this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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Sync for Lemmy

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Have you reported issues to the developer? (lemm.ee)
submitted 8 months ago by thangcuoi@lemm.ee to c/syncforlemmy@lemmy.world
25 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I'm reading many people complaining about the app being abandoned, not being updated for a long time.

Have you tried contacting the developer with your issues?

They last replied to a review on Google Play on 13th Jan 2025. Someone else also mentioned that they received a response via DM. So the developer is definitely still alive.

The app is free to use. It's great if you chose to support the developer by paying for the ad-removal or subscription. Unfortunately, I don't believe the user base is large enough to allow the developer to work on it full-time, or even part time.

Personally, I think Sync is a passion project, hence the original Reddit version was so good. The downside with passion projects is that you work on them when you have time and inspiration to work on them.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that all the negativity won't help inspire the developer to dedicate more time to the project.

It would be more helpful to compile a list of bugs and issues, and forward them to the developer.

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[โ€“] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I get that you want to be positive and whatnot and that's fine, but Sync has never been Laurence's fulltime job and it was never intended to be. LJ has a very successful family business which is his priority.

Now I can't talk about what issues he has or hasn't received. But I do know that plenty of people paid to support LJ and Sync and he disappeared on us. This isn't the same as Sync for Reddit where it was a negligible one and done payment, this was a subscription and for some a lifetime license that was paid in good faith and he bailed on everyone just as breaking changes got made to the platform. If you're going to go the subscription route, it's a two way street and the developer has to commit to it too. I'm not even talking about a constant stream of releases, at least keep your customers abreast of what's happening. One year without updates and an app that barely works. it's unacceptable by every metric.

I say all that and it sounds angry and disappointed, but ultimately I just hope he's happy and healthy. If he does ever come back, I hope he can commit to his customers the same way they commit to him.

[โ€“] thangcuoi@lemm.ee 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Subscription - I totally agree that people who paid for an annual or lifetime subscription should expect at least some maintenance bug fix releases. Otherwise, it would be reasonable for them to get a refund.

Has anyone tried asking for a refund? He does have 2 million in the bank. I imagine the total money he has received from the Lemmy app would be no more than a few thousands.

[โ€“] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I really doubt he has anywhere close to even a single million in the bank. Though I would be happy for him if he did.

[โ€“] thangcuoi@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

As of 31st March 2024, The company has $1.49 mil of cash in the bank.

[โ€“] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 8 months ago

Wow. With cash on hand like that I have a lot less sympathy for this bullshit.

Anyway, Summit is a great Lemmy client.

[โ€“] viking@infosec.pub 2 points 8 months ago

Sync for reddit grossed over 2 million British pounds - and that's current account balances, I didn't check withdrawals over time. See for yourself, company filings for UK Ltd.'s are public.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08807876

So you might consider sync for Lemmy a passion project since it's not exactly cashing in on the same level, no doubt, but it's a far cry from a lone nerd trying to make ends meet.

[โ€“] NameTaken@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I mean all of that is good and well but basically all of this is just your assumption. Its nice that you "believe" this but you don't speak for the developer.

My issue is we have heard nothing at all from the developer. If the project was alive or just moving slowly I'd imagine we would hear something. Literally anything but we haven't. If youre going to take people's money be direct and just let people know what to expect. It's not difficult to do. That's great you sent issues to the developer when's that update coming to fix it? This week, next year, never......

[โ€“] thangcuoi@lemm.ee -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

As mentioned in my original post, the developer account on Google Play did respond to one of the reviews, asking the reviewer to clarify their issues. They would not be asking that if they have abandoned the project completely.

This developer is known for being MIA for long periods of time. Yes, this time it has been extra long.

We don't know what is going on in their life. They could be dealing with mental health or other personal issues. They could have a new baby. Someone very close to them could have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. They are working on the next big thing that could make them 100 million, and set their family up for life.

The point is, sometimes life gets away from you, and you drop the ball on less important things.

[โ€“] NameTaken@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Great so why can't he take 30 seconds out of a year to say that? I'm sure people would understand. The issue everyone is having is the lack of updates. So essentially yes it is abandoned. No updates either way, no word from developer either way been over a year = abandoned.

Great he responded to you but did he say when the next update will be? Or explain the lack of updates? I mean we could all makes guesses but the fact of the matter is it's been abandoned and in its current state is broken. There is no reason to use it.

Additionally this is hurting Lemmy in general. People will try to use sync for Lemmy because it's familiar and not realize the issues they are having are with sync because it's broken not Lemmy. Then stop using Lemmy. I know you're well intentioned but you shouldn't give people hope when you know nothing more than anyone else.

[โ€“] Macallan@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Yup. LJ has pinged in several posts. I sent an email to the address listed in the play store. No response to either.

[โ€“] limerod@reddthat.com 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

You can cope all you want. It doesn't change the nature or the fact Sync is broken and has stopped working in major areas where it impedes function. It would've been fine if it was cheap like the old sync reddit app.

But, we weren't the ones asking for high ad-free purchase, or Sync Ultra price.

[โ€“] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It doesn't change the nature or the fact Sync is broken and has stopped working in major areas where it impedes function.

This is really the core issue right here. Long periods of inactivity from ljdawson was more acceptable on Reddit as the backend software didn't change much so the app at least kept working. It's been over a year since the last update here and Sync for Lemmy still has some serious problems.

It's a shame because I love the app, but I've felt forced to move on.

[โ€“] kuro_neko@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What app did you move on to?

[โ€“] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm using Summit. It also has a few niggles and missing features but I believe it will get there in the future. I've tried almost all the available apps and Summit felt the best for me overall.

And at least the dev is active and responsive. Well, he has been at least. He's been gone for a few weeks with IRL interference but he's said it is temporary.

[โ€“] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, Summit is what I'm using too. I prefer the Sync UX, but between missing and broken features, using a working alternative is a no-brainer.

[โ€“] kuro_neko@lemmy.ca 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Connect has a similar UX, just throwing it out there :) (and just mentioning it since Sync seems to no longer maintained).

[โ€“] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Just gave it a whirl, it feels very unpolished. So many options wouldn't apply until I restarted the app. I couldn't find the option to set New as default. The drawer is too short and using only bottom navigation is clearly an afterthought. Also the font selection is terrible and actually hurts my eyes.

[โ€“] ech@lemm.ee 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Dude, that's the dev...

[โ€“] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Surely that's all the more reason to report the usability issues? The better the app selection quality the better.

[โ€“] kuro_neko@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago

All good, I appreciate the candid feedback. Cheers!

[โ€“] thangcuoi@lemm.ee -1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

But no one forces you to pay. You chose to do that to support the developer, but it does not mean they owe you.

Fediverse.org reports that Lemmy currently has 484,850.

Backlinko.com reports that Reddit has 97.2 million daily active users in June 2025.

Let's round those figures up to 500k and 100mil.

Say 5% of Reddit users paid $1 to the developer > 5mil users = $5mil

If my maths is correct, for 5% of Lemmy to donate 5mil to the developer, so they can invest the same time & effort as they did on the Reddit app, each paying Lemmy user would have to pay $5mil / (500k*.0.05) = $200 each.

It would be unreasonable for the developer to expect people to pay $200 to use the Lemmy app. It's equally unreasonable for us users to expect them to put in the same effort, without the same return of investment. I imagine the developer will invest in more time when the Lemmy user base hit some kind of critical mass.

[โ€“] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 1 points 8 months ago

What? When you charge a subscription, you're not saying this is for the work done. You're selling the idea that by paying for a subscription users are supporting the work remaining ongoing. Users who paid yearly, got less than half of what they paid for. So sorry, as much as I like LJ, it absolutely does mean they owe you. At the very least they owe you an explanation.

[โ€“] EarMaster@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Thank you for reminding me to leave a negative review...