this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2022

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Lemmy

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What is happening with the Lemmy mobile apps? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 years ago by suspended@lemmy.ml to c/lemmy@lemmy.ml

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It's my, general, understanding that most people connect to the Internet through mobile apps.

If this is the case, then why have apps such as Remmel, Lemmur and jerboa taken a back seat?

IMHO, it would be a mistake to market Lemmy without these mobile apps functioning properly.

I have forked the three aforementioned mobile apps here and will try to 'drum up' support from developers wherever I can find them.

Please, if you don't feel comfortable talking to me about this here, then send me a private message. Thank you.

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[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 42 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I made jerboa like a month ago, and I'm not an android dev; I had to learn android programming from scratch.

Its not that any of these mobile apps have taken a back seat; I wouldn't have made making a native android one a priority if I didn't think mobile apps are important.

The issue is that even though all of these are open source projects, very few experienced coders contribute to them, so I welcome your effort to find more development help. All of the ppl currently working on lemmy, its web app, and its mobile apps are spread very thin.

Even with that said, I'm very proud of all the work put in by these devs, and I have no doubt they will continue to improve their apps, but on their own schedule. If you want things done faster, the codebase is right there.

[–] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 years ago

Jerbora is way better than it's original alpha release. It's still not as good as the web version on mobile but it's really getting there

[–] Acetamide@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just a month ago? I'm using it to post this message and I'm incredibly impressed with how far you've come!

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That message is a year old now :) But yes its coming along.

[–] Acetamide@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Oh damn, still learning the UI here... Thanks nevertheless!

[–] fulano@lemmy.eco.br 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sending this message from jerboa. Thank you very much for making it possible.

Are there current issues that the community can help with?

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Sure, plenty. Check the issue tracker and dive in!

[–] mp3@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

And to add on this, the Lemmy platform evolves quite fast lately, so it must also be quite a challenge to keep the app in sync feature-wise.

I'm currently using Jerboa and it works well for what I do on Lemmy, thanks for your work on this :)

There's still some stuff I can do like pinning a submission in a community, but it's not a big issue to go on the web version to do so once in a while.

[–] ieure@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It’s my, general, understanding that most people connect to the Internet through mobile apps.

Certainly, a lot of people use mobile apps.

If this is the case, then why have apps such as Remmel, Lemmur and jerboa taken a back seat?

In what way have they "taken a back seat?" Taken a back seat to what?

They seem to be there for anyone who wants to use them, and look like they're actively maintained.

IMHO, it would be a mistake to market Lemmy without these mobile apps functioning properly.

I don't believe those client apps are built by the same folks as Lemmy, therefore whether they "function properly" is purely a concern for their developers and users.

Lemmy is non-commercial and as such "the market" doesn't work in the same way as an integrated product like Instagram, Twitter, etc.

[–] suspended@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

In what way have they “taken a back seat?” Taken a back seat to what?

Taken a back seat to browser development.

...and look like they’re actively maintained.

Not as actively as the browser development.

I don’t believe those client apps are built by the same folks as Lemmy...

They aren't except for 'jerboa'.

...therefore whether they “function properly” is purely a concern for their developers and users.

It's a concern because most users connect to the Internet through mobile apps.

Lemmy is non-commercial and as such “the market” doesn’t work in the same way as an integrated product like Instagram, Twitter, etc.

I'm not addressing the differing world market systems. I'm addressing how most people connect to the Internet.

[–] bruhbeans@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago

None of this is actionable or quantatative. If you have an issue with the mobile apps, file bugs.

[–] ieure@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

In what way have they “taken a back seat?” Taken a back seat to what?
Taken a back seat to browser development.

And in what way does this manifest? They lack features that the web UI has? Why are you bringing it up here instead of filing tickets with mobile apps?

It seems silly to say they've "taken a back seat" when they're entirely different pieces of software written by different individuals. It's like saying that Chrome development is taking a back seat to DuckDuckGo. They're different things entirely.

I don’t believe those client apps are built by the same folks as Lemmy…
They aren’t except for ‘jerboa’.

It's a side project by a Lemmy developer, not an official part of Lemmy.

…therefore whether they “function properly” is purely a concern for their developers and users.
It’s a concern because most users connect to the Internet through mobile apps.
Lemmy is non-commercial and as such “the market” doesn’t work in the same way as an integrated product like Instagram, Twitter, etc.
I’m not addressing the differing world market systems. I’m addressing how most people connect to the Internet.

You seem to have confused and incorrect ideas about how the internet works.

[–] aspensmonster@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

People defaulted to mobile apps over browsers because mobile websites used to suck. That early inertia has allowed mobile apps to dominate and stagnate over time. The internet would be a better place if there were far more functional mobile websites and far fewer mobile apps.

But of course, it is all free software. There's nothing stopping anyone from making a killer iPhone or Android app for Lemmy. Heck, there's nothing stopping commercial entities from attempting to treat the entire stack like a commercial product, assuming they comply with the licenses.

[–] suspended@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

mobile websites

Are you referring to websites that are mobile responsive?

Maybe, there are developers out there that could make a mobile app experience 'different' than the browser experience. I believe there are.

[–] adrianmalacoda@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In my experience, the main reason mobile websites suck is because they do so by design, in order to push users to install an app. Lemmy developers have no incentive to do so.

[–] poVoq@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago

Exactly this. Companies preferr mobile apps because it allows them to do much more user tracking push their own advertisement etc. To this end they intentionally make it difficult to use their websites in mobile browsers (see Twitter or Reddit), to force people to use apps.

Its really a dark pattern and a website like Lemmy works perfectly fine on mobile browsers.

[–] aspensmonster@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Are you referring to websites that are mobile responsive?

Yes. My general philosophy is that, if it can be done in the browser, then it shouldn't need an app. Leave mobile apps to the cases where the browser can't get the job done.

[–] suspended@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Using Lemmy on a smart phone with a browser should work fine since the site is built to be responsive. However, having a native Lemmy application for Android and iOS could provide opportunities for further feature development that isn’t included with the browser version. That is why I believe it is a good idea to keep these apps going.

[–] erpicht@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What is the point of adding exclusive features to the mobile application? What sort of features should these be? Purely cosmetic?

[–] Echedenyan@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Two examples:

Notifications in real time: not just by email or having to maintain the browser open and without sound.
Sharing using the own sharing dialogs.

However, I personally use the website by now and rely on email notifications.

[–] toneverends@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

"Progressive Web Apps" with "Add to Home Screen" is the tech make this happen I think?

Notifications are supported.

Sharing intents can be registered via web share target, which I think is supported by chromium but not yet by Firefox.

[–] Echedenyan@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I have it like that but notifications doesn't seem to be supported or, at least, with the application closed.

Also the sound and light seem to be specific of the whole browser applications as far as I could test right know.

[–] erpicht@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

I stand corrected on the utility of app exclusive features. I never considered it, but I suppose I rather like how I don't get notifications through lemmur. Though I understand how that's a hassle for others who want them.

[–] shabbee7@masr.social 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Lemmur does not let me add any instance. Jerboa is barely usable.

[–] suspended@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

That's correct. These apps need work.