this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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Sync for Lemmy
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I bought the ad free thing on Sync for Reddit but I'm not going to buy a subscription to access a service I host myself.
I love this app but I'm sicker of everything turning into a subscription than I'm frustrated at the Lemmy frontend.
What's more infuriating is that Lemmy itself doesn't have ads but Sync has, sadly.
I understand, but the dev works on this app full time so he has to earn a living somehow. Even the core Lemmy devs are able to work on Lemmy full time because they got some funding from a grant.
In my recollection sync for reddit had multiple long gaps in communication from the dev, including pretty shortly after subscriptions were first announced. I appreciate the desire to be paid, but I didn't find it clear that there were ongoing development or support efforts.
He took a few months off here or there for irl issues. I've been using Sync for nearly a decade, my personal opinion is that the drama is overblown. Even if he disappeared I would have gotten my money's worth out of the app, I used it daily for 1 - 2 hours a day.
Agreed, I've been using sync since 2016 and yeah the Dev disappeared here and there for a bit but it was always for personal reasons. Shit happens. The drama was definitely a bit much IMO.
That being said, I'm absolutely sick of everything turning into subscriptions, I'll wait for either the lifetime option or just removing ads.
Oye, Timothy
Oye beltalowda, fo keng to im gut.
I mean i agree the dev should be paid for the work. But it just seems a bit odd to require a subscription to remove ads using a service that does not have ads or backend cost from a api. I think there should be no ads or at the very least a one time purchase to remove just ads. Like I understand a subscription for like power user features. And i am not some cheap ass complaining I have probably given the dev 100+ dollars in support between patreon, ultra subscription, ultra lifetime purchases.
But the dev already confirmed that they'll put a one time payment for removing ads though, just not in this beta release.
That information should be front and centre.
Yeah LJ clearly underestimated how much people hate subscriptions here
Really should have checked any thread on lemmy.ml about Sync then.
But when you serve ads on a platform that doesn't have ads, why would I use the ad enabled app when I can just go on the actual site?
Everyone needs to make their own decision but IMO Syncβs UI is a million times better than the actual site even with ads.
But there are tons of other third party apps that are ad free that are just as good as Sync.
I'll admit to being a bit confused because I've been using sync for a couple of hours now and have yet to see an ad myself.
I've noticed that no ads are shown when you disable all tracking and reject cookies. Might be EU only though.
Yeah I just started using it and I haven't seen an ad. I know what ads for Sync looked like on Reddit, too.
Iβve seen ads but I have also seen empty ad placeholders.
Sync dev time doesn't come for free. "Pay or see ads" is a fine model and I'm willing to pay off development. I don't want a subscription, though.
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No, I'm with you. I had Sync Pro for Reddit and would happily do the same here. Like you, I just don't want another subscription.
Yeah, I'm not too happy about that. I'll give this a few days, at least, but I can't stand ads. It never occurred to me that they would be brought in for a platform that otherwise has none. I paid for a lifetime subscription on Sync for Reddit. For Lemmy, Connect is close enough to the Sync experience that I'm about to say fuck this and go back to it.
I am happy as well with Voyager as web app for both Android and PC.
Same here. I would buy lifetime again but I'm done with subs.
https://lemm.ee/comment/1774742
Guys, chill. It's just the first public beta. At least give a man a few weeks to iron things out. Geez.
subscriptions based services are mostly about cash grabbing. I really hate it that you have to pay a subscription to use a software. I'll purchase any software for a reasonable price but I'd never subscribe for a software product like this.
You don't "host" the front end development of the client though.
It still takes dev time, and that's expensive, and this is the beta implementation. Lj said he plans to add the lifetime option, but for this first release, he did not include it as he wanted to see how lemmy held up first. If this all died out in a couple weeks after the api changes from reddit, it would have been pointless. This allows for those of us who want to support the development now to enable him to focus full time. With thousands of users vs. the millions reddit had having a dollar purchase to remove ads, it just wouldn't scale right now to make this a feasible full-time project.
The problem is how apps are bought on mobile now.
With PC applications, youβd buy a specific version and you would maybe get updates for a year. Then the developer would release an update and you would decide whether it was worth buying the update for the new enhancements. If it wasnβt then youβd stick with the old version until the next new version and make the choice again. This way the developer gets paid regularly by new and existing users if they produce a good app.
On mobile, you buy an app and expect to get updates for the life of the app. The developer is expected to keep producing updates whether the app is complete or not otherwise their app is labelled as dead. They only get paid by new users.
That second model is simply not sustainable from the developerβs point of view for any reasonably sized app so they need to think of ways to make it work. There are only two options which are ads and subscriptions and people donβt like either.
Of course, PC apps are also moving to subscriptions to remove the option that you used to have to not pay them for a year or two if theyβre not providing good enough updates.
Everything is a subscription because users demand their software be updated on a consistent basis. That's the nature of software development.
Exactly. A lot of people fail to see this.
Because he will always have to work on the app as long as it lives. So subscription does make sense here. And 17 dollars ain't much at all