for everything!
It’s allowed. We just don’t allow it until users reach at least 10 karma.
Hey everyone! Thanks for the rules, they're pretty clear overall. I just wanted to double-check I'm understanding them right. The Trust Path part is clear: my app isn't on the App Store, so that route isn't really open to me. But the Transparency path looks like it fits my case. So if I make a post about my app and disclose who I am right in the post (with a link to my LinkedIn profile), plus a website with a Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, that would be enough, right? The one thing I didn't fully get is the "company / business presence" part. If I include my LinkedIn, do I still need a company or business presence on top of that? I don't have a registered legal entity, I'm only set up as a sole proprietor (autónomo) here in Spain. Should I add that info too, or is the LinkedIn alone enough? Thanks!
LinkedIn will suffice.
I don't know if my message will be very useful, because I am a very recent Reddit user. However, I must say that I find the moderation very good on this subforum. I myself have been faced with the deletion of messages, and honestly, it is a very good thing. It has brought my attention to elements on which I had not been vigilant enough and it allows us to maintain a high quality.
These stats are crazy. I think the change is a great move. Since it took effect, I haven't come across any malicious or impersonator posts. While the occasional low effort app may still slip through, the change definitely mitigates the main risk I was seeing before.
I am NOT a regular but I DO appreciate the cleanliness.
I think that the overall quality of what is posted has improved For me, transparency is still an issue and many devs like to hide behind an obscure company or app name. I often find myself resorting to some domain info hunting and scouring social media etc. In ±75% of cases, I've been successful, but you shouldn't have to do that. Some have been good at hiding themselves If you hide behind a name, I just won't purchase your software. It's that simple for me
Great changes imo. I feel like the overall quality of the posts AND replies went up. Less AI generated replies (or maybe that's just me?), I haven't seen any posts that -shouldn't- be on the feed. I personally really like the PCP format, I am a developer not a writer and I tend to write like a messy dum dum, the format keeps things tidy, and the adjustment made to the original PCPCA were perfect. Thank you for the hard work mods!
clean and clear I'd. personally had my post removed but I understand it, so yea system is fine
Really appreciate sharing these insights and asking for our feedback. In my experience, the quality has definitely gone up from the last ste of changes
5400 removals?? the bots are working overtime 💀