this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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According to the tracking scanner Exodus (can be found on F-Droid), which keeps an updated database on trackers and runs your installed app against its register, you can track what apps are tracking you and clues of how. Saw that Boost is tracking me and uninstalled it and went straight to Jerboa. Jerboa is pretty similar to good ole' RedditIsFun-app and easy to use, so I am personally recommending it.

From F-Droid:

Exodus (Exodus show you trackers and permissions in apps installed on your device.) https://f-droid.org/packages/org.eu.exodus_privacy.exodusprivacy/

top 50 comments
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[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 49 points 1 hour ago

Yeah there is a dialogue on first launch telling you it's ad supported software and that you can pay a small fee to remove all ads. Your post here is old news about an old strategy and throughout the comments here you claim it's secretive which is false.

It's a charitable reading to say you're uninformed. I would lean more toward you wanting people to be misinformed about Boost, because as others point out, its ad support is called out in multiple ways before you use it, but you don't care. Instead, you choose to call this completely common and standard way of supporting an app "predatory" and "secret", neither of which near truth. Op, is your account the alt of the Sync dev or something?

[–] K1nsey6@lemmy.world 7 points 47 minutes ago

There is a reason so many Lemmy apps are abandoned, they were free and free of advertising. Devs need to eat. I prefer the paid app model to support the devs as opposed to ads. The dev of boost has always been open about how ads work.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 34 minutes ago* (last edited 20 minutes ago)

YSK that, in general, you should only ever use Android apps from F-Droid unless you've got a very good justification for doing otherwise. That's especially true for generic/basic utility apps like calculators, calendars, and file managers, classic games like solitaire or tetris, and Lemmy clients.

[–] ProxyZeus@lemmy.world 2 points 6 minutes ago

As the other comments are saying, this is made very clear when you launch the app for the first time that it is ad supported, and you can donate a small amount to get all tracking and ads removed.

Love the app and I want the dev to continue development so I paid for the ad free. Devs are people and need money to live too, you know this post was just sensationalized for your own clicks.

[–] Rogue@feddit.uk 129 points 3 hours ago (5 children)

This is a rather sensationalist headline.

Every so often software developers need to eat food and live beneath shelter.

The developer of Boost @rmayayo@lemmy.world provides a free version that's supported by ads, or you can purchase an ad free experience for a one time cost. That's been a standard business since forever.

There isn't any grand conspiracy here.

[–] Machinist@lemmy.world 10 points 59 minutes ago (1 children)

Developer's needs are pretty simple, however. Keep clean straw for bedding, fresh coffee, and unimpeded access to an Ethernet jack. Your developer can have gummy worms or beer in small quantities, as a treat. Of course, the bulk of their diet should be ramen/developer chow. A simple correction, such as deleting system32 or not properly shutting down Linux, is usually all that is needed. They'll provide you with years of faithful service.

Adopt a developer today!

[–] teft@lemmy.world 1 points 19 minutes ago

What if we want red bull instead of alcohol?

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 70 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Yup, the dev commented on this a while back here:

https://lemmy.ca/post/6072534/3382664

Dev here.

The dialog and its content is not created by me, it is a standard solution from Google to comply with GDPR and other laws. More info here: https://support.google.com/admob/answer/10114014?hl=en

The consent dialog is also required by Google AdMob to show ads, and it is shown when the ad network is initialized.

When the app launches, first it checks for the remove ads purchase, and if it is not present, it will initialize the ads sdk. The ad network is not initialized if the remove ads purchase is detected.

Boost for Reddit was using the very same ad networks and consent dialog.

(In fact they've commented on this a few times)

I personally liked Boost, and paid for the ad free version to support the development. For what it's worth, I've also donated to / bought a few others for similar reasons, and I keep a few Lemmy apps installed so I can test things out on the admin side.

Without recommending any particular app, I'd recommend this site, which lets you compare and filter by the factors that are important to you: https://lemmyapps.com/

If you want a guide for new users, we have one here (tldr it links to the site above): https://fedecan.ca/en/guide/lemmy/for-users/mobile-apps

[–] Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 hour ago

I paid for the product, I encourage and support products i like instead of seeing ads, whenever i can.

[–] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 23 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

As long as there is transparency, users can choose. Personally, I would rather not use a service at all than have ads or tracking.

[–] Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 hour ago

It is an excellent app, I just paid for the version without ads, that's all you have to do.

[–] stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 hours ago

then don't use it

[–] sonalder@lemmy.ml 2 points 59 minutes ago

I agree with you however I think we can built a better internet and the fediverse is in my opinion part of it. However I understand that it's hard to live on providing a free service, hoping for users to make donations to cover your spends and making a fair revenue is dellusional. I don't have the magic recipe for making great revenue from a free apps without sacrificing users digital integrity. However I think it's fair for Lemmy users to know that some clients could behave like proprietary closed and centralized plateforms such as X and Reddit.

The author should have noted that users could pay a fee to disable ads and analytics because you can. He certainly didn't knew this and that's making it unfair.

Honestly I don't like extended analytics such as this and that's one of the reasons I'm not using Boost. I rather send some sats (bitcoin) to free and open source projects I rely on. Not everybody is like that and I can imagine that many projects I've financially contribute to aren't sustainable businesses, I wish there was another way than enabling global surveillance for people that couldn't afford paying. Privacy shouldn't be a privilege yet it is.

TLDR ; Yes it's standard business but Lemmy users and devs making great free product deserve better !

[–] vodkasolution@feddit.it 47 points 2 hours ago

YSK also that the paid version does not have ads or trackers

[–] EfreetSK@lemmy.world 9 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

Voyager is pretty good but mr. Voyager developer, for the love of god, add some left-right margin! I don't know why but this makes me irrationally angry to the point I simply can't use Voyager

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 3 points 42 minutes ago

Nice example! 😜

[–] tatann@lemm.ee 12 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

As long as it's toggleable, cause I like the no margin

[–] grue@lemmy.world 4 points 42 minutes ago

Excessive configuration can be a problem of its own (can lead to decision fatigue, for example). I think it's okay for the Voyager dev not to try to please everybody all the time, and for people who really want margins to use a different app.

[–] vaguerant@fedia.io 43 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

What a cool service, thanks for sharing. You can also check the Exodus database via web if you can't or don't want to install the native Android app.

[–] Zwiebel@feddit.org 11 points 3 hours ago

It's also built into the Aurora Store (frontend for Google Play Store)

[–] orize@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 3 hours ago

That's great info! Thanks for replying

[–] Warpedtwistedbody@sopuli.xyz 20 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Good work bringing this to the attention of others.

I agree that Jerboa is good. If anyone wants another option, then Connect For Lemmy is clean, simple, and updated frequently. I'm nothing to do with Connect, just someone that has tried loads of Lemmy apps on Android, and has settled on Connect.

[–] colourlessidea@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Isn’t it possible to provide an ad supported version without tracking?

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Ads generally come with tracking, since the advertiser wants to know their ad was seen / effective. Some ad systems might be better than others, but I don't have experience there

I know Mozilla is working on 'Privacy respecting ads', which was also controversial: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/annualreport/2024/article/a-privacy-first-solution-that-meets-advertisers-needs/

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

How would that work? You want the Boost dev to create their own "ethical ads" network?

[–] conmouse69@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Sync is also pretty good

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Glad I stick with Thunder.

I have no problems with devs making money on their work. But ads are a privacy violation for me.

If Thunder ever went this route I'd immediately fork.

[–] Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 hour ago

Boost is great though, and the low cost to remove ads is worth it. Devs need to eat and stuff too, I just choose to support them directly instead of seeing ads.

[–] Wildfire0Straggler3@lemm.ee 13 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Raccoon is also a great alternative for trackerless Lemmy browsing, I personally prefer it over Jerboa and Voyager.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I recommend Thunder. Always been slick and good.

I tried the others and stuck to it. But I think all the apps are great and it just comes down to personal preference on which someone likes to drive most.

[–] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in 28 points 4 hours ago (4 children)

You can do a one time purchase to remove the ads and tracking you know, monetising an app without ads is hard.

[–] Rogue@feddit.uk 26 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

You're being downvoted for providing true information that disputes sensationalism. This place is truly fucking weird

[–] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in 15 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I get that lemmy userbase in general dislikes ads, i dislike ads too but not every dev can go without it on their projects. There has to be some income from somewhere after all.

[–] sonalder@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago

You can serve ads to your users without being Big Brother and selling users data to data brokers... Unfortunately it doesn't seems to generate enough revenue anymore :'(

[–] Danitos@reddthat.com 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Do you get a tracker-free software version, or just an ad-free experience?

[–] NightmareQueenJune@lemmy.world 23 points 3 hours ago

The Dev confirmed that the trackers which are part of the ads plugin are not loaded when purchasing the app.

[–] orize@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (2 children)

As a free alternative, it is unfortunately cluttered with ads and tracking features.

Moreover, it employs a predatory strategy by removing these inconveniences only if users opt to pay, despite the existence of equally effective free alternatives.

This approach can confuse (especially new) users, potentially leading them to choose a less favorable option due to lack of awareness.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 7 points 1 hour ago

It's pretty obvious, nothing is secret here. This strategy has been 1000% standard for like 20 years now.

[–] Acamon@lemmy.world 30 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

For sure, it's worth letting people know if they aren't aware. It's been a while since I installed boost, but I remember there being very clear messages about the ads and tracking, explaining it was to compensate the developer for the time he spent converting the reddit client to lemmy, and with the option of a one time fee to completely avoid trackers and ads.

While I love it when things are truly FOSS, I understand that I pay my barber and my plumber for their time, and I don't have a problem paying a one-off fee to buy software I want. What is exploitative are many subscription models, and all software that takes your money AND still monetises you (looking at you microsoft).

It's good to make people aware of genuinely free alternatives. But I used jerboa, voyager and a few other lemmy clients and I'm much happier with Boost and it was worth every cent.

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[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

You’re not wrong but.. gestures broadly at the other available apps that don’t do stuff like this

It would also take some huge scandal before voyager ceases to be the absolute king of lemmy apps.

Performance alone i have yet to see anything get close.

[–] poolitzer@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago

Would like to throw thunder_app@lemmy.world in the ring as an alternative

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Ooh, that app is fun! I also recommend Eternity for a Lemmy app (or just Fennec and ublock- not that my lemmy instance has anything to worry about)

I also love the difference in apps I got from the Play Store vs Neo store.

Also, ExpressVPN with 2 trackers? Shame. Mullvad wins again.

[–] arunshah240@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Jerboa is better apps

[–] PanArab@lemm.ee 1 points 1 hour ago

I find it funny that one app is called Jerboa which is a local delicacy in Najd and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

I am personally happy with the web app.

[–] LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 hours ago

Jerboa is very cool and works great

[–] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I’ve not found a similar service to Exodus for iOS devices (yeah, I know, but that’s what I’ve got) but to the best of my knowledge Mlem is a pretty good alternative to Boost on apple devices, and the best user-experience I’ve so far found

[–] sonalder@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 hour ago

Mlem is in my opinion the best open source Lemmy client for iOS. There is another amazing client named Arctic for Lemmy that has great UX but the app is proprietary. However it seems to be privacy respecting and nothing compared to Boost privacy nightmare.

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