• snarf@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Meh, I’m happy to support the dev. No judgment if you don’t want to pay, but I think it’s worth it.

    • Fazoo@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      The hate would stem from the utter spam of every possible fucking instance with “Hey, Sync is out and the fucking best!! Spend your money!”

        • Fazoo@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Almost like they could all get excited in a mega thread… We did it for Musk spam.

        • krotti@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Paying for a product is not a bad thing, but yeah obviously there are issues with something not being FOSS…

            • krotti@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Proprietary and FOSS software both have a place, otherwise I would like to ask anyone against proprietary software for bank statements of FOSS donations or “Can you make a better one free”.

              There isn’t a lot of great FOSS software just because there isn’t much funding… Regardless, I am on the same page, that I’d much rather use FOSS software.

        • WiildFiire@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          For lifetime. Single purchase. It’s $17 a year. To support an incredibly small development team which were kicked off Reddit without any way to stay. Yeah, I’d pay some money to help a dude put food on the table.

  • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Yeah, because why should app developers get paid, right? They should all code for free at their local public library. Maybe live in a big ceramic jar like Diogenes.

    • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      “Free” as in “freedom”, not price. There’s nothing stopping somebody from making money on FOSS.

      Goddam Richard Stallman really screwed the PR up on that one with the “free” thing.

      • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        The F in FOSS stands for free, IIRC. The ability to access, use, share the code, etc. has more to do with the open source part of the acronym. I haven’t really seen anyone complain about Sync being closed sourced so far… Just that you have to pay not to see ads.

        Ive only ever seen FOSS developers get support through donations. Which is nice and all, but likely not enough for an independent developer like ljdawson to survive on alone.

        Dont get me wrong, I like FOSS apps too, but the experience almost always suffers to some degree; its easy to see why. I just don’t get why Sync is being singled out like some kind of evil tech monopoly lately. As far as I can tell, its just an individual developer who released a great app for free (yes with ads, you’re the product, blah blah blah) with an optional lifetime payment to disable ads completely.

          • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            Well then what’s the issue? Because every complaint I’ve seen so far has been about the optional monetary facet.

            • Captain Beyond@linkage.ds8.zone
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              1 year ago

              I think people are complaining about ads because ads imply tracking. I don’t know, I use Jerboa because I value the four freedoms, I’m not out here protesting non-free apps because the free apps work well enough for me.

              • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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                1 year ago

                AFAIK the way ad revenue works is dependent on trackers. Paying to remove ads on Sync also removes all trackers according to many people who have tested it; still seems to come down to not wanting to pay the developer.

                Which is fine, of course. I just think framing the app as sketchy or something is completely misguided.

                • 30p87@feddit.de
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                  1 year ago

                  Are Sync Free and Sync Paid Edition separate apps? Because if not, you still have some ad publishers framework on your phone and running. I’d guess it’s Google, which means play services are required. That’s a big no-go for degoogled Linux users.

    • CurlyMoustache@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’ve tried a few of the other apps, and didn’t like them that much. Sync is the first one I actually liked. Not sure if I want to pay for it, though

      • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        In my experience you can have:

        1. Good app that is free with ads,
        2. Good app that is paid without ads,
        3. Shit to mediocre app that is free without ads.

        I’ve tried many alternatives, but so far the intuitiveness and beautiful UX of Sync stand apart from the competition for me. I respect FOSS apps, and even prefer them in some cases. But let’s not pretend that its the best approach for every developer, or that anyone who releases a non-FOSS app is automatically greedy or sketchy.

  • Nora@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    This discourse in these comments is stupid. People can complain about Sync if they have something to complain about. It’s a fucking forum. Personally I hate the idea of restricting features and using ads to get people to pay, especially when I have several FOSS apps that work perfectly for me, I don’t think Sync feels any more “slick”.

    There, that’s my opinion. I don’t like Sync and I’m not attacking anyone for using it.

    • unscholarly_source@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      As a Sync user, I support this comment. The fact that these debates occur is precisely due to the fact that people have the freedom of choice, and that’s something to celebrate.

      Sync doesn’t have to be “better” or “worse” than other apps and vice versa. People should pick what they like. I pick it because it feels like home after having used it for almost 10 years. Doesn’t mean it’s better.

    • Kogasa@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      People can complain about Sync if they have something to complain about.

      Okay. I have something to complain about, too. It’s people complaining too much about Sync.

      • dannoffs@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        I get complaining about the price, I get being a FOSS diehard, but there are are a handful of accounts that are so insanely mad about Sync and commenting/posting about it so much that they genuinely can’t be mentally well.

    • zeroxxx@lemmy.my.id
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      1 year ago

      Ye, I loved Sync for Reddit, bought pro and dev even, but current Sync monetization is insane enough to alienate me.

      Whatever people want to use do not concern me.

      • And009@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        Youtube premium is $2/month in my country, sync is one time $25… Would have to say it’s kinda expensive and not buying it anytime soon.

    • Stumblinbear@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      They aren’t using ads to “get people to pay” they’re using ads to pay for people who don’t want to pay

      • Nora@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Yes, the ads make a little money. But it’s still a problem you create then sell the solution to. It’s at least half the reason to do ads.

        • Stumblinbear@pawb.social
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          1 year ago

          Not really. The alternative is charging for the app in the first place, but if you do that your app fails. You include ads to help pay for development and ongoing expenses.

          Offering a subscription to remove them for those that want to is secondary to that. Very few people actually subscribe to anything at all unless they absolutely have to. You’d be surprised to learn how few users actually pay to remove ads–like oftentimes less than one percent

              • Nora@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Donations work. The dev clearly has many loyal fans willing to pay. Look at Jerboa/Lemmy’s donation pages. It’s good money.

                Besides this I’m not even saying the dev shouldn’t do it. I’m just explaining that I don’t like it.

                I gladly donate to FOSS software devs because the product never forces me to log in for a feature or get a key or see an ad. The app doesn’t get any of the bloat required to do that stuff either. I just don’t want to use Sync and it’s not because I’m cheap

                • Stumblinbear@pawb.social
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                  1 year ago

                  It’s good money.

                  The Lemmy dev is making around 30k a year. Subtract taxes from that and he’s making maybe 25k (at best).

                  They’re very clearly extremely talented software engineers, and you’re telling me $12 an hour is “good money”? Do you have any idea how much software engineers make?

    • CandyDumDub@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I fully agree! I have no idea why would I need to pay $20 for an app when I have a bunch of alternatives that I like even more. Welp, I even like to use a browser instead of an app sometimes. But people are excited and are going to Lemmy, which is a good thing

      • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Damn I loved Sync for reddit. Paid like $3 for the pro version, removing ads. Not sure I can make myself pay $20 though. Something like $5-$8 would be more reasonable.

        • negativeyoda@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I hear you but I also paid like $3-5 for pro and used it daily for years. It probably works out to pennies per month if you do the math. I don’t get the sense LJDawson is lighting cigars with $100 bills. With the old model he got paid the price of a coffee… once. I’d imagine that a subscription model at least guarantees him a somewhat regular income stream that hopefully helps beyond beer money every so often

        • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Not sure if you have tried voyager yet, but it has been great for me. It’s a PWA, so you can install it to your phone homescreen from the browser. All of the kinks seem to be pretty ironed out by now.

          Completely ad free and monetarily free, as well.

          To be fair, though, I never used sync. I used RIF for reddit, and I haven’t missed it since I found Voyager.

      • VCTRN@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        No one says you need to, in fact you don’t, but many people keep bitching like they are forced to.

    • ruckblack@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Which open source app do you feel is just as slick as sync? Genuine question. I’d be happy to support a FOSS app, but all that I found had weird issues and quirks, and/or janky UI. Liftoff was the best I’d found but again, buggy and janky.

  • CoLa666@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    Seeing the Sync for lemmy pricing, I just sent 20 USD to the Lemmy/Jerboa devs for offering all this for free!

    • gkd@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I think the “hot take” that needs to be said here - and surprisingly I have not come across it yet - is that it’s totally fine if you’re willing to pay 20 dollars for the app.

      However, please remember that the app itself is not self contained. It relies on the hard work of the Lemmy developers and the instance you use staying online. Please consider sending them some money as well down the line. If you get the app for 20 dollars as a one time payment, maybe some future payments - even if considerably smaller - can go towards the latter.

      • crisisingot@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        I’m using Sync free version and $20 seems pretty steep for me. I like it but not sure about that price compared to ad free versions of other apps.

        I am already donating to my instance though 😄

    • FuckSpez@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      I did the opposite. The moment I saw Sync for Lemmy available to download I installed it and immediately purchased Ultra because bless LJ for making the superior app. He deserves getting paid for his work. And it’s not like he requires you to pay for the app. It’s free for everyone, you just get some additional features if you are willing to pay and by doing that you also support the developer. So I decided to support him. I’ve been using Sync for Reddit before and I knew I needed this app for Lemmy. Now I feel home.

  • Digester@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ve tried pretty much all the FOSS Lemmy apps I could get my hands on but the experience Sync provides is far superior. I’m an ex Boost user and since I couldn’t find Boost for Lemmy I naturally gravitated towards Sync and I’m not looking back.

  • jacktherippah@lemdro.id
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    1 year ago

    I’m also a huge believer in open source. I’m using Infinity for Lemmy right now but I gladly paid for the ad removal in Sync. It genuinely is the best Lemmy app out right now. It just works and has so many customization options. Not to mention, since Sync uses Google for ads, when you remove the ads, the ad component isnt initialized so you remove the tracking. So nothing to worry about there either. 20$ lifetime for such an awesome app is totally fair for me. That’s my opinion, you are free to disagree.

    • frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
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      I used Sync for Reddit since alpha (back when it was Reddit Sync), so I gladly paid the $20 ad removal, even though I also happen to be juggling both Sync and Infinity right now. They’re both so good.

    • simplify@lemm.ee
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      I’m seeing $99.99 for lifetime.
      Edit: I was confusing Ultra with simply removing ads.

    • itsmistermoon@feddit.cl
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      1 year ago

      I’m currently jumping between Memmy, Bean, Lemmios and Avelon. Dropped Thunder, Liftoff, Olympus and Lemmotif. There’s actually a lot of options going around, not to mention the several other WPAs being developed too.

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    1 year ago

    What’s important is Lemmy getting adopted doesn’t matter what app people choose.

    We have great apps with PWA as Voyager or old Reddit theme with MLMYM.

    Never want to use a censored social agregator as Reddit.

    • hiire@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Exactly! There’s no entity aside from the instance admin, mods, and you. No corporation trying to maintain an image, no one stopping you from creating other accounts with different identities in other servers… It’s just you and the instances. And if you don’t like one, just go to another one, it’s all up to you!

      And I love that it’s going mainstream. Keep it up y’all, let’s keep these instances active

    • Bondrewd@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It is important, as closed source software can determine its own defaults, hijacking the initiative and eventually gaining majority. Just like Google is doing with Android and Chromium.

      Threads also wants to be part of the fediverse.