this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but does Sync seriously charge to remove ads that they added to browsing Lemmy in the first place? I get charging for Reddit due to the API, but I have a hard time believing the app is that much better than the existing FOSS apps such that the privacy tradeoff with ad trackers and/or the monetary cost worth it for, well, anyone really. Seems kinda scummy and antithetical to the philosophy that drives much of the Fediverse to me, yet I see so many people defending it in a way that reminds me of the rhetoric used to defend Reddit. Seriously, am I just a crazy person?
LJ, the dev of Sync, makes a living off it. It's not a side project like most Lemmy apps are for their devs. This means that yes, it's monetized, but also, it's one of the most polished and frequently updated apps.
Not trying to be just be contrarian for contrarianism's sake, but it doesn't look like anything special to me. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my ahead around why anyone would pay for it, leaving charging for it / putting ads and tracking in it in the first place aside.
It's quite polished, mainly that. Even for a beta, there's almost no bugs, it respects Android Material You specs including animations, and it's highly customizable, allowing advanced filtering for example. It also adds very nice QoL features like automatically removing AMP links for full links.
Value is subjective, I personally consider it worthy of my money.
For me at least, part of it is a degree of "brand loyalty" because I used Sync for Reddit for a very long time. I paid I think 6$ for the pro version years ago and got absurd value for my money.
Now, the dev makes the move to Lemmy and enables an experience that is both very polished and very familiar. I don't mind paying a (one time) fee to support the dev in that setting.
Re: trackers, my current understanding is that all of that was attached to the ad system, and removing ads functionally removes the tracking. My pihole provides a good measure of cover too.
If someone wants to stick with another one, great, I hope it works well for them. I suspect I'll be happy here.
Not contrarian at all, just different preferences. The simple answer for many people is one of habit. Sync was the only way for many people to access Reddit for a long time (including me) and it just felt like home.
I personally am a big fan of Voyager as well and it's really nice to see the vibrant apps scene on Lemmy.
Im also suspecting ads got turned off for the beta. At the beginning of the day i saw them but now I don't. He said there will be a one time payment option as well.
It was still there as of an hour ago.
All i see are blank "sponsored content" boxes. And i changed nothing and paid for nothing.
Interesting. I saw that as well but I'm running a network adblocker, so I thought that was the reason. Those boxes are still a placeholder for ads though.
He makes a living on it. That's why it's so polished and it looks so great. It really makes the experience so much better.
Ads are just a horrid concept from hell to me. Somehow I'd almost prefer if there wasn't a free tier lol. Either way I have zero issue with Jerboa so I have no reason to complain :p
FWIW the tracking is turned off if paying to remove the ads.
I hear you, I also find it weird to put ads for a free experience when the original service is also free and ad-free.
I prefer apps that, for example, offer limited usage for free and full features under payment. I know what others are saying about this not being a side project. For example, Ivory for Mastodon (iOS) is a freemium app with a subscription model for you to be able to full use the app, also not a “side project” but their model works (they previously developed Tweetbot until all the mess at Xitter started to happen last year).
Beware of that dev. He was caught injecting Amazon commission links into his apps. He also started a mass attack on Dash for reddit & Joey for reddit dev.
Regarding the second point, he was not alone. Relay,RiF & Boost for reddit devs were also involved in it. Funny how they did the same thing later they accused those poor devs of.
FYI, I think you might be telling the truth, but you really shouldn't make serious accusations like that without at least including a source...
This happened 4 to 7 years ago. Well documented on reddit. Reddit search is terrible so difficult to find. I was one of the few to defend Dash for reddit dev & codesforliving (Joey dev)
Yeah, that's... still not a source. Let me remind you: you made the claim, you need to back it up with facts or a source! (If you want us to take you seriously, I mean.)
Remember, Keanu Reeves said that unsourced commenters should be kicked down a flight of stairs. It's on Reddit somewhere...
damn thats crazy but source?
These happened few years ago. I was one of the few to defend Dash for reddit dev & codesforliving (Joey dev).
They accused them of copying their app but later shamelessly copied Joey.
Dash for reddit dev too gave a befitting reply. He was also willing to show them the code.
Reddit search function is terrible so I'm unable to find