[radarsat1]

> Neat. I wasn't aware that there's an endpoint you could use to retrieve JSON data without an API key.

Call me naive but in fact I always thought that's what the apps were using. One thing that took me by surprise in the whole fiasco was that the apps were actually using their own API keys -- I always thought I was just logged in to reddit in my own account. I figured it might be using some backend service for storing some app metadata but I didn't realize it was needing to communicate with reddit using the app developer's account on my behalf.

[vladxyz]

Based on folks using ReVanced to patch the shut down apps, it's an oauth client id that was specific to an app. Communication was with reddit's API directly.