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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by ljdawson@lemmy.world to c/syncforlemmy@lemmy.world

Afternoon everyone,

I wanted to go over a few points related to pricing, stats and the roadmap


Pricing

  1. Sync for Lemmy is completely free with ads (the same as Sync for Reddit)

  2. You can remove ads in the account picker or drawer for a one time fee of ~$20

  3. Sync Ultra also removes ads but it's not required

  4. I'll be working on regional prices over the coming weeks


There are now 24k installed users up from 100 the previous day!

I'm going to be spending the next few days going through all of the comments / messages and fixing any crashes.

As always thanks for the support and hope you're liking Sync!

Lj

Edit: testing edit

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[-] Polar@lemmy.ca 207 points 1 year ago

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the backslash you're getting for charging money.

I'm also sorry people expect it to be $1 because the Reddit app was $1 back in 1825. I genuinely believe it's children complaining, because no functioning adult would complain about a price increase when rent has tripled or quadrupled since the $1 Reddit app. It's also annoying to see that people think that saying they bought the Reddit app for $1 and enjoyed it for 10 years is an argument. It goes to show it was severely underpriced.

It must be frustrating to have that type of response. Lemmy users seem to be really entitled when it comes to software, and the response you're getting scares me for the future. I really hope the Boost developer doesn't cancel his app after seeing how entitled Lemmy users are being right now.

What frustrates me more is the people complaining are continuing to use the free open source apps. Like great, you already have an alternative you prefer. Shut up. Stop bringing others down.

I wish you the best. Thank you for choosing to develop for Lemmy. I have my eyes on Boost, but I'm gladly using your free tier for the time being.

Thanks again!

[-] Taako_Tuesday@lemmy.ca 46 points 1 year ago

I paid 5 dollars back in 2016, and I was fully expecting to pay more for this version. 20 dollars for no ads is fine by me. However, I don't feel like the 100 dollars for lifetime ultra is worth it. Maybe someday when I feel like those extra perks are worthwhile

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[-] chemsed@lemmy.ca 31 points 1 year ago

What bothers me with this controversy is that it's not clear for me how one can earn a living in the lemmy ecosystem if everything is FOSS. Also, one should understand that the app is in beta, but there was so much hype around that app.

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[-] Aasikki@sopuli.xyz 27 points 1 year ago

I'm fine with a price increase, but 4 times the price is quite the increase. Haven't made up my mind if it's worth it for me yet, if it was 5€ or maybe 10€ I would have immediately bought it.

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[-] Redredme@lemmy.world 142 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

LJ,

I too am a reddit refugee. I like what you've done with this place.

:)

But we have to talk about pricing and privacy.

Pricing: tbh I see not much wrong with the 20 bucks. But I do think that you should take 2 bucks from that and donate one to the lemmy org (this is not reddit, nobody is getting paid, the lemmy devs also need an incentive) and the other one to lemmy.world because that's the instance you're dumping us all on. Hosting is not free, lemmy.world costs money and probably a lot of time to run. Being a reddit admin is a payed job, being Ruud at lemmy.world most certainly is not.

In this way "we" are giving back to the Foss community and it should silence a lot of critics. In that way you don't look like the evil capitalist earning a quick buck over the back of free labour of the foss community. I think that's 2 bucks well spent.

Edit: same goes for ultra subscriptions of course, a similar percentage should be fed back to the lemmy org and lemmy.world.

Privacy: since you're using admob and I forgot the other one, privacy is out the window. That's a big issue for the Foss community we're all relying on. Maybe it's wise to point out that once you pay for sync all that tracking that admob and the other one (not you I hope) does is out the window.

Edit edit: maybe you could also add a yearly reminder to donate to the users favourite lemmy instance.

[-] ljdawson@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago

I've said quite a few times but the ad library isn't initialised if you pay to remove ads.

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[-] Taeye0n@lemmy.world 127 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah man...I am a dev myself but $20 to remove ads is just too much, especially without regional pricing.

[-] ljdawson@lemmy.world 128 points 1 year ago

I'll be working on this full time and plan to make this the best Lemmy app possible.

[-] dzonc@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago

I think the pricing is fine if the quality matches it. Considering how much time we spend on our phones it could be great value for money.

I'm very curious to see how the advertising option works out for you, as currently I'm not aware of any lemmy sites with sustainable finance models.

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[-] worsedoughnut@lemdro.id 31 points 1 year ago

$20 once, for an app you're going to use daily for the foreseeable future mind you, is not the unreasonable take that people on here seem to think it is.

You get what you pay for, and Sync has proven it's track record with the Reddit app already. This isn't just some random app dev asking for money on his bejeweled clone.

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[-] flip@lemmy.nbsp.one 81 points 1 year ago

Whether the pricing is appropriate is purely subjective. I paid the 20 bucks, thank you for your work. Looking forward to see this app thrive, it already works super smooth!

Hope you do not take the inevitably rude comments to heart.

[-] DTFpanda@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

Initially, I didn't have a problem with it, but I read some good points in other threads that it is far too expensive for those in undeveloped countries, and that there should be a sliding scale instead of a straight-up currency conversion.

[-] ljdawson@lemmy.world 57 points 1 year ago

Yup as mentioned I'll be setting these by region over time. But it involves me individually tailoring the price to each country usually comparing it to some metric like the cost of a take away.

[-] Drago@feddit.de 32 points 1 year ago

You could use the Big Mac Index. Yeah, that's a thing.

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[-] aetrix@lemmy.world 81 points 1 year ago

I'll repeat what I said in some other thread:

I loved the old app, I still love the new app, it’s a pleasure to use compared to the alternatives I’ve tried, and I find the ultra subscription rate both reasonable and worthwhile to support a product I truly enjoy.

Sync is good for me. There’s plenty of other options if it’s not good for you.

Please keep up the good work!

[-] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 77 points 1 year ago

I just want to say thank you for getting Sync up and running on Lemmy. Please don't let the toxic comments sour your day. I for one is really grateful for what you do.

[-] ljdawson@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

[-] ljdawson@lemmy.world 59 points 1 year ago

Going to have a stab at regionalising ad free now.

Reply to this with your country and I'll regionalise the pricing there.

[-] zubi@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

India.

1700 rs is just impossible to justify where the median salary is 900rs per day

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[-] Tudou@feddit.uk 55 points 1 year ago

I'm seriously impressed with how functional this app is from the start. Like lots of others have said, it felt like coming home given how long I'd used Sync for. Didn't hesitate to pay for the ad free version once that option was added.

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[-] gingernate@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago

I'm all on board with FOSS, but I used sync for reddit for years, ljdawson has my support on Lemmy too. I don't mind supporting a good dev. Do I prefer things be FOSS? Yeah, but I have no issues using a closed source product if it works. And sync has always been top notch. Responsive dev, all around good product.

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[-] SmugBedBug@sh.itjust.works 45 points 1 year ago

The backlash has surprised me a bit. I agree the price is a bit steep but considering the userbase is only a fraction of what Reddit has, it's understandable that the price would be higher.

I just didn't expect such negative reactions to either the ad component or the price. A lot have mentioned that it could become a form of gatekeeping for newcomers. I just hope it won't turn out that way.

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[-] PsychedSy@lemmy.world 45 points 1 year ago
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[-] clock_age@lemmy.world 43 points 1 year ago

My wishlist:

  • Downvote counts
  • Mod tools
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[-] chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org 42 points 1 year ago

I was floored when I opened the beta and found that almost all existing features survived the transition. In a single month! You're a monster that makes the rest of us developers look bad 😉

I know that there's an active ongoing discussion about monetization models and I'm certain that there's room for improvement... but at the end of the day you can't make everyone happy. I just wanted you to know that, as a long-time fan, I sincerely appreciate what's been accomplished here. Cheers! Don't forget to take some well-deserved you time once things quiet down a little.

[-] daemonspudguy@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago

I don't have 20 dollars to spend on removing ads for a mobile app. I also previously bought Sync for Reddit Pro. Why is the price so much higher for a client to a service that definitionally doesn't have API charges?

[-] GinDaHood@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

Lemmy has far fewer users and the previous pricing model was not sustainable for a single developer who makes a living off this app.

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[-] nanny07@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A part from the comments on the images, I think there is a bug with alignment because the first comment has 3 lines instead of one as you can see from this image

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[-] chaircat@lemdro.id 35 points 1 year ago

Took me a while to figure out how to sign in with my lemdro.id account.

Maybe it's embarrassing to admit but I must have scanned through that long list of servers five times before realizing I could just type in my own server. Could be helpful to add a line inviting users to type in their own server.

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[-] danielbln@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago

Not to wake sleeping dogs or anything, but uh I don't see any ads. Where are those ads supposed to be?

[-] joe@lemmy.knocknet.net 41 points 1 year ago

Like the kid asking if there's any homework tonight 😆

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[-] TheBig2023Meltdown@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

Please don't let the controversy get to you, I love this app mainly because I feel back at home. It makes sense that if someone has never used sync, feels put off by the pricing but I think it makes sense purely because of the smaller userbase and the amount of work that goes into an app like this.

I've used some other open source alternatives and they feel rough compared to sync

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[-] DrFuggles@feddit.de 32 points 1 year ago

Hopping on to the "I feel at home" train! One thing that really bugged me about the alternatives was that they weren't as smooth and fluid. Like I scroll down and it jumps, I scroll up, it jitters etc.

Sync is the UI and the UX I've missed!

[-] Murvel@lemm.ee 32 points 1 year ago

Cool, bumpy start but I support your work, you will be instrumental in growing Lemmy. GDPR issues needs to be fixed pronto as it otherwise won't legally comply in the EU.

I've got a bug fix thread here

Keep it up!

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[-] TheGreenGolem@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 year ago

I'll say it again: you are a legend.

[-] Album@lemmy.ca 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

$30.30 for ad free in Canada. That's wild. It's not even the exchange rate... that's a markup from the US price.

A really hard buy for me. Not sure I'm going to spend that much.

[-] ljdawson@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

So it's $26.99 CAD, and in USD it's $19.99.

The rest is sales tax for Canada 🇨🇦

[-] Album@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 year ago

I really do appreciate this response. Still a bit deep for my wallet but at least I have the understanding. Cheers!

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this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
1398 points (100.0% liked)

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