Then stop talking about this. Mods don't own their subreddits. Ban all these mods "protesting" and replace them with a handful of paid employees and then operate like an adult company. The actual users won't care who the mods are. In fact, it would probably greatly improve things. I've been on reddit for over a decade. Probably check it twice a day. I really do not care about 3rd party apps. What would be nice would be the ability to post without getting flagged by a bot or banned over some ridiculous rules made up by someone hoarding what little power they have.
This reminds me a bit of the Netflix drama with password sharing. Just implement a sensible policy and be done with it. Most people won't even notice. Don't give like a dozen interviews where you talk about it. Only a small, but vocal, minority care. Don't cater to them.