this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023

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Liftoff!

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A mobile client for Lemmy running on iOS and Android

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Appreciation post for Liftoff not collecting user data or injecting ads. (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I was looking forward to trying Sync today now that it's live, but my enthusiasm was immediately dampened after seeing the "Data Safety" section on the Google Play store.

Liftoff has been great, and want to say thanks for making an awesome app. This will continue to be my daily driver.

Edit: for clarity, because the post got way bigger than I expected.

Sync looks like a fantastic app, and the dev/s should charge whatever they feel is fair for their efforts, even if that's through the usual ads + ad tracking.

My intent was just to post here in /c/Liftoff to thank the Liftoff devs for managing to somehow offer an awesome app without any of that.

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[–] [email protected] 151 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I dont get you people. Making those apps is maybe a hobby for some but a job for others. People asked for Synch for Lemmy and the dev WORKED on it and will continue WORKING on it.

Love to see how many of you guys will work for free. And you probably all work for places that NEVER collect any data.

Could I use a free app for Lemmy? Sure, but I want Synch, because I know what Synch has to offer is what I want. I don't need to settle for an "almost" solution. I can use Synch and I gladly paid for it.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Not to mention that Sync for Reddit had the same exact data advisory tag. The developer has been very open that he doesn't store or sell the data, it is just needed for the free version to work properly.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think OP doesn't mind paying for an app, it's the "collect data" that was his issue. If the free version collects data to send you ads, and there is an option to buy and remove the data collection and ads, then that's probably fine with most people.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's the way it is being reported. Buy to remove ads and the tracking goes away.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Yeah, I've been really disappointed in Lemmy's response to sync. I thought this community was supposed to be technically minded but in every thread on Sync, the top comment is repeating disinformation about tracking and there's tons of people tearing down the developer.

I get not wanting to use an App that has ads, but people are getting downright toxic over an App that no one is forcing them to use lol.

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[–] [email protected] 132 points 1 year ago (24 children)

Sync has just updated to allow a one off payment to remove ads. Dawson is also adding a one off payment for lifetime Ultra as well.

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[–] [email protected] 95 points 1 year ago (42 children)

You have other free and amazing options that sync has no advantages over. They are all just as good, if not better.

Liftoff
Thunder
Jerboa
Connect
Voyager (my favorite so far)
Infinity for Lemmy. Early development, but still free and no ads

I don't get why I would go for sync, get tracked, watch ads or pay a monthly subscription!

[–] [email protected] 84 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Hard disagree. I find Sync the best user experience so far, including the best looking UI hands down

[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I've been using Voyager until today. It was a fine app, but anyone who thinks it holds a candle to Sync is off their rocker. Sync has more features, runs far more smoothly, and looks a hell of a lot better.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the free apps have really raised the bar. I think there's a lot of passion out there for the fediverse and non-corporate social media.

I haven't tried Voyager yet, but it sounds like I should give it a shot!

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[–] [email protected] 79 points 1 year ago (30 children)

Sync VS FOSS thing isn't over yet? Let everyone use what they like the most. Let everyone be the judge of their own data and how it is being used. For god's sake, live and let live folks

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[–] [email protected] 69 points 1 year ago (2 children)

All I've learned from today's drama is some of you people really love apps. People getting enraged over which apps people are using..

Lemmy really seems to attract even more terminally online people

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (9 children)

I mean a lot of the people on here seem a bit more on the technical side, so it'd make sense imo

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Bro, of course it has a data safety section, it offers a paid version so it will need to be able to collect your financial information, and any trackers are removed if you remove ads or turn off personalized ads. That doesn't mean it's stealing your data, those are regular app functions for apps that have iaps or show ads.

[–] Classy 47 points 1 year ago (1 children)

download camera app

App requirements: Access to files

OMFG THE CAMERA APP IS STEALING ALL OF MY DATA

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

I think it's a little uncharitable to Sync to characterise it like this. Yes, it collects personal data to show ads. However, you have the choice to refuse or pay a one time fee to get rid of it entirely. It's the nonconsensual nature of data collection that robs users of their agency that makes it problematic.

Devs need to eat and donations are not always a realistic revenue scheme. With the one time fee, Sync has signalled it cares about its users and not just value extraction like Big Tech. I will probably pay that and be happy.

I like Liftoff, I also like Sync. I use both atm.

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 year ago (5 children)

The race to make a Lemmy app has made some solid contenders step up. There are a lot of legitimately good apps.

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's seriously a great app, so I don't get the fuss about Sync either. I've been a Sync and Boost user before but I'm very content with the apps we already got for Lemmy so I won't throw in another one to choose from.

I've been switching between Liftoff, Voyager and Thunder because they all seem to good to just lose them right now lol

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Sync looks super clean and is probably a fantastic app, but I'm just a little put off by the data privacy. It's like a month or so in the fediverse has spoiled me, and I can't go back to being a product.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago (6 children)

lil reminder that this was posted to the liftoff community. the sheer volume of comments echoing the same “fuck you for complaining, you’re wrong” sentiment would really make you wonder. it’s not like you wandered, drunk, into their community and started shit talking sync.

coincidentally that does seem to be what most of the sync-stans in here have done, though.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'll play devil's advocate. Let's look at some facts and the timeline.

Sync for Reddit has 1,000,000+ downloads, according to the Play Store listing as of writing. It has existed since ~2012 and is well established as one of the best Android reddit apps. To put that number into perspective, that's roughly one Sync user for every 2 posts on Lemmy (https://lemmy.world/post/2581495).

Liftoff is a brand new app created for Lemmy. Further, Lemmy itself is just becoming known. There aren't many people here.

Sync announces and releases the beta of Sync for Lemmy.

Everyone who has Sync for Reddit installed still gets a notification that Sync for Lemmy is available.

Sync for Lemmy becoming available means that many more people are about to sign up.

The topic of Sync for Lemmy, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, is at the top of Lemmy's "All" in multiple posts all week. That is happening on a lot of communities, this post on Liftoff being one of them. Naturally, people who enjoy sync are going to see these posts and will want to voice their opinion. Can you blame them?

I think it is disingenuous to assume malice in the sense that sync-stans are actively searching for negative Sync posts like you are claiming.

Adding in my personal bias: I think the majority of the anti-Sync conversation is rooted in gatekeeping newcomers to the fediverse. Which is really, really unfortunate. But that's the kind of attitude that exists in online forums like this so that's what we'll get.

I am using Sync and will continue to. That's my personal choice. Everyone has their personal choice and that means others should fuck off about that choice. This goes for both sides, but I think it's more important for the anti-Sync crowd to hear because right now it seems like they are the ones who are truly up in arms about it all.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah, one glance at the terms of use had me uninstalling the app. I don't feel like "decentralized social media" and "sale of personal data" pair well together.

[–] [email protected] 80 points 1 year ago (30 children)

It's like people are trying to misinterpret.

Liftoff is strictly using Lemmy's free API and for the developer 5 users or 5M users doesn't make a difference to his expenses.

The Sync developer is obviously trying to do something more ambitious.

It's great that we have FOSS apps that do a decent job but we shouldn't look down on developers who put a lot of time, effort, and money into something expecting to make a return on their investment.

I don't like data collecting either but I accept that if you want to offer a free version - it's inevitable. What I hate is when you're not able to pay for ads to go away.

But I might be biased as I'm a developer myself and would hate to put 8-9 weeks of hard work into delivering a great app and then get hate for wanting to get something in return for that work.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm very impressed with liftoff and lemmy too actually. Honestly it feels like I've struck gold with installing liftoff. I'm not looking for anything else to browse lemmy with, liftoff is all I need. I'm really happy with it!

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

I just wish more apps would allow blocking instances. I don't want to hide all NSFW content, but hot damn there is a lot of different porn communities in @lemmynsfw and it is a pain to block each individually.

Sync has this feature. Liftoff does not and voyager(my old daily use) did not.

Sync also does feature markup settings that voyager does not like bold hidden text ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Yeah, I would continue using Liftoff and Voyager. Just because we have sync doesn't mean we have to jump ship. I love getting involved with the community over at github.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just tried Liftoff. Really enjoyed the interface. Grateful there are plenty of FOSS options out there for people who prefer using them.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It's a bit weird. I installed Sync yesterday but I don't get any ads. I don't have a system wide ad blocker or anything. Note that I don't have GApps.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Ugh. Lemmy turning into Reddit with dumbasses.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I was buying into the Sync hype but after trying it I don't see much difference with liftoff tbh

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