I get it. Being a dev is hard. Sometimes you need a break.
However it takes a few seconds for LJ to pop in and say “all is well everyone I’ll be back soon!” Like, Mr. Dawson, just copy and paste that sentence and everything would be fine.
I’m irritated because the man is selling a relatively expensive app that even has a $100 purchase option and disappeared for months on end with complete silence. I think if you’re selling an app with these kind of price points it’s important to reassure your community it’s not abandoned by simply acknowledging your existence once a month.
It’s especially important on the fediverse where projects are abandoned frequently with little fanfare. The difference being most of these projects are donated time without a ticket price. Can we PLEASE get something here, LJ? Especially for us $100 patrons as to not feel duped? Even if you just say, “yeah I’m done, sorry” I’d appreciate it. As it stands Sync has broken features and bugs galore so I’ve already moved on to Boost, but I’d be very happy to hear things will either be A) fixed soon or B) abandoned so I can just uninstall sync from my phone.
Thank you.
Personally I don’t use it that much now that I’m an instance admin. Too options missing for what I do, but it’s something only a handful of users need and I don’t expect it to become available before many other features. Still nice for browsing.
Not justifying the gaps but it’s important to know that LJ does this as a side project. Back when he developed sync for reddit he made sure to mention that frequently. He is also the only one working on the app with no team. He really is a good person who’s likely being effected by the current state of affairs of the real world and has to focus on that right now.
This has always been the sync development cycle.
Yep, lol. I used it for 7 years on reddit. He reads to bug reports for sure, but he definitely isn’t very chatty.
He probably had to get a real job once the initial reddit exodus died off, no shade on Lemmy but I doubt he’s making anywhere near what he did selling a reddit client
He said he made a ton of money from his other apps, so it wasn’t a deathblow to his income losing the reddit app stuff
I was really sceptical about the 115 euro lifetime unlock. Was that with it for me? Maybe, probably not. I use it a couple of times a week, but it’d need to be maintained really well for me. Not sure if I will ever unlock it.
I am currently using sync and had no idea it wasn’t being maintained, I’ve had zero issues nor have I been left wanting.
Same. Outside of some UI things, nothing that makes me upset or want to switch
Same here, and a dns adblock apparently saved me $100 lol
Same! Am a devoted sync user and I don’t recall paying for the Lemmy version but I did pay $4.99 for the Reddit version years ago. RIP to that But life goes on and I currently have no issues with s y n c.
Saying it’s not being maintained is a bit of a stretch at this point. When the major instances started shifting to 19.2 some months ago, he deployed a compatible update very quickly (he was waiting for it).
There are some features I would like (having the option to open a link directly on archive.org or .is) and some that need to be addressed, like the messaging, but nothing urgent.
Bro, even patched Sync for Reddit works very well, I don’t think there is a reason to complain for Sync for Lemmy really.
Supporting projects is good and all, but you should only give money you would be happy just leaving on the side of the road.
This is purchasing a product though, not simply donating, so the developer needs to communicate. You are correct in saying a once per month update is all it needs, assure the people who have purchased your product. I would say my initial statement applies to small one-man run projects though as well, they are much more likely to be adandoned.
This is purchasing a product though, not simply donating, so the developer needs to communicate.
For a medium to large company, I’d agree. But this is a side hustle, which we all knew when we paid for it. I can put up with it, so long as he fixes breakages in a timely manner.
First time?
LJ does this. Back when we were on Reddit, he regularly took large breaks from development, e.g. between v19 and v20. I’m not worried about it.
What critical bugs are we having right now?
No in app scaled sort feature (which is one of lemmy’s best updates yet) and the “Instances” button on the home feed that lets you change instance locations is entirely broken.
For me it’s between scaled sort and being able to view webms without opening in external browser (though if you set scaled sort on the web it’ll get selected in app as long as you don’t change it)
Crash to launcher if Sync settings are set to hide username. No a huge deal, but still quite annoying to set everything back up from scratch if you didn’t backup first.
Yep. I encountered this. My workaround was to use old apk and to unhide username and then update to new version. There’s another suggestion to use intent which is
a bit technical butless hassle.I actually used Sync’s link handler (went to lemmy on FireFox and open a link in Sync using the share menu) then I could change the setting from there. So I didn’t have to recreate my profiles.
For me, pressing the hamburger menu while in landscape crashes the app. Other stuff is also broken in landscape but I haven’t had a chance to experiment. Probably some odd collection of settings causing it.
I hope y’all get some feedback on this.
FWIW, I’ve tried several apps, I used Relay back on reddit and didn’t really find a replacement app for lemmy that felt right.
With lemmy not being outright hostile to mobile browsers, I’ve taken to just use it in Firefox for Android and it’s been great just having multiple tabs, adblocker plug-in, favorites and whatnot.
Notifications are kinda missing, but that’s just less interruptions in my day, which probably isn’t a bad thing.
I still kinda miss Relay, but the mobile UI is good enough.Still, paying for software then being ghosted must suck. :/
Connect is pretty good if you haven’t tried it yet. Good UI, not super buggy, frequent updates, responsive dev
I just recommended a feature the other day, and it was implemented and pushed the very next day. Connect’s dev is phenominal.
Still, paying for software then being ghosted must suck. :/
It’s exactly what I want. I’ve tried other clients, but I keep coming back to Sync because it’s a perfect fit.
Paying ten dollars for something I use a couple hours a day seems pretty reasonable.
I’d prefer that Sync was FOSS, but devs gotta eat. So long as jdawson keeps Sync working with minimal breakages, I’m happy.
I don’t use sync but a quick look at the authors profile shows he updated the app a month ago.
But yeah, before that there was a four month gap in communication. I agree if you’re going to charge money for something you really need to supply customer support as well.
The android app hasn’t seen an update since Lemmy .19 which we’re now on .19.3. That was back in November of 2023. LJ hasn’t made a Lemmy post in over 2 months. If this was FOSS software I wouldn’t be complaining, but Sync has pricey features that carry with it an obligation of better support/communication with your users.
Guys, he does this. It’s ok. This is his way of balancing this project with the rest of his life. He always comes back.
I’m inclined to think this way too. Guy gave us a decade of the best Reddit app for free if we wanted, he’d pop in now and again to update it.
Agreed, though, that if you were daft enough to pay Megabucks for it, you’re allowed to be fucked off
In his defense he put in hella hours to get it where it is. I agree he should give more feedback though. He was MIA when someone pinged him in the discord about the breaking changes of 19 and he chimed in and updated it. I was active in the discord and was in the closed beta. He did a LOT of work around the clock. Here’s to hoping he comes back with more frequent (even if minor) updates.
Yeah, that’s typical of him. He went dormant for a long time during the first major version of Sync for Reddit, accumulating some quite critical bugs. But suddenly he came back with a new look of Reddit Sync, full of features, impressed me so much that I just let go of the past.
My hunch is, he would (try to) come out with the best app, and then move on to something (that we don’t know) so that he can support his life. Sync for lemmy is not enough to economically gain the critical mass for him to do that fulltime. But once awhile, he’ll be back to fix some critical bugs like what he did about a month ago for v0.19.
Yes he should do more and add more features. I myself only encounter non-critical bugs and don’t use Sync for mod, so I am still be satisfied with its current condition. Others surely have different requirements.
And that was fine when you paid $3 for a lifetime unlock, but the big justification behind the massively increased prices was that he would be working on it full time, and he has not held up his end of that bargain
And that was fine when you paid $3 for a lifetime unlock
This is where you got this all wrong. I only paid 99¢ for lifetime unlock.
All you’re gonna find here is blind defence of Sync. I used it for Reddit and it was amazing, but honestly, the Lemmy app isn’t worth it. Voyager is great if you’re looking for an alternative. It’s free and it’s maintained with updates almost every week.
Well voyager is new and needs a lot of development. Sync is extremely mature and can stand much fewer tweaks.
I tried a bunch of apps when I learned that liftoff was going to stop working after the 0.19 update (I don’t know if that ever happened) and I liked Voyager the most.
My reddit client was RiF and always used old.reddit so I was looking for something that looked similar. Sync was the best until I found Voyager
A lot of developers did this and funny enough all the ones that took lifetime subs and stuff. Some of the most promising ones too. Hopefully they come back but they seem to be waiting for it to financially make sense at one point (higher user count).
Until then I suggest branching out and trying others like Voyager or Thunder. I don’t use android so there may be more good/actively developed ones.
You paid $100 for something you couldve gotten for free? That sounds like your own problem.
Clearly LJ Dawson is enjoying a vacation right now with all the money people like you gave him.
