Suggestion: Also release Voyager on the App stores with PieFed in the name. (piefed.social)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social to c/voyagerapp@lemmy.world

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A month or two ago I made a few posts on reddit to nudge people to join PieFed
More details here
The posts got 500,000 views and a couple thousand people joined PieFed.

This is the insights of a Reddit community, as you can see the vast majority of people prefer using a mobile app.
~98% of users are using a mobile app.

One issue I kept seeing in the comments was that there's no "PieFed" app on any of the app-stores.

I want to be able to tell people, "Hey there's this cool PieFed app, just search for it from the App-Store"

With age verification and other BS looming, the next Rexit is coming, we need to be ready. Ideally people can just comment, "Yea Reddit sucks, Just download PieFed from the app-store"

Can we make this happen? I'm sure it'll greatly benifit Voyager, PieFed and the Fediverse

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[-] hellequin67@lemmy.zip 19 points 6 days ago

A fair point this is from UK Play store searching for piefed

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 13 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yea I get the same.

Often when PieFed is recommended on Reddit, there are comments like "I can't find it on the App-Store?"

For each comment like this, there are probably hundreds of people who went looking, but didn't bother to comment.

Edit: I only now noticed that Blorp does have PieFed in the name. I didn't read that far, I think many users would miss it and click away, starting with 'PieFed...' would be ideal

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 9 points 6 days ago

Gee, I don't know if I want to funnel here people that are so lazy as to not be bothered to read the third word in an app name. It does not bode well for their participation in the threadiverse.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 1 points 6 days ago

So you don't want me on this platform?

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 4 points 6 days ago

Considering you're straw-manning my argument, yes, I don't.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I really hate the gatekeeping I see on the Fediverse, it's one of the few things I don't like about this place.

For how nice everyone is here, and how nice the interactions are, the "Oh please no, don't come here to this place, you are dumb/lazy, and I don't want dumb people here" is gross.

You don't know what's going on in peoples lives, if they have reading disabilities, or if they might speed read or have ADHD.

God forbid they don't thoroughly read through every line in a search result.

[-] poliverso@feddit.it 3 points 5 days ago

It's not closure, but a simple plea for love and kindness.

The Fediverse is based on four pillars:

Software developers (Mastodon, Lemmy, Friendica, Piefed, etc.)
Server administrators (mastodon.social, lemmy.ml, friendica.world, piefed.social, etc.)
App developers (Fedilab, Jerboa, Raccoon, Blorp, etc.)
The user community

Honestly, you can't ask app developers to double their work (development, release, store registration, updates, etc.) because users don't read the instructions! 🤣

Users have a huge responsibility: to support, test, and fund the volunteer community (1, 2, and 3). If users don't even want to read the instructions, then the Fediverse has no hope of surviving. Those users deserve to be devoured and digested by Big Tech, by profiling logic, and by the predatory attention economy. Amen

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Blorp dev here. I agree, but it’s also good to know the pain points. Someone people are correct that a problem exists, but incorrect in their proposed solution.

For example, the are probably ways I can update the App Store listing to make it more obvious that we support PieFed.

[-] poliverso@feddit.it 1 points 5 days ago

You're right, but it's also important not to be subjected to the thousands of requests from the community. I'm a Lemmy administrator, and initially I only allowed communities to be created by request. I can say that many of those who asked me to start a community didn't even bother to follow it... Similarly, users continually ask software and app developers to add unnecessary features that burden developers with commitments and man-hours that rarely yield any benefits.

It's certainly right to evaluate users' needs, but developers have a primary ethical duty to take care of themselves and avoid burnout. Giving developers a nervous breakdown is the easiest way to kill the Fediverse!

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Totally fair! I don't know if I've crossed the user threshold yet with Blorp to be overwhelmed by the feedback, so maybe I'll regret my earlier statement. Since Lemmy/PieFed is so privacy focused, I collect 0 analytics data. So that user feedback is kinda the only way to know that people are actually using my app.

I understand Lemmy/PieFed is very anti AI, and honestly for good reason, but I have found it helpful to collect a dump of the comments mentioning "Borp" and then have an LLM categorize what are the top feature requests/bugs. So sometimes that feedback is also helpful indirectly.

I guess my point is, I can't really do anything with no feedback, but I can find ways to comb though a large quantity of feedback.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago

What do you mean by if users don't read instructions the fediverse has no hope to survive? Literacy on instagram etc. is probably not very high, yet it's one of the biggest platforms.

Also making it clearer what the app supports doesn't double the work for devs.

[-] poliverso@feddit.it 1 points 4 days ago

What do you mean by if users don’t read instructions the fediverse has no hope to survive?

Users are one of the four pillars on which the Fediverse stands. Their contribution is both to exist and to contribute financially to the Fediverse. A functionally illiterate user can't even understand how and where it's best to contribute. If these are the users of the Fediverse, then they will be prey to scammers or commercial platforms.

Literacy on instagram etc. is probably not very high, yet it’s one of the biggest platforms.

Commercial platforms have a business unit dedicated to capturing the illiterate, the distracted, and the not-so-intelligent.

Also making it clearer what the app supports doesn’t double the work for devs.

Creating two apps almost creates double work. Advising developers to create two apps is cruel...

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

They don't have to create two apps, it feels like you're trying really hard to strawman the situation.

There are a few apps already that support both Lemmy and PieFed, saying create two apps, implies doubling the work. When it's not that at all, it's just adding compatibility where one differs from the other. Lemmy and PieFed are 90% the same thing, if not more.

[-] poliverso@feddit.it 1 points 2 days ago

You're making false and stupid accusations. You yourself used these words:

Just an idea, but maybe releasing two apps (even if they’re exactly the same.

The next time you accuse someone of twisting your words, try rereading what you don't remember saying first!

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As someone who develops apps for a life. and has ~15 years experience building software.

It does not fucking double the work, developing the app is 90% of the work.

Changing the name and releasing 10 of them doesn't add a lot more work.

[-] acido@feddit.it 2 points 6 days ago

the percentage of people who might not read carefully for the reasons you mentioned is abysmally small compared to that of the people who can't be bothered to read.

do not use disabilities and such to defend your argument, it's distasteful.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 2 points 6 days ago

I am literally one of the people who read like that.

It's not just about disabilities, a lot of people will read like that. It's inefficient to fully read everything when you're scanning options to find something you're looking for.

[-] acido@feddit.it -1 points 6 days ago

yeah and it's a pretty bad habit.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 3 points 6 days ago

It's not a conscious decision that I make.

Criticizing people for how they read is though.

[-] acido@feddit.it 0 points 6 days ago

habit /hăb′ĭt/ noun

A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.

today you learned.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 4 points 6 days ago

Where did I misunderstand the definition of habit?

criticism /ˈkrɪtɪsɪz(ə)m/ Criticism is the act of expressing disapproval, finding fault, or providing a reasoned judgment/analysis of a person, act, or work

Anyway, you seem to be a troll, or a unkind person. I'm blocking you now

[-] acido@feddit.it 0 points 6 days ago

lmao

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 1 points 6 days ago

I've been to reddit. I've seen the kind of community people who can't be arsed to search for what they claim to want create. If they can't be bothered to click on the search results of the app store to see if the result applies, will they even read a comment as long as yours? Or will they read the first line and engage in a flame war?

Will they misconstrue an argument to rage bait like you just did? I don't want that people in my social circle. I want people who don't shy away from textual interpretation and reflection. I want people more interested in exchanging ideas than in winning a debate.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 2 points 6 days ago

More gatekeeping.

Just because someone speed reads and missed the 'piefed' part, like I did.

Doesn't automatically put them in what ever box you just created and want to gatekeep.

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz -2 points 6 days ago

Let me close this gate here, the rabble keeps getting in...

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

Blorp dev here. I wanted to emphasize that we have equal support for Lemmy and PieFed. If I put PieFed at the beginning then that would be unfair to Lemmy. And the same goes for the inverse. If I ever get around to adding mbin support, then I’ll really be in trouble lol.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 2 points 5 days ago

Just an idea, but maybe releasing two apps (even if they're exactly the same.

Eg.

"Lemmy through Blorp" And "PieFed through Blorp"

That way when people search for either, your app pops up first, and there's no confusion as to if it's the correct app.

[-] YarrMatey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 6 days ago

It might be helpful if summit also read "Summit for Lemmy and Piefed." @idunnololz@lemmy.world I didn't know voyager was also compatible with Piefed, there's probably others who think only blorp does Piefed.

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Because there's so much crap and adds on the app-stores, Lots of people speed read, and miss the last bit of "Blorp for Lemmy and PieFed"

Feeld is one of the search results, which is a ad, so you have to filter out the BS.

I searched this on my phone before making this post, and didn't notice the 'PieFed' part, because after reading 'Blorp for Lemmy' my brain eliminated that as a viable option and went further down the list.

I only noticed the 'piefed' part after scrolling past hellaquin's screenshot.

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Blorp dev here. Not an ad. Just wanted to make it blatantly obvious that we have first class PieFed support. I no longer consider Blorp to be a Lemmy client that happens to support PieFed. PieFed and Lemmy now get equal consideration in what I’m building.

[-] idunnololz@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Done.

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Blorp dev here. Guess I’m doing a good job marketing our PieFed support :)

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

PS. I chose to promote PieFed over Lemmy because when I tried to promote Lemmy in the past, it's just met with people who have tried Lemmy and were met with tankies and bad UX, and they're vocal about it in the comments so the post doesn't get much engagement.

Where as with PieFed the engagement has been quite positive as you can see in the posts linked here

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 7 points 6 days ago

@aeharding@vger.social & @rimu@piefed.social

Perhaps something y'all can have a chat about or collab on

[-] gigachad@piefed.social 6 points 6 days ago

I think PieFed support is still in beta for Voyager. As I am seeing it, updates for Voyager got rarer in the last months, so I guess the developer has other stuff to do. I don't know if they feel comfortable with officially supporting PieFed. I still have some annoying bugs for more than a year now, like auto fill not working for link posts that haven't been fixed forever.

[-] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 days ago

I still can't login to my piefed account on voyager :(

[-] gigachad@piefed.social 3 points 6 days ago

What's the error you are getting

[-] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Incorrect login credentials for both username and email. The same login works fine in a browser or blorp

[-] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 1 points 6 days ago

Ah, I didn't know that was only a issue on PieFed, it can be quite annoying yes.

[-] testaccount372920@piefed.zip 4 points 6 days ago

I think of the nice things about PieFed is that you don't need to install an app, you can 'install' the webapp, which works just fine.

Alternatively, you can point people to a bunch of apps that work for both PieFed and Lemmy.

But yeah, I see your point, ideally an immediately usable app shows up when people search for piefed in the Play/App Store.

[-] steel_for_humans@piefed.social 4 points 6 days ago

I think of the nice things about PieFed is that you don’t need to install an app, you can ‘install’ the webapp, which works just fine .

Meanwhile, Voyager works great . :) I started with the PWA, but I like using Voyager a lot more because of the presentation, the swipe gestures (I was a user of Apollo for Reddit on iOS, Voyager is the closest experience). The PWA is decent, but to me a dedicated mobile app is two classes above.

[-] testaccount372920@piefed.zip 1 points 6 days ago

Oh absolutely, I use Thunder for similar reasons. Does Voyager support cross-posts displayed as a single comment thread? This is something I'm missing on Thunder.