There are some amazingly good alternatives. I personally use Boost which presents threads in a much more readable manner and allows you to easily swap between different contexts. Before they disappear it might be good to give some alternatives a try and see just how terrible the native app experience is compared to what it could be.
But. I'm not a mod. I don't know what mods use. And the only reason reddit is good is because communities have tools to moderate themselves.
What I use is kind of irrelevant if the people who keep the communities I visit consistent and relatively clean are pissed and walk out. A casual user won't drop the site when Apolo closes, it would be slightly later when reddit becomes 4chan in absence of moderation.