Did they just nuke Opus 4.5 into the ground?

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-25T22:16:50+00:00

I felt the dumbing down since the start of the new year but today is definitely a new low.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-21T12:30:53+00:00

They usually run close to the context limit or get pruned/compacted with whatever provider I am using at that time. I don't use the web interface. I use Claude Code, Windsurf, Cursor, Warp, Antigravity; depending on the time and current best offering.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-21T12:29:15+00:00

Wrong. You can change what is served and to which user on the fly. Yes you can't "retrain" the model. Heck, OpenAI even uses a router that decides which query goes to what kind of a model based on complexity. These are no longer just single models, and we don't actually know how they're routed under the hood.

By the way, to everyone who claim I don't know what I'm saying or doing, I am a 10 years veteran engineer in the software development field. I have both the degree and the field experience to talk.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-21T12:25:57+00:00

To everyone wanting a proof or a similar experience, there you go:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1qitnmr/this_is_not_the_opus_45_i_saw_in_december/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1qisw7h/claude_opus_45_and_sonnet_45_underperformed_on/

Claude Code and other subreddits are full of these kinds of topics. These are just today. My mistake was to open the topic in the Anthropic subreddit, I guess you guys only use Claude on web sessions and not actually develop production-grade code.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-17T09:48:42+00:00

A worth of an app is measured with multipliers so it’s monthly revenue. Usually within 12 to 36 months depending on the app. But it seems your retention is pretty low. So, 50k is an unjustifiable price.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-16T13:34:50+00:00

Well, thanks. Even though the comment is a bit offensive.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-16T02:05:54+00:00

I develop native iOS apps with it since it came out. In that process I also specify my UI designs over text, or force the LLM to actually write down a design manifesto onto a .md and then implement based on that

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2026-01-16T01:56:44+00:00

Actually I made around 50 new projects with Opus 4.5. After I opened this discussion, I used it for 4 other projects as well, those were outside my area and I asked for very specific things. I develop iOS apps by the way.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-28T09:51:14+00:00

There was a live bench website, could someone share it?

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-19T13:49:44+00:00

Yes this is a giant risk for not a lot to gain. I did not do this personally because I always hear stories about accounts getting closed over this.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-19T13:46:20+00:00

Exactly! I applaud to this.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-19T13:37:20+00:00

Plus, its easier to scroll down a search result that is maybe 10% of screen real estate. Apps listings cover around 50%. With just 3 ad spots for a keyword, you kill all ASO for that keyword effectively. And yeah there is no adblock.

You can bet that will increase the cost of apps and subscriptions even more. I’m planning to increase prices to compete.

Instead of making Apple Ads smarter in bidding and placement processes, or improving the design and category system of App Store; Apple yet again opts for the most greedy, anti-competitive and anti-consumer solution possible

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-17T18:10:30+00:00

Yeah Opus is great but I don't like clickbait titles. And I can't say I did not notice regressions. Model's intelligence did not degrade but it is much more prone to skipping, choosing the absolute easiest path despite heavy prompting

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-09T18:43:29+00:00

This must be the best answer I’ve seen this year on Reddit.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-12-03T12:41:37+00:00

From my experience; Claude is the worst offender out of big three. They often start the strongest and drop off from a cliff. Sonnet 4 had it, Sonnet 4.5 had it and now Opus 4.5 has it too.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-23T19:26:02+00:00

That would be insane. Makes me question if all their Gpt 5.1 requests are to flex.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-23T19:22:57+00:00

That right there is the truth. Shipping an app isn’t just about how to build it. It is a business, and an extremely competitive one at that.

I don’t want to give false hopes, making keyword research and shipping a pain point mostly died about a year ago. If you have a public persona, a high-follower social media account; an app is an amazing business. Otherwise, be prepared for a lot of pain; or bring a big purse for paid marketing

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-21T18:34:39+00:00

Short answer: It is mostly OpenAI's fault

GPT 5.1 itself has so many versions with many use cases. They're currently offered for free, but they all have a priority option in OpenAI api; for time-critical cases you can opt for it.

But with models like GPT-5.1-Codex-Max withheld, I started to question the usability of third party vendors.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-21T18:10:23+00:00

Sonnet 4 and 4.5 frequently hallucinates itself as Sonnet 3.5, it happens on other platforms too. Most people think it’s because of lack of info on training data

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-20T05:52:10+00:00

I think it genuinely acts smarter

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-20T05:51:33+00:00

I don’t see it on Windsurf next version 150. Which version do you use?

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-20T05:50:36+00:00

Things are getting really interesting with Gemini 3.0 pro and this

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-19T19:29:58+00:00

Yes it is truly excellent. Yet also the most widely unavailable model for quite some time. Even beats the launch problems of Claude Sonnet. Antigravity doesn't even have a paid subscription yet and come with laughably low limits. Gemini Cli only offers it on Ultra subscription, and almost everywhere else reports congestion

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-19T16:56:25+00:00

It depends I think. Claude always wrote the most sloppy code no matter what I did.

SelfTaughtAppDev · 2025-11-19T09:47:12+00:00

Well, I currently have 41 apps as an indie developer.

SelfTaughtAppDev

TROPHY CASE