Not so good news 🙁
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Jo Billard
LordLundin
LordLundin
Allie Turner
Eddie, I think you commented on the wrong post lol.
Eddie
Katya
Not interested in video, cover art, or ads that could clutter up a page. Please fix on donate page where it says you can use PayPal or credit card rather than the KOFI account; the options aren’t clickable, I had to go to the App Store and double tap on the developer page in order to find your name for doing a PayPal donation. Thanks for keeping us apprised and for considering what people have to say :-)
Romy
There are exceptions, but I for one am not about to listen to someone talk for more than 10 minutes lol. The comments are even worse! Concision, people
Chase Shepard
That’s not bad news at all Josh you’re just doing what you need to do and I completely understand that wholeheartedly I mean, nobody really should be taking 15 or 20 minutes and clogging up the feed like that save that for YouTube you know what I’m saying but you do what you need to do, man I support you on this one 100%. It’s not terrible news. It’s actually good news. 
Brice Belcher
One of my suggestions would be possibly taking down sndup, which is your main website. I know there's lots of things on there. Maybe that would sort of help things. Although I'm not sure if you use different providers or servers for both websites. But that's one thing. It also might help on server space for storing stuff.
Giulia
Phox
I don't mind this change, even though I would like the ability to post longer audio. A one time purchase for longer audio, and A monthly subscription for ramblio+ allowing the same, seems like a good idea. I do not agree with deleting audio after a time frame. Some people use this and other platforms as a diary or blog, or a place to showcase. Storage is not really the problem, it is engagement and bandwidth that causes the expense. So really what's the difference in allowing people to post long audio, one person posting 10 minutes, or 10 people posting one minute, especially when the one minute audios are likely to get more engagement and band with use? There are definitely some back and changes in streaming and audio format that could help the expense. But I fully support adding one time purchases and subscription tears.
Matthew Jon Moran
Allie Turner
Yeah, I'm not a fan of deleting recordings after 30 days too.
Ciara
PIKACHU
Allie turner, do not worry about sighted trolls. We blind people are the majority here. We will all jump on those sighty people, and poke their eyeballs out. Muhahaha. Jk
Allie Turner
Yeah. That makes sense about the thumb nells and stuff like that. Sorry if I sounded like an asshole. I guess what I would be worried about is if sighted people were to come on here, some of them might come on here and troll the blind people or something like that. Because that's how it is on Clubhouse, some sighted people on there would come into rooms and just troll the blind people and stuff like that. Like make fun of us or something like that. And I just wouldn't want that to happen on here. But I don't know. But whatever yall decide to do, I'll stay here and support whatever happens. I love this app.
The Tone Smith
Joe
The misfit angel
Harmony Finder
Hi Josh, as other people have said, i think that 10 minutes is more than enough time. I won’t listen to long posts, and i imagine not many other people do either. I don’t think you need to complicate things or make more work for yourself by having several layers of subscription options. Maybe you could have 10 minute max for free, and then paid accounts get the limit that was in place before. But in any case i think it’s fine. Keep up the great work you’re doing, and thank you for the updates.
Matt Cooper
Robert Kingett
Donate link is https://ko-fi.com/joshms
The Tone Smith
@LofiLover I think you would be surprised. In its day Audioboom had thousands of cited users. In fact I think the majority of users on the platform were cited. A lot of blind people gravitated to it because it was audio only, but it wasn't aimed at blind people specifically. It may be that Josh does want this pretty much for visually impaired people only of course, in which case no cover art or anything like that is absolutely fine. However, if he wants to open up the user base so we end up with hundreds of thousands of users, then it does need to be more visually appealing, so thumbnails for posts will become more necessary. I agree that it probably shouldn't include video. There are other platforms for that. But cover art, whether that's created by the user or assigned by the app at the point of upload, would make everything look pretty and cited friendly. Likewise, if he does go down the root of opening up some podcasting features, then artwork for rambles makes sense, because the artwork would be displayed in a listeners podcast player which would look great.
The misfit angel
Yeah, I’m definitely up for a premium plan, as long as the whole app isn’t behind a pay wall. I mean I’d be fine to pay for it, but what would concern me about that is that a lot of people won’t, and I don’t want this app to become as deserted as Vorail is, so yeah, I think an optional premium plan is for the best, because at least then if people don’t want to pay one month, they can still be able to be on the app, and also if more people are on because the base app is free, then there’ll be more people who may pay for a subscription in the future. Vorail’s approach is so limiting, because to even get on the app you have to pay, which turns a lot of people away. Sometimes I’ve seen posts on there that I would be open to looking at, but I’m not paying just to look at it and comment on it. I guess with this app it could be like audio boom was, where literally you had to record your thing in 10 minutes for a free plan, but if you wanted to, you could pay for a premium and be able to record longer messages. I’d love an approach like that, maybe with some other cool features as well in a premium plan. I’d pay for sure, and then the people who can’t can still have a community to connect with and post in. I feel like a premium plan instead of a pay wall is just a best of both worlds for this app.
AttyRose
I think three levels of payments is probably pretty cool. But it would be a shame to lose the free version for some people who absolutely have no money. We wouldn't wanna lose those folks! So if there is a way to manage a free version, then The premium versions, that would be excellent! As far as donations, I wouldn't think that would be necessary to put towards the pay plans. Because people aren't donating for that reason. They are donating because they appreciate the service. Just saying! 
Allie Turner
Okay, people might not like this, but whatever. I think this app should stay audio only. No photo covers, no video chats. Plus, I think the majority of people on here probably wouldn't be able to see the cover arts anyway if we were to do something like that, but I don't know. Plus, I doubt sighted people are gonna come on an audio only app lol, but that's just me. Also, I think one or two premium plans should work. Like a monthly plan, and a yearly plan or something like that. But I really think this app should stay audio only. No photos or videos.
Robert Johnson
Josh, I would be inclined to keep things simple, as the more complex it gets presumably the more admin it creates for you. I think it is definitely worth keeping basic access free, in order to maximise the user base, albeit with time and retention restrictions, as well as the cool off period; and then maybe having a couple of further tiers, both bringing in full retention whilst accounts are active, longer duration, and removal of the Cool off period. I wonder whether you have any stats on the average length of recordings, how many streams each gets, etc, which could help you to draw the lines in the right place and decide how much cross subsidy there should be between each. Presumably, as somebody I think has said elsewhere on this thread, the cost really comes from bandwidth rather than storage, so lots of short recordings that get plenty of attention cost more than longer soundscapes that fewer people will be interested in. I wonder if this could be built into the model to some degree, without of course wishing to dis incentivise the core purpose of the app in promoting conversation.    
Ciara
Honestly I'm fine with the content being more short form, but I would not suggest making longform content premium. I say that because if it is added in, it would have the possibility of making users that can't pay for it feel bad that they can't, which I think would cause some resentment toward the people that do have it. I will say, this issue might be avoidable provided it is reasonably priced, because then more people will want to pay for it. So while I'm not tirely for it I do think it could work if the price is fair and it's not presented as "If you get this you're better than everyone else."
Matt Cooper
This is definitely his app.
🩷✨
Wait is this actually his app or is he just pretending 
Lemuria
The Tone Smith
PIKACHU
Chat gpt: Best technical solutions (used by major platforms) 1. Stream audio instead of allowing direct downloads Most important fix. • Use streaming only, no raw file downloads • Audio plays in small chunks, not as a full file • Prevents users from saving the entire audio locally This alone can reduce bandwidth costs dramatically. Used by: • Spotify • X Spaces • Clubhouse • Instagram audio ⸻ 2. Adaptive bitrate streaming Very effective. • Audio quality adjusts to the listener’s connection • Slow connection → lower bitrate • Fast connection → higher bitrate This avoids sending high-quality audio when it’s unnecessary. ⸻ 3. Use modern audio codecs Huge bandwidth savings. Switch from: • MP3 To: • AAC • Opus Benefits: • Same perceived quality • 30–50 percent smaller file size This is standard in modern apps. ⸻ 4. Disable full-length downloads for non-creators Product-level control. • Creators can access their own full recordings • Listeners can only stream • Optional paid tier for offline listening This reduces mass downloading behaviour. ⸻ 5. Partial caching instead of full downloads Smart compromise. • Cache small audio segments temporarily • Auto-delete after listening • Prevent permanent storage This improves playback without large data transfers. ⸻ 6. CDN usage (Content Delivery Network) Infrastructure fix. • Serve audio from edge servers close to users • Reduces load on the main server • Cheaper bandwidth at scale Used by: • Cloudflare • AWS CloudFront • Fastly ⸻ 7. Server-side download throttling If downloads must exist. • Limit number of downloads per user per day • Reduce download speed • Add cooldown periods This discourages bulk downloading. ⸻ 8. Segment long recordings Instead of one long file. • Break 44 minutes into 1–2 minute segments • Only load what’s listened to • Stops full-file grabs This works extremely well with streaming. ⸻ Behaviour-based solutions 9. Watermark or encrypt audio streams Anti-scraping protection. • Encrypted audio streams • Session-based keys • Harder to rip or automate downloads Used by professional audio platforms. ⸻ 10. Make long recordings creator-only or premium Monetisation + bandwidth control. • Free listeners get streaming • Long-form access via subscription • Costs offset by revenue ⸻ What NOT to rely on • Length limits alone • Hoping users won’t download • Manual moderation • Uncompressed audio These don’t scale. ⸻ Best overall strategy (realistic + scalable) If Ramblio wants growth without killing long audio, the best mix is: • Streaming-only playback • Adaptive bitrate • Modern codecs • CDN delivery • No public downloads
Lemuria
Jessica Dail
Sajid Ali
Nikki
The Tone Smith
Rachel K
PIKACHU
In pounds! Aww. Think of the poor, weak, Aussie dollar. :). Jk I’m wondering if there would be a one off lifetime option or an annual subscription option?
The Tone Smith
Matt Cooper
Lemuria
Josh S
Josh S
Eddie
Goldfingas
Although I'm a little bit saddened that I will no longer be able to post my games out here because sometimes they run a little bit longer than 10 minutes, it's all good. There are other ways to post those. I think 10 minutes is pretty cool, and maybe in the future that can be increased, but for now I think people will be OK. Just learn to be more concise in your speech. Lol
Rachel
Eddie
Matt Cooper
https://ko-fi.com/joshms