this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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It's not. It's popular because it was a popular Reddit app and a lot of people here are former Reddit users.
Everyone has their preferences but that doesn't make sync better than any other app. Just different.
But it has potential to be, let's remember it is in beta state, as many other apps.
It is almost unbeatable in smoothness and I think only Summit, Voyager and Connect for Lemmy are good alternatives to it, regarding features and smoothness.
And it has one big perk against all the others, you can multitask with it.
I never said it didn't. But you point out that it's in the same state as many other apps but don't mention whether or not those apps are better in any way.
I keep hearing about smoothness and polish. Can you define those for me? I see nothing about Sync that feels more smooth than other apps I've tried.
The animations are smooth, only Summit can compare (indeed I think it is better as of now).
The app lasts longer in the multitask/app switcher and it almost always remembers your place on the feed.
You have peek to see posts, and those are one of the top features that come to my mind that not all the other apps have, but I know some do, like Voyager holds on the background a bit longer than other apps as well, and I am pretty sure some have peek to see as well.
At the end of the day nothing is wrong with one of another, the good thing is that we get options.
I have to assume the animations are a personal preference. There's certainly nothing about them that stands out to me.
I can't speak to app switching as it's really not something that matters to me to the extent I couldn't tell you how well a lot of apps, Lemmy related or not, do with it. I'm glad it covers your needs for you.
I don't know what you mean by peek to see posts. Maybe it's a feature I didn't enable when I tried it?
You're absolutely right that having options is a good thing. The problem I have is when a vocal group pushes hard on theirs being the best. It stifles variety. Since Reddit had a large number of Android apps that didn't seem to be an issue. The audience was always varied when someone had a recommendation or request. Lemmy is new to a very large part of its userbase. I worry that if "sync is the best" gets too overgrown then other apps that might venture in will look to replicate it, rather than make their own choices.
I heard it has ads and you can’t post. Some people are a little too loyal
Perhaps I am biased, but I'd still like to point out some facts :)
Yes, it has ads. It also has options to remove them.
No, you can post. That's coming soon.
This app is also in its first beta release. It hasn't been officially launched yet. It just happened that a lot of people who were excited about Sync coming back drummed up a lot of hype for it when the beta finally launched, that we kicked off a massive news wave apparently.
Also, of the ones I've used, the fluidity of the app, the smoothness of it, and the polish (especially for a beta) is unmatched from the other Lemmy clients I've used (haven't used all of them, but I used a lot of them.)
There's a lot of opinion in that last paragraph that a lot of vocal sync users don't seem inclined to see.
It's equally fine that you like it and I don't.
You know what, yeah, completely fair.
If you don't mind me asking, what apps are, in your opinion, as good as Sync? (Removing the ads, and payment and shit out of the debate).
I've used Thunder, Jerboa, Connect, LiftOff, and maybe another that I can't recall. Last time I used each of them, they were nowhere near the level of Polish that Sync has. That being said, it has been a while because once the Sync alpha launched, I exclusively used Sync for browsing and Connect for posting. They might have changed and been updated, etc.
When did you last use jerboa? The quality of experience has gone way up with a huge number of new contributors. I used RIF for years and at first jerboa was way less polished but today I think it is better than RIF ever was.
I've been using all lemmy apps and I'd say maybe thunder is a contender for fluidity. Summit for post view ( judging only based on compact view bc that's the only view I use). Liftoff cos I can stay signed in multiple accounts, "everything tab" and search function. I see infinity as a sort of foss Sync with a less compact view but more info about user/community instance.
Also let's not forget good ol' jerboa. Beside the login problem it had (now sorted out) it pretty much does everything.
I'm also excited about slide development. It's going kinda slow but it's on github
Thunder is great, but is there a way to remove the bottom and top bar? Or at least hide it when scrolling? That's my main gripe with the app. Seems like a waste of space since I rarely use it.
Unfortunately not. But their is a high chance if you open an issue on git he'd respond. He sure did when I asked for font size options.
I would go onto crown voyager as the superior app if it had this same option
You have been able to post since it was released...