Just want to say thank you to Connect dev Kuro for making Connect for Lemmy. Amidst all this hype for Sync and Boost, Connect remains ad- and subscription-free without compromising quality. This app is bomb and I won't be veering off to competitors anytime soon. Bonus points for being Canadian too! π Thank you!
Thank you for the support. I think Connect is 90% feedback driven at this point haha. My goal has always been getting more people using Lemmy so monetization isn't really a focus for me as I'm doing this for fun. Sending you love back fellow canuck!
I tried Sync for a bit, but I agree with the other posters that the pricing model is a little outrageous.
Have you considered adding a donation option through google play? I'm not sure what the process is like, but it might make it easier for people to donate.
Permanently removing ads in Sync is just 20$ though; I wouldn't call it 'outrageous' for such a feature-rich app. The more expensive options are there if you want to further support the dev.
As a foldable user, one of the things I was most excited for Sync, is their ability to adapt to the foldable display both on the inner and outer display. For example, when you are using sync on the outer screen then open up your fold, it utilizes the "extra half" of the screen to work as another pane for viewing content without interrupting what you're doing on the left side. Do you have any plans to implement something similar?
I have to admit, I'm a leech when it comes to entertainment. I always use adblockers (even on Twitch) and have never spent a single cent on mobile apps. However, I donated to Kuro because he's a boss and Connect is the best Lemmy app. All hail the king!
Connect is the only app that is very close to RiF. it has the wonderful next/back buttons and the layout can be configured very similar to RiF. i love it!
as far i can tell it has none of the RiF features. it has no prev/next and parent buttons. it has some weird design decisions like hiding a comment thread on tap, etc.
it does not scratch this specific itch. connect does.
While I await Boost to see if it's as good for Lemmy as it was for Reddit, I might just find myself having to stick with Connect as it's just been too useful of an app that keeps getting better every time I wake up to a new update.
Like many have said the block instance feature as well as the ability to block communities without entering them IMMEDIATELY made Lemmy a significantly better experience and for that Im forever grateful
I used to use Sync for the other site, but despite all the hype for Sync for lemmy I don't feel the need to try it when Connect meets all my needs.
I've seen people using other apps wishing that their app had this feature or that feature. Well Connect already has that built in! Spread the good word, lemmings!
I was excited for Sync, installed it this morning and already uninstalled it because Connect is so much better. I am still curious about Boost, simply because I still use it for Reddit, but it will have to be really good to get me off of Connect.
I'm the same as you. I installed Sync too since I used that for Reddit. But Connect is already doing everything Sync did and for free. Sync is asking for some hefty prices. ($26 CDN to get rid of ass!)
I uninstalled it. I'm happy to stick with my Canadian made app anyway. π¨π¦
Agreed. I tried using sync this morning and just ended up back on connect. There are a couple of things like how hidden posts work/scroll past that I prefer how connect handles them.
Id say sync has ever so slightly more polish on the ui front? maybe? but im super happy with Connect. Great dev.
I was going to install Sync to give it a whirl but after reading some feedback, and hearing the dreaded "ad" word, I've decided to stick with Connect instead.
Thankfully the ads aren't always in your face and they aren't disguised as posts either like Reddit loves doing, so you can easily ignore them, but I get why people don't want ads.
While I agree it's a great feature, I think the reason it's missing from the platform by default is that the intended way of achieving this is joining or starting an instance which doesn't federate with the instance you don't want to see. Many design choices that might seem annoying at first look to be intended to push users towards smaller, more specific instances rather than big ones. This prevents any one host having too much control over the platform as a whole.
I tried all the others and ended up with connect in the end. I like the look and feel of it, it just works with me. Thank you very much for developing this and keeping it available for us as FOSS and not tracking us!π
I saw this app mentioned in that app post. Glad this exists. I was willing to pay for a lifetime sub of S. again, but not at THAT price. Especially after buying a lifetime sub for the last one that got me through a couple of months (which was a risk I was willing to take). This client looks great. Wouldn't mind a purchase here, will probably donate soon.
Yeah, I've been waiting to see Boost and Sync come out, and in the meantime Connect has matured way more quickly than I would have ever expected. I think it's top of the heap of Lemmy apps now for me.
Connect dev here. Sync is a great app and I think the developer did a good job and it's benefitted a lot in terms of polish from being a Reddit app for years. I feel Connect is more or less at feature parity while being just over a month old. Maybe in terms of differences I would say Connect will never track you, doesn't include ads or data collection, and isn't a subscription service. But that's true for a number of open source Lemmy apps too and I also think Summit, Liftoff, and Thunder are really great choices too.
Thank you for the response.
I am not so much into the mobile developing, but as I understand, you are not monetizing this app in any way, just taking voluntary donations?
Thanks for being an awesome dev, I did use connect in the interim before Sync. I probably will still use connect to some extent for other accounts, and definitely recommend it as an option for those who don't wish to pay for an app.
I tried sync and I must say... I don't find it that much better than connect, you can't even hide the replays!
I'm pretty happy with connect and I'll keep using it
Connect was the first app I installed for Lemmy and I've seen no reason to try any others - it's amazing.
I was excited for Artemis (for Kbin, Lemmy support due to be added) but Connect is so good I've been using Lemmy much more, even though I hate the web UI, and the functionality of Connect is beating Artemis currently.
I'm using Liftoff right now because I'm trying to restrict myself to open source apps as part of a personal challenge to contribute code to things I like, but I always steer people towards Connect as an option. It is at present, I think, the best lemmy app experience
I thought I was going crazy. I downloaded Sync. It's fine, but I honestly prefer Connect still. Connect is just so damn good! It's smooth and set up great.
If like how Connect looks you might like Megalodon. It's a fork of the official Mastodon app with a number of usability improvements and such, I've found it to be a well-balanced app in terms of features and usability/design. I haven't used Fedilab, but I've seen people recommend it before and I'd say it's worth a shot if you like lots of configuration options.
I've used both a lot. Megalodon for a smooth polished app with plenty of features. Fedlilab for every possible feature you could imagine and then 12 more than that, but less polished. I'm sticking with megalodon for now