Not hating on open source, just let people use what fits their expectations and needs and stop deterring them with gatekeeping :P
UX = user experience
this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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I am currently using Sync, and while I agree that the UX is better I can also understand why so many on the Fediverse are against similar apps. They are here because corporations have ruined every other good thing on the internet and non-FOSS is very much associated with big corporations. While I would prefer that Sync were FOSS I also see the reality of Western society and how untenable creating an app would be without some kind of ad revenue. A majority of people are notoriously stingy and donations can only get you so far.
Also, Sync is one dev working full time by himself, not a big corp.
Reddit was two guys, YouTube was a small group of friends. Things grow fast, especially with a subscription price as high as Sync.
Sync has been a one man show for over a decade. Just how fast did you have in mind?
He also has always asked and worked with his community for what they want. I've been on Sync since 2014 and have nothing tying me to it, but the fact when I had issues he responded personally and got it fixed, really made an impression. I remember back when he took a break for a couple years to work on his degree, he came back swinging hard on this project.
I'll gladly leave the app if it ever doesn't have my interests in mind. However that time has not yet arrived.
These people aren't arguing in good faith. They're just stretching for any strawman they can to justify the fact that they don't want to spend money or see ads. In other words "Do a bunch of work for me to benefit from for free".
Sync has been good to me for the better part of a decade and after a little while on the free app I will most likely end up paying. He has earned it.
Reddit was two originally, but they had to bring in Aaron Swartz to get it working correctly. He was working on his own similar thing at the time, and was able to insert his code into their idea.
Then he did the typical Aaron Swartz thing, and got bored moved on to his next shiny project and got ousted for failure to do his job.
No shade to anyone who uses Sync, but the egregious thing to me is the price. Sync isn’t making the content, just like Reddit wasn’t, and they’re setting the price at a level that it feels like that’s what you’re paying for.
Any comparison to other software makes this pretty clear. If it were $4.99, I’d say that’s relatively fair, but charging 1/3rd of the cost of a new video game for an app that took less than 1/3rd of the resources to produce seems a bit absurd.
People can spend their money however they want, but I also don’t think it’s completely uncalled for to criticize the company for what appears to be price gouging.
The one time payment to remove ads is 20$.
People are really overblowing the price. As other ppl have mentioned, lemmy is less than a fraction of the user base of reddit.
The 4x price increase isn't crazy. Devs need to make a living. I talk to Lj every now and then on Discord. Dude has been scrambling since the Reddit shut down to get out a working product. I really don't think it's price gouging to spend 20$ for an app I'll be using for maybe 30-mins to an hour almost every single day.
There is the ad revenue too though. If it is impossible to make a living and work on these apps with either reasonable app pricing or no ads, then why is Sync the only app for Lemmy with these strings attached?
I just don’t understand what makes Sync significantly different or more expensive to produce than every other app available right now.
Bro it's just a great fucking app, specifically for the design and user experience.
Also I (very loosely) know Lj and want to support his work.
You absolutely do not need to use Sync! Enjoy Lemmy through your app of choice!!
To be totally clear, I really am not intending to throw any shade towards users of the app. My opinion about the price is not a judgment on the users.
I am glad to hear that it at least provides a premium experience. I just hope ads and expensive apps aren’t going to be the future of accessing Lemmy.
FOSS apps are hobbies. Sync is LJ's job and will be better given the refinement it has received over years at reddit.
Sync is a "professional" app. The others are mostly hobbyists. That's the ultimate difference. Same as with Apollo. You had a bunch of open source reddit clients, but a hobby piece of software will seldom outshine a professional product. Sometimes it happens, but that's the exception not the norm. Sync has been incredibly stable for me over the last day. Memmy on my phone and Connect haven't been. No shade to the devs, but devs approach a solution differently when that is how they support themselves. Passion can only carry a project so far, speaking as a dev myself.
That makes a bit more sense. I didn’t realize it was being marketed as a professional/enterprise tool.
The lemmy user base is tiny compared to reddit, so the price is higher.
We also seem to be willing to pay it. Personally, I think it's worth it
As long time sync user I'm very disappointed I didn't see the remove ads button before I went and signed up for ultra. Wish I could still buy the permanent ad free while being an ultra subscriber. I tie my ultra to my Google play balance and depends on how much opinion rewards decides to give me at any given time.
It may just be a matter of perspective, but to me, fewer users and content should equal lower price, not higher. I understand what you mean about them not getting an equal amount of money from the user base since there are fewer users, but by that same token, those users are getting less content through the app due to the same reason.
Seems like it balances out where both sides should expect less until things pick up over time.
The Sync dev isn't selling the content.
Supply and demand works the opposite of that. When there's a niche market then things always cost more. It's why my baddragon velocoraptor dildo cost me my second mortgage.
Lol, not going to lie, the bad dragon example makes sense.
You don't have to pay anything to use Sync.
That's my main hangup as well.
The one time app removal fee should be $10 or less. In line with other premium apps.
And the subscription rates are just bananas.
Cut all the prices in half and I wouldn't have any issues.
...posted from Sync for Lemmy.
What's bananas about $3/mo and 17/yr? Hell I pay 12 bucks a year for unlimited email aliases from Firefox 😂