I check reddit sometimes using RedReader which got an exemption from the API policies https://www.reddit.com/r/RedReader/comments/145du4j/update_4_redreader_granted_noncommercial/
Still though, who knows how long that may last, I can’t imagine using reddit without 3rd party apps otherwise. I’m loving Lemmy so far and even RedReader seemed to have plans to support other platforms including Lemmy someday, so that’s exciting.
the dev is strong on the philosophy of keeping it free and open source. So it won’t ever require subscription, which also partly what allowed reddit to give the exemption as a ‘non commercial’ app. As for how long it may last, I don’t know, they were worried about this too, that a lot of 3rd party users would migrate to this app and reddit may change their mind.