Holy shit y'all. Developers need to eat too. It's totally fine to charge for an app or serve ads. LjDawson is a fantastic developer and really listens to his user base. Yes there are plenty of open source apps to use, but sometimes closed source is way more polished because the developer makes it their job to create the app. Living isn't free. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For as long as I can remember Reddit and Sync have been one and the same. I never used Reddit website or app, only ever used Sync to browse Reddit hosted content. I used it a lot. I've missed it a lot.
Between the Lemmy platform and Sync client, to all intents and purposes what Reddit was has been fully restored/migrated.
I know it's early days, but I did not expect to see anything like this so soon and it gives me hope that Lemmy can grow and thrive into the network of people that always made Reddit what it was. Everything that's needed is there - early, a little rough around the edges, but there. And being improved constantly.
Definitely agree. This has pretty much completely restored the reddit experience for me after I chose to delete my reddit account in the wake of reddit's third-party app debacle. The Sync developer deserves major props. This app will surely make lemmy so much more attractive and accessible to a host of new users in the coming weeks and months.
It's the same experience for me, but I still do a lot of Google searches based on Reddit content since there is a lot of information posted there over the years.
Can someone please explain a bit what is included as part of a "unique identifier".. does it mean the app sends Google what communities you're visiting or content you're consuming, so they can advertise to you personally?
Unique device identifier would be some information unique to your device that can identify it. A common example of such a unique Id would be your IMEI although that isn’t necessarily what they are using. Minecraft as an example creates a unique user ID based on your account that system administrators can use to keep your player records even after you change your Microsoft account name or gamer tag.
It doesn’t have to be specific data related to your activities in the app per se, but it could potentially be used in that manner depending on the app.
Jesus, the absolute entitlement in this thread. Can everyone just chill until the app is out of the beta version? Some of us are fine with seeing ads until the lifetime fee is available, and some of us are fine paying a subscription until the lifetime fee is available. If you'd rather not use the app until then don't, but trashing the dev for getting paid while he works endlessly to create the sync experience for us is so ignorant and childish.
Sync is by far the best user experience app for lemmy that's available for Android, just as it was for reddit, and it's worth the wait and the price until the pro version is available.
I hope the dev ignores the whiners and focuses on those of us that get it. How demotivating to see people run their mouths when they dint know what they're talking about.
Yeah man. I was a sync for reddit user for like a decade. I don't actually know, but my reddit account was more than a decade old, and I really only was a user on sync for as long as I can remember. Sync was reddit for me.
I happily paid for the app forever ago, and I reckon I'll use lemmy much the way I did reddit. And I tried a bunch of the different FOSS clients and none of them are as clean and polished as Sync was or is now. Maybe that's because I just got so used to sync? I don't know. But I do know that at this point in time, paying 20 bucks a year to support a developer whose work I've enjoyed for a significant portion of my life is 100% worth it. And I can afford it.
I used to have to use open source software all the time. I used gimp for so long, I'm just glad I have a job now that I have free access to photoshop. Why? Because it's fuckingbetter! Because paying for a well refined product makes it easier to use.
So all these sync haters, keep hating. But now, I can highlight the haters so the next time I come across them I already know what they are about and how they are just haters.
Bought the one month sub to tide me over, but bought the Ad free as soon as it released. Honestly, cost me less than half of a decent steak dinner so I ain't mad. A man's gotta eat and there is no guarantee that Lemmy is ever gonna pull Reddit numbers. Dude basically spent a month blasting out what I consider the best experience for Reddit, now for Lemmy, he deserves a pay day.
I hope the dev ignores the whiners and focuses on those of us that get it. How demotivating to see people run their mouths when they dint know what they're talking about.
He won't, he banned me from his official community for saying that buying his app without testing it first was silly, just like preordering a game.
You know, you have many fans all around the world. This must be great feeling. And your product is/was the meaning of Redd*t for a long time, now it's will be Lemmy=Sync
Yeah, just seeing that it will collect data about me for personalized ads was a turnoff. There are plenty of Lemmy clients without ads. I can't imagine seeing ads while using Lemmy, either.
Fuck him. I've paid the maximum at every stage since I got the app about 10 years ago. 13 months ago I paid $35 for a "lifetime" subscription and now he wants $115, for a whole month of work and changing probably ~10% of the existing code to point to a new API? Bullshit, I'll get the cracked version from Mobilism as soon as it's released
I'm not advocating for anyone to buy a price they're not comfortable with, but personally I reasoned that, having used Sync for nearly 10 years, it would be like paying 10 bucks for each of those years for an app that I have used the most out of all the apps in my life
Sync was a huge part of my life (will continue to be), and I am happy to compensate for that.
Or you use discord and direct engagement with users to cultivate a fanclub around yourself, and set them lose to brigade everywhere and defend literally every single decision. Then they'll cheer you as you become the villain
The ads through me for a sec, but then I realized this wasn't the Dev or Pro version.
I'll end up subscribing at some point, but I do wish there was a one time option like last time. Not really interested in the cloud backups and all that, just the ad free experience.
Edit: Spoke too soon. Looks like there wil be a one time option at some point in addition to a version with no ads. Looking forward to it.
I used sync for reddit for a decade. No way in hell I'm paying $20 for the ad-free upgrade. Explain how lemmy which is months old and a minute fraction of the size of reddit, should cost me more to browse ad-free than reddit? It's mind boggling that we're in the age where asking $20 for a 3rd party social media app is being defended as reasonable.
you aren't paying for volume of content available, that would only make sense if you were subscribing directly to reddit or lemmy as you would with netflix, disney etc
revenue goes to the app dev, and sync for lemmy and sync for reddit have i would presume, identical development and maintenance costs.
your logic is like saying that fuel should be cheaper for a 1.4l mini than it is for a ferrari
That said, I do think £18.99 lifetime just to remove ads is a bit extreme, its certainly not affordable for me. That's more than a year of Ultra without the extra features. I think sweetspot for "pro" edition that has no ads certainly would have been sub £10, especially when im gonna be a large volume of users have dns that removes ads anyway and really the "pro" is just a "one time donation" kinda thing
Uhm, then don't pay? No one is forcing you to pay or even use Sync. I don't think it's worth it for me too at this moment to pay that much for an app to browse Lemmy (because in my opinion it's still riding the hype train, it's long term future is still to be determined). So I accept that I will have to see ads.
Sync is an app by a private developer, who has his own rights to set the price for something he produced. He can put the price at 100€ and still no one has the right to whine about it. If you think it's not worth it, then don't buy it. It's not like you need this to survive.
I'm not defending Sync (I don't even use it, I'm more of a Slide/Infinity guy; I'm just here to see how other Reddit app ports are doing), but Lemmy is not "months old". It's been a thing since early 2019, the recent Reddit drama just gave it a massive push bringing its userbase from negligible to tiny.
It's perfectly fine to use the app and only pay when you feel like it, say you feel when the Fediverse grows to be fun enough. Or alternatively never pay and just use the free version. Or use something like Voyager / wefwef which is a fantastic app in its own right. You have the choice.
$20 really isn't a lot when it's an app you use everyday. If you don't spend enough time on Lemmy then yes, it may not make sense to buy but if you do it's really a no-brainer.
Also I would argue Apple / Google's whole app store pricing model when it first started out really devalued good software. $1.99 for a lifetime support of an app? Come on. $20 is reasonable.
It's not about the app. It has nothing to do with the app itself to be fair. It's the fact to have ads. Ads aren't the spirit and the philosophy of Lemmy.
People are fine to pay for the app. Money isn't the issue either. The dev should not assume Lemmy is a new Reddit. It's different with different spirit and philosophy. This point has to be taken in consideration.
That's the beauty of have a multitude of different apps. You choose the one that feels right for you. Much like how you can choose another Lemmy instance.
Says who? I'm just curious who decides what Lemmy's philosophy is. Does that philosophy extend across all instances or only specific ones? Or is it baked into the source code somehow?
Personally I think ads are alright. But that's just my philosophy.
You can choose whatever app fits you. That is the power of choice. Some of us are really ok with non intrusive ads or paying for the app. He said that one time payment for removing ads will come soon.
Yup that is a real rough pill to swallow when the default is free AND no ads. If I'm going to drop money on lemmy I'd rather just donate to whoever is hosting my instance.
I hear what you (and everyone else) is saying, but the developer needs to make money somehow or they'll have to go get a regular job, and then who will develop?
I think what I'm saying is, how else is the Dev meant to feed his face?
I miss the days when I could just drop a couple of dollars on the paid version, stops the ads and works forever, subscriptions turn me off.
It's the only Lemmy app that has an actual working and usable tablet mode. Thunder's tablet mode is... weird. Everybody else doesn't have a tablet mode. Unfortunately, leading with a subscription model is terrible. Even if they're already planning a one time payment option (which they should launched with), it's already left a sour taste. I left big software that was essential for work because of the subscription model (Adobe, Autodesk) and found alternatives. Sync isn't even essential and there are multiple alternatives. Maybe not that pretty, but they're decent enough. I hope Boost does better.
I'm fine with an ad version and then an upgrade to an ad-free version.
What's insane here is this developer making a subscription service instead of an ad-free pro version
I mean, he's competing against TOTALLY FREE, Ad-free lemmy apps RIGHT NOW, and every 3rd-party Reddit app developer is working on a lemmy version as we speak.
This was a total clown move. I was ready to drop like $10 on a pro version right now, if it had great UI. But a subscription ... For access to a FREE service? The balls on this guy.
Lemmy is not a free service. You might not be paying for it but some of us are. With subscriptions too. Subscriptions are the better funding model for continued development and operation.
On sync for reddit there always was a one time purchase to remove ads. The subscription is for extra features which you honestly don't need. I believe the one time purchase is coming back on this version as well.
I wasn't expecting an ideologically motivated project by any means, but his focus is on the diminishing parade of users he's got from the previous app and not where he's sending them.
My friend, we know other 3rd party Reddit app developers are working as fast as they can to make lemmy apps. One of them is bound to have a one-time pro version upgrade. I'll hold out for that.
LMAO ... Subscriptions. Why on earth do you think we left Reddit?!
I left Reddit because Spez is an asshole and he killed third-party API access (which, btw, impacted more than just clients - many useful bots/scripts died too as a result of this change).
For many of us, Sync was Reddit, and killing Sync basically killed Reddit for us, but now that Sync is back (for Lemmy), many of us are more than happy to pay a subscription to support the dev, instead of supporting Reddit. ljdawson is an awesome developer who actually listens to his users and updates his apps regularly. If you don't want to support him and/or use a different app, that's your call of course, but for fans of Sync, it's like coming back home after a long time and getting that feeling of "there's no place like home".
I was on Reddit for 13 years, and bought the pro version every app ever made for the platform (sync, RiF, bacon reader, boost, Apollo, Joey, etc, etc.). Sync was ... fine. But in no way was it a stand out. RiF had them all beat by a mile for nearly a decade, then Joey elbowed them out in the last few years.
Anyway, I'd have been happy to buy sync Pro for lemmy, but a subscription is bonkers when there are free alternatives.
there will be a separate in app purchase structure
the ultra subscription was a separate sub model from sync for reddit that was on the side to help support the 1 developer who works on the app if you want to. the model was already there and nothing has changed from reddit, so it was probably easy to leave the code in with the same features and keep it in.
you also need to realize this is a beta as well so it's not "officially" released yet. if sync for reddit is anything to go by, once LJ is content on the app it will be released in full, with additional pro / dev variants to come. but since those are considered separate apps, those won't come until later since they need to be reviewed and put on the app store... which makes sense there's only 1 variant at this time
edit: pro model won't happen due to Google play store policies on duplicate apps. one time in app purchase is coming
Chill, mate, it's open-beta. Sync Ultra was a thing on Sync for Reddit as well, which comes with features that need constant cash such as server maintenance etc. IAP for ad removal will come soon.
I left reddit because of asshole decisions.
I think 18 Euro per year is pretty fair for an app you probably use every day.
I prefer one time payment over subscription, too. But the price for sync is nothing to rant about imo.
I disagree. I think there's a lot of people living in a fantasy. Things cost money. You can't rely on good will to pay for developers, engineers, and hardware.
Maybe ads aren't the way to go but you're not being realistic if you want this place to grow without some kind of funding.
None of the other lemmy apps I've used have quite felt right. I really liked sync for reddit, so I'm hoping I'll like the lemmy version too. I generally try to avoid subscriptions, but if they offer a one time payment to be ad free at some point then I'm fine with that.
Server costs are nothing compared to what a lot of Lemmy instance admins are covering right now. The new price feels like robbery, as someone who got sync the first year it came out.
I'm not disagreeing here with your sentiment, but I don't think comparing it to the cost of a AAA game matters. I'm sure you'll spend more time in Lemmy over the course of a lifetime than on one game.
You guys were all taking how you'd pay the developer twice for his work if possible, and how everyone should purchase the Pro version without question on day one etc.
Maybe it wasn't you sucking the dev off sideways for weeks straight - but the community at large is and has been.
I mean, I like the app and all, but the price is steep. Steeper than it was for reddit and steeper than all the other apps as well.
As far as I know it's the only one with a subscription model, and we don't even have the "sync" feature that is its namesake.
I don't mind supporting the developer. He can't rely on tens of thousands of user to buy the app for $1 each on lemmy like he could on reddit. It's going to be more expensive per user here.
And the best part is that settings backed up from sync for reddit, can be simply restored into sync for lemmy. Thank you ever so much dear developer!!!
if it's your first time using sync...open new window is a great feature for muti tasking subbed list..look at your subscriber list, press the 3 dots and open in new window will appear, you can open a subbed community entirely in a new window
I've always loved sync, but just checked thunder. Almost immediately uninstalled as on default settings the ui is way too cramped and lacks contrast with all posts blending to each other. Very hard to read for me. I guess you could make it better by fiddling with the settings, but I just went back to go sync where it's already very good on default settings and I was able to make it perfect for me just by changing a couple of settings.
Edit: downvote as much as you want lol, it's just my opinion. Good to know that Lemmy is just like reddit with opinions ;)
I know there is some controversy with the ads and that it's closed source but wow this app is really nice. I never used it for reddit I used rif so I didn't understand the hype but I get it now. I'm holding out for an app with multireddit though. That's the one feature I really want.
I personally just don't believe in subscriptions for apps. I'd rather just pay a fair amount up front. Especially since my usage patterns aren't consistent (I may not use something for a good while but return to it later). Perpetual licenses are why I own such a large library of paid apps and why I'm okay with paying even if I might not really maximize my use of it today. It's also why my Steam library is filled with games I don't play... 😅.
Not interested in something that supports ads or subscriptions.
It definitely doesn't fit the ethos or average desires of most lemmy users from what I understand.
The free and open source applications for lemmy are working out for me, so I really have no need for something like this that goes against what I believe lemmy stands for
Sometimes you have to pay for keeping things free, of that makes any sense.
FOSS can't exist in a vacuum. The developers spend s lot of time on things and they need to be paid for their efforts, otherwise we won't get great products like Sync.
If you want things that are well maintained and supported, then there has to be income for those owners to provide those services.
Sync for lemmy is a top tier clients. I'm willing to pay to get and support that model. It's not like the 17 dollars a year is a big deal. I spend more than that on a single sushi roll sometimes.
That's true. But does not change my opinion or preferences.
But the choices I have at the moment I suppose, is remain with the current application I am using (which is adequate and serving me well), try out an ad based application, and choose to pay to get rid of the ads.
I am at a point where my choice of remaining where I am is the most appealing.
You can donate to keep the quality. I agree the ads based system is against the spirit and philosophy of Lemmy. Lemmy isn't a reddit and this is where the dev of sync did a mistake.
Donating isn't the only possibility. The dev could make the app a one time payment (I know he said it will come) without free version. If people want to use Sync, they have to pay for it. It's for the job and hours behind it.
Even king neckbeard said "I'm happy to pay for software so long as it's free" - if you want to purity-test, complain that it's not FOSS. Devs need to eat too.
Yeah, I'm only using Mullvad VPN with AdBlock enabled, and there's no trace of any ads or empty boxes here. I'll pay the one time fee to remove ads when he adds the option, though.
Now I can uninstall Liftoff . Sync's interface was Reddit for me . And now it is Lemmy for me . The custom theme base colors are great for keeping my different accounts visually separate .
Same. I spent 12 years on Reddit, and barely even saw the desktop site, I almost exclusively used mobile apps.
When I moved to Lemmy, the experience of Jerboa, Liftoff, the mobile site, etc just wasn't hitting right. Sync has been out for half a day, and it feels like home again lol.
I don't particularly care about the ads they seem pretty unintrusive but I've got to say that connect has won me over at this point and I don't see any reason to switch.
Looks like logging in with 2FA isn't working for me. Works fine on a browser, but not with the app. Anyone else seeing this problem?
EDIT: This might be an issue with Lemmy.world right now. Login takes so long that the 2FA token has already rotated by the time it actually sends. I'll try it again later.
Ok so now we have a one time purchase option, now someone make it make sense how it costs more to buy lifetime access to a months old site, than it did for me to buy the same upgrade for a longstanding site I knew Id be using for years. As far as I'm concerned lemmy is still just a possible reddit replacement, at least until we see that it has the longevity we all want.
You're not buying access to a site, you're buying a great piece of software. Users generally expecting free content and software is what got reddit and other social media into the sad state they're in now.
There's a difference between being against being taken advantage of and ripped off, the principle of it... And just being cheap. This thread blows my mind at the amount of people who are just plain cheap. $2.00 a month to a singular dev who busted his ass to give Lemmy an app that will help simplify the process for many users to transition away from Reddit and these cheapskates are complaining... You all wait til the last bite of your steak to complain too? Oof.
I'm biased because I used Sync for Reddit for years, but imo it blows Connect out of the water. The biggest complaint in this thread is the ads, which the dev is already addressing. But in terms of the UI/UX, Sync has always been top notch. Frequent updates and fixes, very smooth and intuitive interface.