this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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Android

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (7 children)

I'm fine with an ad version and then an upgrade to an ad-free version.

What's insane here is this developer making a subscription service instead of an ad-free pro version

I mean, he's competing against TOTALLY FREE, Ad-free lemmy apps RIGHT NOW, and every 3rd-party Reddit app developer is working on a lemmy version as we speak.

This was a total clown move. I was ready to drop like $10 on a pro version right now, if it had great UI. But a subscription ... For access to a FREE service? The balls on this guy.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Lemmy is not a free service. You might not be paying for it but some of us are. With subscriptions too. Subscriptions are the better funding model for continued development and operation.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Lemmy instances are not a free service. Yet don't have ads and instead rely on donations or are self funded. And then this app comes out with a subscription model to remove ads despite instances doing the heavy lifting of this space that has been contrary to the usual monetization model?

I'm not sure this type of defense you make really applies in this situation. If it was a reddit app sure, but in the space of the fediverse it stands out as rather unusual.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'm not defending anything. Simply pointing out that Lemmy isn't a free service even if it looks that way for some (or many).

I'm not sure who does the heavy lifting btw. It's not easy to decipher whether running an instance or developing the cloud components or the mobile components is easier. Also the funding is a bit wonky at the moment. The core Lemmy development is woefully underfunded compared to some of the large instances. It's likely to get better eventually but so far I've noticed that core development funding barely budged for the last month or two. Instances are vitally dependent on the core project.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

People are understandably reluctant to donate to the core Lemmy devs, but donating to an instance is a lot more reasonable to many folks so that's why it's unfolding that way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, lemmy isn't a free service So the argument to defend lemmy and give them money makes more sense when it comes to instances than it does for an app that shows up with a subscription model to remove ads.

The subscription from sync is not one run directly by the lemmy instance that is not charging api calls, not showing ads to users, and not paywalling users yet taking on so much expense. Which is why I'm not really sure what role sync plays here from your comments, since sync app and the costs of hosting a lemmy instance seem like entirely different matters.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I have to agree with you, I feel Sync has gone against the Fediverse ethos.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most of us understand fully the "why" of a subscription model, however, this is not the place, not on a free service.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You must not have read that first sentence.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Actually haven't. Do you know what he meant by that?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Literally what I said - Lemmy is not a free service. Free as in free beer. Most of Lemmy is a service that costs real money to real users. Maybe not to all of them. Maybe it doesn't cost you in particular anything, but it costs another user on the instance money. They're just happy to pay for you. There's a β™₯️ button up top in the web interface. There's likely another link in the sidebar. If you follow them to the respective payment service, you can see how much it costs and sometimes who's paying for it, if they chose to not pay anonymously.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Makes sense. Thanks for explaining!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I believe in paying for the things I use - unless there's no practical way for me to pay. See below - because if I don't pay, whoever supplies the service I use is either an idealist and I'm a freeloader, or they're milking my private data for money.

That's why the Fediverse instances I use are hosted on SDF and I pay SDF for the privilege.

There are also cases where I would like to pay for the service but I can't. For instance, Youtube: I would gladly pay for Youtube. I literally consume hundreds of gigabytes worth of video every month. $10 for that is very cheap.

But I can't because paying Youtube means having a Youtube account, and there's no way in hell I'm opening any account with Google and help them track me and monetize the shit out of my viewing habits even more than they do. So I don't.

I wish I could, but Google is so invasive that it's a better option to freeload off of them than pay them the money they legitimately deserve.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

πŸ˜‚ nailed it. There are other amazing apps that are completely free

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yup what a let down. Luckily there are also open source apps.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

On sync for reddit there always was a one time purchase to remove ads. The subscription is for extra features which you honestly don't need. I believe the one time purchase is coming back on this version as well.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's just evidence it's a gold rush.

I wasn't expecting an ideologically motivated project by any means, but his focus is on the diminishing parade of users he's got from the previous app and not where he's sending them.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I got kinda disappointed when I noticed that the author almost doesn't visit Lemmy and everything is coordinated on Discord instead of the, you know, forum-thingy which you make an app for.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Beta update released within the last hour adds the option for lifetime ad removal.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

After updating, it's in the sidebar. $12.99 for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

$20 for me.

Lol. I said I was ready to drop $10.

This Dev is really trying to milk this.