I really wish the dev the best of luck. But personally, the idea of trying to make something lucrative and introduce ads (& the accompanying trackers) on top of something that people joined because they rejected that in the first place just doesn’t sit right with me, especially given that we have awesome apps like Voyager and Memmy that are purely donation-driven.
I personally think that a sign of a healthy technology platform is one where some people can make money from it, while the platform itself remains open. To use Linux as an example, it’s wonderful that it’s open source, and it’s great that Red Hat can be a profitable company based on Linux. It’s a good sign and it helps the Linux ecosystem thrive due to RH’s contributions.
For Lemmy there are plenty of free apps - no-one is being forced to use Sync. I’m happy to pay for something that provides some more polish to my Lemmy experience, and doesn’t require anything of anyone else.
I paid for the sync app on Reddit back when it was like $2 or 5. I’m not paying $99 to remove ads. I know there are dev costs, but there aren’t any API costs here right?
I’ll still use Sync here until I see what Boost brings over it’s released.
Those options are nowhere near the level of polish of Sync.
Nobody HAS to use it. Ultimately if you want a choice of premium apps there has to be some incentive for a developer, or multiple in some cases, to basically go full time to develop it. Talented devs don’t usually work for years on end for no pay, and I would be surprised if donations ever become significant enough to compare.
Exactly. The level of polish Sync has is unmatched in the android space and well worth the money for me.
I haven’t seen any ads yet . But I will definitely be willing to buy the pro version again like I did with Reddit .
Haven’t used the app yet as I’m not really sold yet but the Play Store and the app’s own privacy policy mention them:
FWIW, I think the dev has said somewhere that the tracker libs aren’t loaded if you are subscribed (or pay for the ad-free version when that’s available) as they’re part of the ad frameworks
