Sync was my Reddit app of choice for over 5 years, and after 30 minutes on Sync for Lemmy, my brain is fully convinced I'm back on Reddit. Supposedly this is just a Public Beta, but the only bugs I've found so far are the fault of my Lemmy instance, not Sync.
Sync for Lemmy should honestly just be the world's default Lemmy app.
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.
That's what I'm saying! It might be technically excellent, but one of the reasons I went away from Reddit is also to escape the aggressive data collection
I really wish the dev the best of luck. But personally, the idea of trying to make something lucrative and introduce ads (& the accompanying trackers) on top of something that people joined because they rejected that in the first place just doesn't sit right with me, especially given that we have awesome apps like Voyager and Memmy that are purely donation-driven.
Those options are nowhere near the level of polish of Sync.
Nobody HAS to use it. Ultimately if you want a choice of premium apps there has to be some incentive for a developer, or multiple in some cases, to basically go full time to develop it. Talented devs don't usually work for years on end for no pay, and I would be surprised if donations ever become significant enough to compare.
It's also just one dude. I'm very okay with supporting this one dude who makes what I think is the best app for this purpose, cuz I want him to keep doing it and to be able to do it full-time!
I personally think that a sign of a healthy technology platform is one where some people can make money from it, while the platform itself remains open. To use Linux as an example, it's wonderful that it's open source, and it's great that Red Hat can be a profitable company based on Linux. It's a good sign and it helps the Linux ecosystem thrive due to RH's contributions.
For Lemmy there are plenty of free apps - no-one is being forced to use Sync. I'm happy to pay for something that provides some more polish to my Lemmy experience, and doesn't require anything of anyone else.
I paid for the sync app on Reddit back when it was like $2 or 5. I'm not paying $99 to remove ads. I know there are dev costs, but there aren't any API costs here right?
I'll still use Sync here until I see what Boost brings over it's released.
FWIW, I think the dev has said somewhere that the tracker libs aren't loaded if you are subscribed (or pay for the ad-free version when that's available) as they're part of the ad frameworks
It's live for me. It appears that the paid version, "Sync Ultra", requires a $2/month subscription, or $17/year. Seeing as lemmy APIs are free, I am confused why this is so expensive? o_0
I mean it takes the developer time and effort to make the app, and he doesn't benefit from any ad-revenue. It's just paying for some nice features to support the work and effort of an awesome dev.
I mean, we're already browsing ad free on here and many developers are making their apps in their free time. I get that this are expensive times, but if no-one would subscribe to such apps. There would be much less developers.
I'm confused how $17 is considered expensive. If that was a monthly price it would be expensive. $17 for a year? Cheapest subscription I've ever paid for, and I'm happy to do it as a subscription to continually support the developer.
Well it is cheap for people living in developed countries but in developing countries where the exchange rate vs the dollar is high and the average income is lower, the cost of the subscription is substantial. Yes we should support the developer but unfortunately this subscription model is unfeasible for some people.
Idk what the plan is for Lemmy, but at least in the original Reddit version, ultra cost more because it also includes things like translation services that required third party server space
There's a simple ad-free version pending approval I think that I assume will probably just cost the usual dollar or five
True, but I found Jerboa to be very unpolished and barely worked so I crawled back to Reddit. Now that Sync for lemmy is released I feel right at home.
Personally, I love the UI/UX of it and how customizable it is. For me, it's unparalleled, and I'm happy to pay for it to support the independent developer behind it. But I get that not everyone cares about it and would rather use a different option, and it's cool that there are so many different options to interact with the fediverse.
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