I meant go the other way -- the apps band together and all decide to support some alternative backend, instead of the official reddit. Ultimately it's the users

I meant go the other way -- the apps band together and all decide to support some alternative backend, instead of the official reddit. Ultimately it's the users that make a site valuable, and the clients seem to have a lot more goodwill than reddit itself right now. Of course, "just add a backend" is easier said than done! But not unachievable.