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Appreciation post for Liftoff not collecting user data or injecting ads. (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Holodeck_Moriarty@lemm.ee to c/liftoff@lemmy.world

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I was looking forward to trying Sync today now that it's live, but my enthusiasm was immediately dampened after seeing the "Data Safety" section on the Google Play store.

Liftoff has been great, and want to say thanks for making an awesome app. This will continue to be my daily driver.

Edit: for clarity, because the post got way bigger than I expected.

Sync looks like a fantastic app, and the dev/s should charge whatever they feel is fair for their efforts, even if that's through the usual ads + ad tracking.

My intent was just to post here in /c/Liftoff to thank the Liftoff devs for managing to somehow offer an awesome app without any of that.

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[-] Schooner@lemmy.ml 64 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think it's a little uncharitable to Sync to characterise it like this. Yes, it collects personal data to show ads. However, you have the choice to refuse or pay a one time fee to get rid of it entirely. It's the nonconsensual nature of data collection that robs users of their agency that makes it problematic.

Devs need to eat and donations are not always a realistic revenue scheme. With the one time fee, Sync has signalled it cares about its users and not just value extraction like Big Tech. I will probably pay that and be happy.

I like Liftoff, I also like Sync. I use both atm.

[-] Holodeck_Moriarty@lemm.ee 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I totally get that, and the sync dev seems like a good guy who should charge whatever he feels is reasonable for his time. To an average end user like me though, it feels a bit like there are 5-6 booths offering bananas for free, but then someone set up a booth right next to them selling bananas for $20 a pop or requiring me to sit through a sales pitch.

I just wanted to show my appreciation for the guy at my favorite booth who is doing it for free when they really didn't have to.

[-] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Okay, but in this scenario one guy offers it for free because he helps to grow bananas as a hobby with a bunch of other guys who also help, and he doesn't need to sell the bananas to make a living, while the guy offering bananas for money grows bananas himself or just with his family for a living and so selling them is how he can afford to make more and also put food on the table. You can also have his bananas for free too, as long as you're okay with the bananas having stickers with sponsored brand names on them. I can understand not wanting to pay for something when there are free versions available, and the prices can be a bit high for some people atm, assuming they don't change in the coming days, but the guy selling bananas for money isn't forcing you to buy his bananas instead of getting the free ones from other booths, he's offering his bananas for people who are willing and able to pay for them or willing to tolerate ads on them to support him. Presumably you didn't feel the need to thank liftoff before the stuff with sync happened, so it doesn't come across like you're just thankful to liftoff in general, more like you're doing it because you're unhappy with sync.

[-] Schooner@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I think @Laticauda@lemmy.ca has already made a good point regarding your example.

I'm not judging you or anything, just that the appreciation could have been shown without comparing it to Sync. It can come off as a bit combative, when you didn't mean it like that.