I was wondering, with all the different Lemmy clients and frontends, what/which out of these do people actually use? To answer this, I made a poll if anyone wants to fill it out, and I tried to put every client I could find.
Almost all of Syncs business model is ads. The free version has ads and almost everyone who pays for it is doing so to remove ads. Which is just rewarding the implementation of ads. I also disagree with the concept of profiting from free user content with ads like Reddit does. Which was Reddits primary goal of preventing third party apps. They wanted the ad revenue themselves instead of third parties getting the ad revenue.
The only way this can be acceptable is to not have a free ad version and only have a paid version. That way you are paying for software and not paying to remove ads or profiting from free user content.
I paid to remove ads from Reddit Sync in 2014. 9 years went by where I continued to use the app every single day, as ljdawson continued regular improvements and updates (aside from the incident). By the time Reddit Sync went away, I felt I had vastly underpaid for what I got, and purchased lifetime Ultra as a way of supporting ljdawson.
I totally get what you’re saying. But at the same time, Sync is so much more than just the content that it displays. The ads are not there to profit on free content, they’re there to support the user experience that sync provides. They’re also far, far less obtrusive than typical ads
The nice thing is, there’s choices! Feel free to use other clients and find what works best
Same here. I used the paid version sync for reddit for years and got my money’s worth out of it. When the incident happened I switched to infinity and, while annoyed, I definitely felt I got my worth out of it. When ljdawson released sync for lemmy and added the ad-free upgrade I happily purchased it and I have been very satisfied with the app and all the improvements he is continually making. This is all coming from a hardcore open source 20+ years of Linux on the desktop guy.
(aside from the incident)
???
I’m a sync user and pretty tired of these pointless statements. Don’t want it, don’t use it! I pay for ultra to support the dev and that’s my choice. Again, if you don’t want it, don’t use it. But can you please stop this sync bashing? It’s not as if the torrent of anti-sync memes forgot to cover what you are saying.
Exactly, vote with your time and/or money. If you don’t like something, don’t use it. They’ll be people that are fine with it and will use it.
Why do you care if someone doesn’t like your client of choice? They have some value that is different than yours, they have every right to express why they think people using sync is harmful. You are free to disagree but don’t complain because they express an opinion you don’t like.
You are free to disagree but don’t complain because they express an opinion you don’t like.
Does that refer to Izzy, or the people who complained because they expressed their opinion?
yes
Because tribalism! If you don’t think like me then you’re the enemy and must be told that you are. Classic
redditlemmy.deleted by creator
Synce is hilarious to me. “You know how Lemmy is completely free to use? What if it had ADs! And what if you had to pay money to remove those ADs!”.
And people lined up around the block for it.Yeah, developers shouldn’t make money unless granted a benevolent donation.
There are plenty of other developers, new ones that were happy to work on integrations and apps for the fediverse. While sync is great, it’s like a giant Walmart moving into the area, displacing other viable alternatives.
Developers should make money. Just not with ads.
You can pay one time to remove the ads, or sign up for Sync’s Ultra subscription which provides additional features like OCR in images and text translation.
Once you do so, the ad library is not invoked at all.
Then pay for the ad free version, and you’re letting them make money without ads.
If you just want to steal people’s labor, then nah.
Then you can buy the ad-free version.
I’m not trying to be rude here, but please read my post. Paying to remove ads is part of the ad business model. Anyone who pays to remove ads means the developer profited from ads.
So in your mind, what does the business model look like for the developer? If they can’t charge for their app and they can’t offer it for free with ads, then what is the expectation? 100% FOSS and assume that goodwill from users will give them enough in donations?
I saw in your comment you are in favor of charging for the app, but how is the ad free version not exactly that? It’s a paid app for those who want that but it’s a free app for those who don’t mind ads. It just seems needlessly nitpicky for that to be the point of contention here.
You do know that there are a dozen other apps that don’t charge anything, don’t you? Sync is the only one that costs money. It’s the only one that has ads.
They won’t listen to you. They’re too wrapped up in defending it.
If people line up around the block for it, maybe it does actually add value? You can hate ads, I do too. But if people willingly look at ads to visit a website (Lemmy) that does not have any in its original version, then for those people the app obviously adds enough value to make it worth it, don’t you think?
Removed by mod
The app is really nice.
Yes, because the lineup is worth it when the product trumps the competition.
WTF is wrong with supporting a developer (Either with cash or ad revenue)?
This is such a bad take. Imagine being mad that the user has a choice for a low/no cost ad supported version and a paid version. There are other benefits too, like being able to trial the software for as long as you want before buying in.
I’m using the free version of Sync for Lemmy now, I don’t see any ads. Maybe because my phone has the adguard server as my DNS server and it’s just blocking them all?
How atrocious are they when not using adguard?
Yeah it’s from adguard DNS.
Ads just show up semi frequently. Definitely visible but not obtrusive. Just keep scrolling.
https://i.imgur.com/8w8mUkE.png
You should still see the frequency with adguard. It’s just a blank area where normally there’d be an ad.
I still haven’t paid to remove ads, and no Adguard, yet I’ve never had a single ad show up. I wonder if there’s a bug.
I don’t think so?
The frequency I see ads is very very low. And when they do it’s just a single card
Yes, but what did Mary do?!
Hmm, glad mine looks like this
I don’t have adguard on my phone and have never seen a single ad on Sync since day one.
Wait, how is earning revenue from having ads in your app “profiting off free user content,” but charging someone directly to use the app isn’t? They both do the same thing for the developer (generate revenue), the only difference is who is paying.
Then shut up and make a better app. Because it’s sweet.
FYI Izzy got permabanned for stating this opinion. That’s really insane.
I’m here from the thread where he let us know. I was expecting something a little more egregious than the above. That’s absolutely crazy.
It’s not even mean. And this isn’t some niche sub specifically about Sync. It’s the most generic sub imaginable. Are they paid by Sync?
Are they paid by Sync?
Yeah, one dude is blackmailing Lemmy to advertise /s
According to the mod post, this was far from the first time, and when they were warned they didn’t take it well, hence the permaban.
Did he get reported or what? I just saw somebody mention Izzy in a Star Wars meme lol.
Or have a free version to lurk only. Want to participate? Buy the full version.
Non-starter for non-GMS devices unfortunately where in app purchases straight up do not work
That would be a good idea too.
This is why I use Liftoff.
As re there any other Lemmy clients that are being worked on full time?
I was considering trying sync. thanks for the info. never gonna touch it now. there are too many good free browsers now to even bother. I’m still trying narrow down between the last three out of five different iOS ones I downloaded. they are all so good and Apollo like
I get like, 1 ad per 5 pages or so. That commenter is kinda goofy.
Every time I see comments like this I imagine that Reese meme from Malcom in The Middle saying “Wah Wah, too bad!” Or whatever the English translation of that is.
I’m a bit sad that my favorite (Infinity/Eternity) isn’t that high up. Loved it since my Reddit days. Tried different clients: Lemmy, thunder, liftoff, sync,… still like this the most!
Eternity represent!!
Eternity represent!!!
Eternity represent!!!
Eternity represent!!!
I used Infinity for a while on Reddit, it’s pretty cool!
Wasn’t Infinity not available until not long ago?
Yeah, Eternity (the Infinity fork for Lemmy) is comparably new.
I’ve really been enjoying it.
I was using Boost on reddit, but their Lemmy version isn’t available yet. Read about Eternity. Thus far I have no complaints. It works.
deleted by creator
I’m loving it. Just to confirm: The last update was three weeks ago, right? I hope the dev continuous on working this.
Closing in on 10 years of Sync (Reddit/Lemmy). I’m too used to it to switch things around. The only time I’m using the mobile website is when I need to use spoilers.
On desktop, I switch between default, Photon and Alexandrite.
For me, it’s not about being afraid of change, but that Sync has exactly the features I want.
Sync gang
Honestly, its made Lemmy so much more usable for me. Shout out to LJ
I think only Summit is as good as Sync is in smoothness, I voted for Sync, Voyager and Summit as those are the ones I use more, Voyager is nice, but it is not very smooth compared with the other two (using the native app).
Memmy has been my favorite, although I wish it would go back to having updates. I understand they’re taking a break though and I just need to be patient
Same here. I’ve moved to Avelon which I strongly recommend you trying out. It’s legit.
Once memmy starts getting updates again I may switch back but gotta say, Avelon may have me hooked.
I’m using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don’t mind waiting till this gets fixed.
🤣
Oh look, 6 times this time. I shall leave the duplicated replies here. Coincidental proof. Only happens sometimes. Talk about the devil.
Talks about comments being posted five times sometimes
Memmy: “I’m gonna prove you wrong! >:(”
posts six timesMemmy says imma make you a spammy bot. I got rate limited after that reply. The first time this happened I got downvotes for all my spammy replies, but that was before I realised this problem. Memmy trained me to clean up my mess. Thank you Memmy, no more messy.
Memmy is trying to raise you well and stop you from littering with this as analogy. Truly an age of wonders of technology we live in ^^
I’m using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don’t mind waiting till this gets fixed.
I’m using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don’t mind waiting till this gets fixed.
I’m using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don’t mind waiting till this gets fixed.
I’m using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don’t mind waiting till this gets fixed.
I’m using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don’t mind waiting till this gets fixed.
Yeah, breaks are more important though it is a bit sad to not get new stuff
My only problem with lemmy is the lack of a client. Right now, for me, memmy and voyager are the least worst, but they’re pretty bad.
I’m not even asking for an Apollo out of the gate. I’d settle for an Alien Blue. And I have no problem paying for it, either. I was an Apollo ne plus ultra user, or whatever it was called.
From an information architecture perspective, it really seems like reddit and lemmy might be close enough that a middle layer could be written that would make it easier to port user-facing apps from one api to the other. There’s obviously be some differences, but if feasible it might accelerate development of multiple client options at once.
For the record, I’ve tried memmy, voyager, mlem, lemmios, liftoff, and I am presently going to try bean. That’s approximately the order of how useable I’ve found them, but they each have their own annoyances. I don’t own an android device, but I hope the options are better over there.
In any case, I became a heavy reddit user only after Alien Blue came out. I became a very heavy user after Apollo came out. I left reddit the day external clients became unavailable.
I think lemmy has enormous potential, but the UX needs to be made easier if we’re to really make a dent in reddit usership and get the level of posts, comments, and active communities they have there.
I also suspect that the backend is going to need a better approach for handling the negative consequences of a large influx of users. I’m not talking about load - I’m talking about community management. Back in the day (by which I mean the early 90s) there was an email blacklist. Admins of important nodes in the email distribution network had a shared list of domains that had unsecured servers, and would update it based on where they saw the (then relatively recent phenomenon of) spam coming from.
I’m really interested in how the information flow network of the fediverse evolves, if it continues to grow. Are we going to find a network with community structure, with clumps of mutually federated instances that have few if any connections between them? If so, clients will have to have solid account creation and management, and the admin tools will need to be sophisticated.
Avelon is amazing. Feels like Apollo mostly. My only complaints are piddly stuff.
Thanks! Your recommendation means that I’m trying it out today.
I wish they’d support iOS 15 :(
I can’t speak for iOS apps so comparing would be hard but, I’m quite satisfied with the current state (and estimated future) of the android clients. So far, I found Thunder and Eternity (fork from Infinity for Reddit) to be the most suitable for me.
I’m excited to see the progress in a year’s time and which apps will be the most popular/developed by then
Yes, try Avelon OP! It’s really good. The UI is so smooth. Scrolling. And it has the ability to hide bars on scroll. It seems I’m the only one who cares about this feature haha but to me it makes content look much better without the navigation bars constantly being on display.
Yeah I really liked Memmy. The lack of updates wouldn’t bother me except there are a couple annoying bugs still. Also when I click on a community it opens in my browser. I’ve tested a bunch to find one that has everything I want. I’ve also settled on Avelon. The only thing it doesn’t have is multiple icon options and that’s not an important factor at all.
I’ve noticed that all the Sync users are polite and never bash any other Lemmy client. Maybe because they know that we have a choice and they do too. I’ve got money to spare I will spend it on arguably the best app for Lemmy . You guys can use your FOSS . I never complained . Why are you??? Enjoy your clients. There are many. We have got an array of choices. That’s awesome. Lemmy wins.
-Happily posted via Sync Ultra
I love whoever answered: “I use a web browser like a Luddite” 🤣🤣
Yeah I saw that too!
LemmyUI is great. I’ve using it until recently I settled on using Eternity.
I’ve not found anything I like more than Voyager. It has native apps for android and iOS, but I prefer the progressive web app version.
I recently switched from Voyager to Avelon. Voyager is great and I’m keeping it because it’s always been so reliable, but I just really like Avelon. It has a nice explore tab for finding new communities, and it’s SwiftUI, so it has that clean native iOS look to it. They’re very similar otherwise.
Avelon is my favourite for the very simple reason that it’s compact mode is the most compact of any I’ve tried.
Only things I miss in Avelon at this point are more sorting options for Home feed and a not full black dark mode. Voyager solves both of those for me so that’s where I’ve mostly been.
Settings/General/Sorting/Show Additional Options should solve the first issue! Working on something I think will satisfy the second
Thank you for this. One big feature that was missing as autoplay and embed vids. And now I have it again.
Voyager is 💪🏻
What do you like more about the PWA?
For me, it runs faster and smoother/more consistantly than the native Android app. I’ve not actually used the iOS one. Also, the updates come in faster.
Thunder for Lemmy been solid for me since I’ve been using it.
I tried using Thunder a while ago and didn’t really like it when compared to liftoff, but that was earlier in the development timeline so it’s probably better now
I liked Thunder well enough to join the dev team. We’re preparing for another update, available on both android and iOS.
Sounds interesting, I’ll have to check it out when it comes out!
It’s already out on both stores, the update just wont hit for another day or two.
Downloaded Thunder and it’s pretty sweet. I’ll keep Bean and bounce between the two. Thanks for the recommendation.
Same
Still on Liftoff, but I wonder if it’s still being updated.
deleted by creator
Great to hear!
This makes me very happy!
Liftoff is fantastic. I think updates are slow, but it’s in a good place.
Same here.
Still on liftoff. Works good enough for now though it’s true ghat updates are scarce right now.
I tried a bunch of Lemmy clients and they all have some issues; some annoying, some catastrophic. The interesting thing is that the pros and cons complement each other, which has lead me to use Bean as my primary client and lifoff as the secondary one.
Bean is good for browsing, reading, commenting etc. When you get a reply in a long thread 4 layers deep, it’s the time for Liftoff to shine.
Was using Sync but switched to Jerboa, because FOSS.
Me too, but to Thunder. I find its interface more polished.
I’m not sure which I find funnier, the fact some people are using the other option to put Sync or the one that just says “YOUR MOM”
I’m surprised more of you aren’t using my mom, she gets around
And she doesn’t cost anything!
She’ll pay for your Uber, it’s a good deal!
She’s a good laidy
I use Connect. I like it. Seems to do what I need and I’ve used the customize settings to set font colors, etc.
I’ll definitely be checking out Boost when the dev gets it set up. He’s a one man show and tries hard to get things running 100% before releasing updates, so, I’m guessing a new app might take longer.
Same! I’m wondering though at this point how much longer? I understand it’s a big job but I’ve gotten really settled in with Connect at this point.
Yeah, i hear ya. Rueben really tries for “perfect” before he did updates on Boost Reddit. So, I imagine he’s trying to make the best 3rd party app that will work without a hitch and give lots of custom options.
I use Sync for now, but full disclosure I am Beyond 's developer and as soon as it becomes more stable and with more features I will be making the switch 😁
That’s a pretty nice endorsement for sync though, BTW can you embed polls into your app (assuming there’s an API for straw poll)?
That would be pretty cool, I will add to the community ideas list and look into it when I can, thanks!
Way too many Lemmy users don’t care about running Free and Open Source Software.
As a Sync user myself, why should I switch? I’ve been using Sync for years on Reddit, I love the interface, and I don’t mind if the dev makes a bit of money from it with the occasional and minimally intrusive ads or paid ad removal.
Sync was my choice back in the reddit days, I paid for the ad-free experience, and have even had the team personally help me out when ads reappeared after one update.
But if there’s something I disagree with, I just have to deal with it from the developers. On Jerboa, I’m freely allowed to take the entire app and distribute it on my own, even charge for it, with no consequence. That freedom allows for a lot of customization with few workarounds. And I support that potential.
There’s also the option to open source something and still make money through donations. If people like your work, some will pay.
I used to think that, but now I think we overestimate the generosity of people
Looks like the people who dislike my comment don’t like open source.
There’s some hope with Voyager
