There was a bit of a dust-up the other day when Pushbullet began sending out some scary-sounding emails to users. The emails explained that a few services making very heavy use of the Pushbullet API were going to be blocked. Today, Pushbullet has decided to change its approach to coping with this problem after getting feedback form users. Nothing will be blocked, but there will be a new API push limit for free accounts.

According to Pushbullet devs, a small number of services have been flooding Pushbullet's servers, so the original intent was to just block those for non-pro users. However, the email was light on details. In discussing the changes with users, the developers considered an alternative approach—just limit the overall API pushes for each user. So, that's what they're going to do. Starting August 1st, free accounts will be limited to 500 API pushes per month.

Importantly, this only applies to custom apps and services that use the Pushbullet public API. It won't affect Channels, IFTTT, manual pushes, and so on. The idea is this will decrease load on Pushbullet's servers and won't affect as many users. It also won't include blocking any services using the API. An email will go out shortly to users explaining the new rules.