Sync Ultra is a very reasonable $17 a YEAR. YouTube Premium is reaching that per MONTH. I have sync downloaded and it was the first thing I did. Thanks lj for the beautiful app.
[EDIT: That was a poor comparison, as pointed out in the comments. Leaving it for discussion sake.
There are many counterpoints and actually good discussion happening down below. Even if you don’t agree, thanks for showing me a different perspective!
If you want to support Sync, make sure to support the Lemmy Devs and your instance holders as well!
*This post was made early in the day before the update added the OTP option.]
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What’s more infuriating is that Lemmy itself doesn’t have ads but Sync has, sadly.
Same here. I would buy lifetime again but I’m done with subs.
You don’t “host” the front end development of the client though.
The problem is how apps are bought on mobile now.
With PC applications, you’d buy a specific version and you would maybe get updates for a year. Then the developer would release an update and you would decide whether it was worth buying the update for the new enhancements. If it wasn’t then you’d stick with the old version until the next new version and make the choice again. This way the developer gets paid regularly by new and existing users if they produce a good app.
On mobile, you buy an app and expect to get updates for the life of the app. The developer is expected to keep producing updates whether the app is complete or not otherwise their app is labelled as dead. They only get paid by new users.
That second model is simply not sustainable from the developer’s point of view for any reasonably sized app so they need to think of ways to make it work. There are only two options which are ads and subscriptions and people don’t like either.
Of course, PC apps are also moving to subscriptions to remove the option that you used to have to not pay them for a year or two if they’re not providing good enough updates.
First thing I did after opening the app was to look for the Pro (ultra) in-app purchase. But monhtly payments, no thank you.
Yea, I would gladly pay to remove ads. Like I already did for the Sync for Reddit. Twice. But no one likes subscriptions.
Same here. I hate subscriptions but would happily buy a Pro version like I did with Sync for Reddit.
What would you be willing to pay? I paid £4 for Sync in 2018. I can’t imagine a Pro (non-ultra) version would be that cheap this time.
At the minimum I’d think it’d match 1 year of Ultra (£17). Not sure if I’d pay that for Lemmy since I still use Sync for Reddit more.
Realistically, it would need to be higher than 1 year of Ultra, unless it only included some of the perks of Ultra. If it was priced the same for 1 year vs Lifetime, very few users would pay for the yearly sub.
Personally, I’m happy to keep paying the monthly sub to support LJ, if the development stalls or even stops completely, I’ll be stopping my subscription. I’m happy to provide continuous support for apps that I use daily if it means that the development continues.
New update Beta 25 dropped. Ad removal IAP is $12.99 USD.
Edit: increased to $19.99 USD
Edit 2: Ultra lifetime IAP added in Beta 26 for $99.99 USD
I’m seeing 19.99…???
I suspect he may be A/B testing pricing. I could have sworn I saw $12.99 for the Ad Removal IAP earlier, but it’s showing $19.99 now.
Even $12.99 felt high just to remove ads. Especially when compared to previous Sync Pro pricing.
I also suspect there may be some testing of the appetite for higher pricing for early adopters… with the potential to lower pricing later for mass audience appeal.
I think we’re seeing a lot of long-time Sync users (who came from Sync for Reddit), so that audience is probably a bit more amenable to higher pricing to support the developer, but this pricing doesn’t seem competitive with the broader Lemmy community.
Which is in line with my comment, I was simply saying that Ultra Lifetime will most likely cost more than Ultra Yearly.
Yeah, same here. It is a shame :(
I’m really confused why people feel this way. Can’t you just cancel it if you feel like it’s not worth it anymore?
I just don’t do subscriptions. One of the aspects I hated about my foray into the Apple app store where everything seemed to be subscription or ads. Quickly missed Android and places like f-droid where I knew I could find ad free and subscription free open source alternatives.
I was happy to pay for apps like Procreate and Lumafusion though, so it’s not that I’m against paying for ads. I just don’t do subscriptions.
I generally do not do subscriptions either, but I do make some exceptions for specific apps/services. At least for me, Sync is one of those for now.
When I think about it I think it’s mainly been web hosting type services where data is being streamed or stored on the cloud that I’ve been fine with subscriptions for. And then not so much for pure software preferring more pay once and then pay for a new version update down the line type of approach like Office 2021 for example over Office 365. Although, I’ve moved mostly to libreoffice.
Same for games. I’d rather pay Diablo 4 $70 over paying for PS+ or game pass. Chose to forgo online multiplayer than pay for PS+ on my PS4 last Gen. Generally preferred a large one time lump sum than small monthly payments for things, since I suppose I just a distaste for adding more monthly expenses to the already growing list of monthly expenses.
Plus, how many years do you think Diablo 4 will be supported with updates/patches? At $17/year Sync will be just as expensive after a few years and doesn’t exactly have the same development team size or cost as something like Diablo…
Completely fair point.
Unless the app offers you cloud functions like email, cloud storage, multi-player gaming, or social media sites(lemmy, kbin, mastodon), etc. I see subscriptions as a no-go.
Sync does have some cloud features (and I suspect push notifications will be one of them soon), but yeah, I understand paying for them isn’t for everyone.
That’s a very good point. Software as a product should have a different pricing model than software as a service.
I usually hate subscriptions that try to squeeze you for money.
In the case of sync, I see it as a recurring donation for LJ. 15 bucks is what I make in like 20 minutes as an engineer myself, so ‘paying’ 20 minutes of my salary to a developer of such an awesome app is no problem for me.
I think Christian with Apollo went with a much better approach where he didn’t put in any ads, but limited the app to only being able to use one account and putting a limit to the filter list. But, you could buy the pro version to remove those limits and he put in subscription options too. If subscription is to be pushed his approach felt like the most tasteful way to go.
I gladly pay subscriptions for services. I see that the Ultra has cloud backup of settings, but how much storage could that possibly use? Certainly not $2/mo worth. For that price I’ll want the equivalent of 100Gb of storage in the cloud.
edit: I’d send $2/mo. to the admins of my instance. They’re running the servers that host all this content.
Good point, I didn’t think about it when I wrote my comment, but I agree that there’s a difference between paying for a software product and paying for a software service.
As someone from a third world country, fuck no. That shit is too expensive for me. Maybe to you privileged folk it’s reasonable. To me it’s nonsense.
I feel shitty about it too since I was a long time sync pro user, I thought sync for lemmy would also have an affordable pro version but fuck me I guess
You actually have the only reasonable response in this thread
The dev has said that he’s working on making pricing regional in the next few weeks.
Ultra =! Pro
Adfree is available as a separate lifetime purchase for 10 USD.
You have countries where people don’t earn $1 a day. Once they cover their basic needs, $10 is like wining the lottery.
It’s where Youtube does better. The price of premium is adapted to the local situation.
I’ve been working in developing aid for ages, and while true that there are places where people earn below $1, those people hardly have smartphones.
And if they do, they can use the ad supported version just fine.
“People have a right to ad free social media!” would be hard to fit on a sign.
‘Remove ads’ is ₹2000 ($24.17) in India.
Wait a couple days, regional pricing is not working yet. That’s a Google problem.
I hope that’s the case
Still too expensive.
I’ve used sync for reddit just over 12 years long. If I get the same time out of lemmy, that’s 80 cents per year.
If that’s too much for you, I can’t help you.
Where is the one time purchase?
Did you upgrade to beta 25 yet? Generally you might wait a few more days until all the pricing stuff is working properly, google is still rolling it out.
Living in a first world country is not “privilege” there are people who didn’t choose where to be born.
Just use the free app like I did when I lived in Venezuela (I was born there)
Privilege is not something necessarily gained on purpose. Being born to a wealthy family is privilege and not a choice either, but there is undeniable privilege. It’s not a negative thing, it’s something one should be aware of where they may have it and recognize it. It’s not something to feel guilty over, it just… is.
Dude you don’t know what privilege means huh
Buddy that is literally the definition of privilege
Another Venezuelan here. Im still living here.
Dude, delet this
Bro, go away. I’ve seen you way more than I want
Lol I’m a bit stoned and this made me laugh. I love how you spoke to that person like they were your sibling.
Give me a one-time purchase of like $10-15 and I will, but I don’t do (non-voluntary) subs.
I don’t need any of the push notification services.
Edit: Added within hours. Immediately got it.
No. !fucksubscriptions@lemmy.world !
I would gladly pay once though.
fuck subs…onetime payment every time, but I won’t pay a sub for an app for a service that is free…
I donate to the lemmy instances, but not an app!
I mean… Lemmy is free to use, it’s just the sync dev(s) that put in work to make it beautiful. Art is free… But an art exhibit is not.
Idk. Other people have made a good point. $17/yr is not bad. Especially for a team who have always been awesome.
I’m right with you. Sync was the only reason I even started using Reddit. I happily paid the onetime fee and I’m more than happy to do it again. If the sub actually covered costs to keep Lemmy-instances running it would be one thing but that’s not the case now. Let’s see how it all paves out.
Subbed to lemmy.world Patreon, one time payment for the app. I like having nice things, nice things only come if there’s reward in making them. I’m someone’s reward for doing something nice.
Sync for Reddit Pro was 2.99€… I was expecting that much or up to 5€ for Sync for Lemmy… But these prices are just ridiculous. As much as I like Sync I just can’t justify this kind of pricing when there are so many free alternatives without ads and tracking.
Right now I’m using Sync and it’s really nice but it’s not that much better than Jerboa for my use case.
I was paying 12 a year for Lastpass and that at least has uses, now using bitwarden, because it does the same and is free
In 2014…
August 2019
I originally paid $5 or something for sync pro in 2014. That worked out to be almost 9 years of daily use for me and was way too cheap for the utility that was provided.
Lifetime subscriptions for $5 are not really sustainable for the developer, eventually the pool of new users dries up. I think 17$ a year is very reasonable, if not cheap (for users in western countries).
Hate subscription based models. I wouldnt mind paying one-off but until then sorry sync , I am FOSSing
Actually the app just updated and has a one time purchase for removing ads now.
The one-time IAP is implemented now.
Lmao $100. There are so many other services who’s lifetime is less than that and aren’t just a front end.
This is starting to feel like a pretty disrespectful cash grab. Sync Pro was my Reddit app but it was never a $100 service.
Edit: Ah so there’s tiers now. $20 for ad free as an option too. Meanwhile you get a lesser focused experience because obviously anything worth a damn is going to be Ultra exclusive.
Edit2: Just tried out Connect for Lemmy. Feels really close to Sync with gestures and such. I recommend. I was sitting on Jerboa waiting for Sync, but not with this pricing. And I’m pretty sensitive to server hosters cost. It’s insane instances are out here operating at a loss providing content for these apps and Sync wants use them to charge people to provide a front end.
It’s almost like the Lemmy audience is a thousand times smaller than the Reddit one and the dev still has bills to pay. Fewer users, fewer subscribers means you have to charge more.
It’s not $100 unless you want a specific combo or have the means to show extra support for the dev.
Ad free is $20.
So they need to make all the revenue they made off Sync for Reddit in one week instead of growing with Lemmy over time like they did with Reddit?
What up front costs could there be here? Obviously their time, but no one is arguing it should be free. But making a premium app 10x the cost of any app, let alone their own Reddit version, is a crazy ask.
This is a gold rush through and through. Clearly the dev see’s an open market, ran into it as fast as possible, charging an astronomically high fee, and will likely bring it down to reasonable levels as soon as another app, which there will be, shows up with reasonable pricing.
It’s not $100. It can be, but ad free, alone, is $20.
I understand the confusion, but it’s not $100. Or need not be.
You’re assuming his fixed expenses are exactly what they were a decade or even a year ago. People have obligations. Houses, cars, insurance, loan payments, all of that. Reasonable expenses at the time of acquisition based on the reasonable expected income.
You can’t assume someone can have their income reduced by 100% for a month, then maybe get ten percent of that back without issues. He’s got bills to pay. This is his full time job.
While I agree that the price is a bit steep, there’s also the fact that the userbase for Lemmy is much smaller than what it was for Reddit. To make a reasonable amount of money (in the dev’s opinion), they need a higher price to compensate for the lower sales. Of course, that higher price may discourage people from laying for it at all, causing their income to be too low.
I’m still using Jerboa myself, but checking out alternatives as well. I still don’t know whether Sync is worth it for me at this price.
Yea I remember seeing something from earlier today about just having enough subscription users to cover effectively minimum wage.
Maybe when there are more users the price will go down but there was definitely a lot of work put into this upfront and the user base is still much smaller.
People like to forget that this is his job. It’s really about supporting the time it takes to develop and maintain sync. Just because it’s just a frontend, doesn’t mean it’s free to maintain.
Curious where you are seeing the tiered options listed? I’m only seeing the 99.99 option for lifetime…
You click on the icon in the left hand side and it opens up a pop out, and one of the options is remove ads for $20. But then you don’t get sYnC uLtRa features.
God damn bro. Its $100. Fuck that , I would rather give that money to a homeless or someone I need than paying it for a stupid app.
It’s $20
It’s 20 dollars.
Then do that? I bet you won’t though.
Why you people getting so salty over some app? Fuck its like android, tesla,Apple fanboys. You guys are better than this BS.
I thinknit’s clear they’re not better than this.
It’s actually my feeling about Sync. Some are fanboys and react like that. Criticism isn’t permitted in this culture.
😃 Let’s gooooooo 💥💥
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$20 is the ad free. $100 is like super-supporter.
Same. I refuse to subscribe to an app on any platform (mobile, console, PC). Not about to start now. At least they offer a lifetime subscription unlike some software (*cough*SignalRGB*cough*), but $99 is a little ridiculous. That’s more than a video game! $15-20 is more reasonable. IIRC I only paid about $10 for Relay for Reddit back then.
what is fossing
Checkout Fdroid app store.
i have it
That’s what FOSS means. Free and Open source software
Don’t really care about any ultra features. Once one-time-pay ad removal is there, I’m getting it. Just like I had Sync Pro and Sync Ultra (if those aren’t reinstated even). I will not do subscriptions.
Ad removal is here, you have to update the app
Indeed! Just purchased
What was Sync Ultra before?
Sync for Reddit - Sync Ultra
Sync for Lemmy - Sync Ultra
Hmthe one-time IAP is implemented now.
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You can remove ads with sync pro (one time payment) , as well with sync ulta (subscription).
Fuck off.
Im not paying you to remove the Ads that you injected into an addless service. Theres a half dozen other Lemmy apps already that dont pull this bullshit. And honestly synch doesnt do anything those apps dont. So other than being a mindless consumer or someone whose easily influenced by these vote manipulation shill posts, why the actual fuck would I spend money on it?
I spent money on it because someone spent the time to make the thing and I like the thing. Should people not get paid for making a thing? Do you only want to have something unpaid volunteers made?
I’ve been involved in open source stuff for decades, and it’s pretty close to dead for user facing things. The biggest reason is that no one can get paid for their efforts.
Should people not get paid for making a thing?
Clearly not an argument made in good faith, but ill bite anyway.
I never said people shouldnt get paid for stuff. Im saying the practice of making a service a worse and then asking people to pay you to undo the things you intentionally put in to make it worse is scummy.
Do you only want to have something unpaid volunteers made?
No, I want a good service, and if my choices are between an app that takes a free service, adds in their own shitty ads then asks you for money to restore it back to its original default quality, and an app that just provides that original default quality without asking me for money, then of course im going to go for the latter. Lemmy and the fediverse as a whole are things people have put time and effort into developing and they dont gimp it to try and sucker people into giving them money, have you spent money on lemmy? Would you be okay if the lemmy.world admins gimped this instance and asked you for money to un-gimp it? Probably not.
Its just a scummy business practice and avoiding it is a big reason WHY im on the fediverse in the first place.
Do you think that app developers can get by without ads? There are three options, with ads, without and give them a few bucks. Take advantage of community volunteers who do free labor.
Sync used to have separate versions, paid no ads, and free with ads. The Google Play Store penalized them for that. I don’t think that would make you happy, though you seem extremely hostile to the notion of people being paid for labor
Yes, because every other lemmy app seems to.
And if people were so willing to give money to these people as they claimed they could have a voluntary donation system no?
So you want option three, to take advantage of donated labor? Basically, as long as you get free stuff, you don’t care.
If you don’t want to give someone money for their time and labor, and you don’t want ads. Just don’t use the thing. You don’t have to be a dick about it alongside.
Now if you want to talk about the merits of Free Software, as in freedom, and how sync doesn’t adhere to that. That I would be more engaged in. But it’s pretty clear that all you want is free stuff made by other people donating their time and effort, with you benefiting.
3/10 concern troll dude. If you want to get a reaction out of people it’s better to not be so obvious about it.
If people didn’t want people to use their apps for free, then they shouldn’t make them for free. However, if I have a free app without ads, why in the hell would I turn to the guy who is asking me to pay for the same thing someone else is offering for free?
Thus was difficult to read. You think the sync developer ‘doesn’t want people use the apps for free’? No, they just want to not starve.
Do you have a job? Do you want to get paid for doing that job? Most people do. I do. If someone came to me and said oh fuck off you want to get PAID for this code? When some open source things also exist? No no no, you can’t, because open source things exist.
Genuine question, would you feel the same way if there was no ad-supported option and instead was just the paid option?
There is no making the service shittier in this scenario, instead you get the additional layer on top of the base service that the app provides. The value proposition is a different discussion in this case, but the app and developer believe that their tool adds functionality that the base service doesn’t provide and they feel that that functionality is worthy of compensation.
I would feel better about, but I still wouldn’t buy it.
I guess it’s a matter of perspective and subjective. I see it as paying back for a decade of practically free Sync experience for Reddit that I absolutely enjoyed, and as such I’m compensating the dev for that. Not saying others should apply the same logic (they shouldn’t). But it being a scummy practice is really up to what posting users interpret as value.
Ads like this really arent all that scumny my dude, i mean at least IMO lol.
You gotta pay the creator to use the app. Sync isnt free, You either pay with ads, or you pay with your buckaroos. Thats just how it works. And its pretty transparent. No trying to dupe you, hes not secretly selling your data (at least as far as i know). Either view ads so he gets paid, or pay him directly. I dont see anything wrong with this business model. The issue i have with ads is the intrusiveness of them, or the stealth of them. Reddits ads are scummy because they look like reddit posts, thats not cool.
Implementing ads after getting a user base (like in your lemmy.world example) is different because they are changing the model. If i were to join an instance that started off with ads, id be less miffed because if i like it enough i can stay and view ads / pay, or i would move to a different instance. I wouldnt call it scummy. I would understand that they gotta pay bills to keep that server on, and thats how they decided to do it.
For what its worth, i am a FOSS guy all the way, and take all opportunity to block ads. But im also willing to pay for software that i think deserves it. I donate to my lemmy instance, and have paid for Sync Ultra, because they are both great and the maintainers deserve to get paid :)
I wouldn’t have as much an issue if it was their own service, but the fact that lemmy exists without ads by default makes it feel like them adding their own ads is scummy.
Hey man you get my vote!
Adding a subscription too, WTF it’s literally the crappiest business system (on top of creating a problem, ads, and asking money to remove it).
You know 17$ a year is more than giving 10$ to the Lemmy Devs and using a free reader (give 5$ to them too a year and you still win)!
Hear hear! Here here even! Putting ads into a free service, then asking for money as a subscription to remove them. FFS. How can people fall for this? If your app is good, and I like it, I’ll pay. But don’t pull that crap.
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I’m not saying I’m entitled to anything, I’m not asking for anything. I don’t want to use sync for free, because there are tons of other free lemmy apps as well as the regular Web lemmy that are all free and without ads (I guess all those apps created themselves for free right)
I’m telling the OP to fuck off for making a post commanding people to buy premium time.
Do you think sync devs are entitled because they the actual content from lemmy for free, stuff their own ads in their to make money from it?
Get a grip dude. Throwing a tantrum isn’t going to get me to spend money on that app. Nor respect someone making something worse with ads to try and coerce people into paying for it.
Lots of entitlement here…
Saying someone makes enough in their day job so all their other contributions should be free is…wow.
I guess I’m one of the few that thinks all work should be compensated. Especially work I can’t do myself or that I prefer over others.
And really, it’s not up to me to say what that compensation should be. It’s only my job to decide if the offer is acceptable to me for what I perceive is the benefit over other options.
Because there are other options. But I’m here because I don’t want the other options. I would guess many others are, too.
Totally agree… This person does a shit load of work building and maintaining an app, they sure as hell should get paid for it.
No one says sync for lemmy should be free. Most people just oppose the subscription based model. Also our user data is being sold to data hoarding companies by sync for lemmy. That is extremely conflicting with the open source model of lemmy.
No one? What are you talking about? Have you read any of these threads?
Sync for Lemmy doesn’t have trackers and the one time purchase is $20
I wouldn’t buy YouTube Premium either and they have significant hosting costs compared to the this app. So do the Lemmy server owners as well.
I think the dev deserves compensation for their app but the asking price is too much, for me anyway.
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Sync for Reddit also had regional pricing just like that.
Did Boost developer reveal pricing for Boost for Lemmy? It is still showing the pre-registering page for me.
I’m not comfortable with a subscription model, sorry. I will happily pay for a one-time fee. For the use I do of Lemmy I’ll pay up to €5. If they want to release a new version of the app in, say, 2-3 years down the line and ask for a new fee, I’m fine too.
I’ll wait until Boost releases (it was my default Reddit app) and will choose between Sync, Boost, Summit, and Infinity paid versions.
It already has a one-time payment option. Try update and look in the settings.
Well, that was fast :)
Anyway, it is €115. That’s way out of my league. I will wait for Boost and see.
Oh you’re talking about sync ultra? Yeah that’s expensive af but just to remove ads is cheap. Your also paying for the ability to be a power user. It’s not meant for the majority of people, people asked for more features back on reddit, so lj made ultra. It’s that and to support the dev.
I fail to see the remove ads option. On settings I can only find the Sync Ultra section with monthly, yearly and lifetime subscription. I’m on beta 26, maybe is there a newer version?
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There is an option for life time Ultra now. For the United States it’s $99 USD. Honestly at that price making it a negative for me ghost rider. Although, respect anyone getting it. Good way to support the dev for something they use every day for the most part.
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Technically, they could publish a ReVanced patch…
Infinity paid version?
I mean, between those which have paid version (Boost and Sync, I think)
Infinity for Reddit has a paid version since the beginning of this year, but it’s identical to the FOSS version. Its just there so you can support the dev more easily.
Why are people so stingy when it comes to software pricing? I feel like the app store model of $1 apps really killed the general publics idea of the value of software and ended up driving the ad based revenue system a lot.
€5 is all you would pay? Let’s say you use the app one hour per week for two years, you are valuing that at ~0.004¢. that is astronomically low, and is already based off of a pretty low usage rate.
Do you think the app would provide less value to you over 2 years than a single beer at a bar?
At $20 us (I don’t know the cost in euros) and the same usage it puts Sync’s value at a still cheap 0.016¢ (USD)
Even if you only used it once per month over a 2 year period it’s still only about 20 cents each use.
In my opinion a $20 one time fee for an application that I will likely use daily, with a trusted track record and a quality experience is more than fair. That’s the same as a video game I would play for maybe 10 hours or a movie that I will watch once or maybe twice.
I didn’t mean to unload on you specifically, but I see this ‘outrage pricing’ a lot and it irks me.
The app is amazing and I’m not against the Dev just because of what they are charging. They can charge whatever they want, if there is a market willing to pay it’s fine.
But 115€ lifetime is like 10-20 times more than the price I would pay. So as a consumer I’ll just stay with the free version or another Lemmy app.
As a former infinity user, “Infinity for Lemmy” is the one I’m waiting for. I’m also interested in trying Voyager android app once it is released.
Now this “sync for Lemmy” app looks very well probably the best Lemmy app at the moment. Only thing is lacking for me (so far) is to have community icons in the small cards post layout. (So I can identify what’s the topic is about before reading the title).
For the text size I changed base text to Medium and then I changed the specific description and comment relative text size to “Regular”. This gives me the same text size as Infinity, at least in the comments.
I currently am using Infinity for Lemmy. It’s pretty damn great despite the fact that it’s still early development.
Yes me too. But it’s still an alpha. An alpha that evolves really fast day by day. The new Dev seems amazing.
Sync ATM looks so polished, elegant, material design well implemented, is fast, it hides the bottom nav bar when scrolling down (infinity also does this) etc.
So now I switched to sync as main app. But I still keep updating Infinity until it gets more polished and stable.
(In Reddit I keep using Infinity+).
As a former infinity user, “Infinity for Lemmy” is the one I’m waiting for.
https://codeberg.org/Bazsalanszky/Infinity-For-Lemmy/releases
Yeah I’ve been using it for a week already but I mean that I was waiting for non alpha release
