So I tried sync to see what all the rage was. Doesn’t seem that different really from connect imo. I’m posting this with connect since sync can’t seem to do basic functions like post to communities (really?!!) but they made sure to implement big blocks where “sponsored content” will soon be shown. I figured I’d pay a couple bucks because I really can’t stand ads, but then saw its $20! I’m now assuming most of you commie bastards (said lovingly) are secretly trust fund brats? How can this be a viable price point for ad removal? Is sync really making that much from ads that this iis the conversion point? For the die hard fans, what are you getting from sync that you are not from connect? I’m not seeing the allure.
Sync was only released within the last week to the public, it’s going to take a little more time to finish working out the bugs. I am excited for sync because it was my preferred Reddit app and I’m hopeful it’ll be as good here. As for the ads… I use adguard dns and I haven’t seen any ads yet… Hopefully that continues. I agree $20 is steep but I thought I read somewhere that was one time payment. Someone else will have to confirm.
Remember when software with known bugs wasn’t released to the public?
Pepperidge farm remembers.
There has never been a time when software with known bugs wasn’t released to the public.
It’s nice to have choices. Luckily, you have many choices for a lemmy app, unlike reddit.
Sync has a loyal userbase, and the dev has made the price point based on the number of lemmy users and what he needs to earn a living by working on lemmy.
If lemmy had as many users as reddit, then the price would be lower. Sync is also in beta.
You don’t get the hype. That’s fine, you don’t have to.
I’m just glad lemmy has an open api and we have many choices.
Yes! The hype is from loyal users, like me. Ex-Redditors that know what’s to come.
I used Sync back when it was literally to sync content for offline use (I commuted underground and wanted to browse Reddit.) It was a joy to see its development over the years and I look forward to being part of the developer’s journey yet again, this time with 10+ years of experience to work with!
People that weren’t part of that original journey won’t have the same benefit of experience.
The best thing about Sync for me is being able to have my subscriptions as the default landing page. This app is only going to get better. Worth it to support the dev, who has done amazing work with Sync for Reddit.
What about the devs that offer that exact same feature in all the Lemmy apps without ads? You want to support someone doing good work? Try throwing those guys $20 as a donation to their app. Who will appreciate that more? Them or the guy that already has one of the most successful ad-based Reddit apps?
I think the price is just the reality of pricing nowadays. You could’ve bought reddit sync ten years ago ad free for like $2. That’s ten years of free updates for an app most people would use everyday for hours on end. That’s not really a sustainable business model and why a lot of people are transitioning to subscriptions, for the recurring revenue. For me, the $20 is fine and honestly the $100 is too for ultra. If you spend two hours a day on sync for the next year that’s averaging to three cents a day… And I know my usage definitely exceeds two hours a day. Plus all the features and track record of sync make me pretty confident in its future. Ultimately it’s up to you to decide whether this app is worth it. If you think connect is better, great, stick with connect.
I don’t think most mobile app development ever was a sustainable business model, especially if your app is not even providing the service or particularly unique features to begin with.
Not to say I don’t think there should be apps, but anyone getting into it looking to make an independent career out of it will probably end up disappointed. The most successful apps are either aggressive with the in-app purchases, or are simply a free front end to a service that pays the bills.
We’ll see how it turns out though, this developer does have a lot of loyal fans who treat the paid features as basically a voluntary donation, kind of like a Patreon. I’m pretty pessimistic that it will last, but successful business ventures don’t always make complete sense to me.
To be honest, the data collection was enough to keep me on Connect instead of Sync. With that being said, I was excited for the release of Sync. It wasn’t my primary app on Reddit, but having developers for Lemmy apps is great, and the developers who had successful Reddit apps already have a solid idea of what to do. Sync is not finished, so there are valid complaints to be made! But it also already looks more polished than Connect in many ways, in my opinion.
In terms of the price point, I don’t actually think it’s unreasonable. There’s a one-time lifetime purchase available, and as I understand it the app is being developed by a single developer trying to support himself. I get that the price might be outside of some people’s casual spending range, but luckily there’s a free version with ads (and many, many other free apps without).
