iOS users - what features do you want to see on Mlem?
3 years ago by geon to c/asklemmy
I know the developers are working hard and I'm sure they'll be coming with Mlem updates. I hope to see a notification centre being added, as well as the posts being collapsed instead of full-length. Do you wish for an Apollo type of design, or similar?
Edit: just a heads-up, I am not in any way affiliated with LemmyNet nor its devs. You can also voice your suggestions via Testflight by beta-using Mlem.
Just as a side-note: Multireddits are not an Apollo feature, they are a part of Reddit itself since 2013. Although, Apollo did support them before the Redesign did (which calls them “Custom Feeds”) if I'm not mistaken.
Second this. Especially community information. What community a post is in, a user is in, subscribe to the community etc.
Also allowing local filter on the post lists. Currently it’s subscribed or all.
Basically just ripoff Apollo entirely.
One could argue that the best way to do that is to port Apollo like Tweetbot did with Ivory. These third party clients hold more power than they think. If they all migrate then the users will follow. Reddit is just the hosting. Abstract that away behind clients and you have the same thing.
I second this. I am subscribed to a big list of communities but I can’t see a list of them and pick and choose them.
I want the ability to pick and choose from subscriptions
An experience like Apollo would be great but I’ll take what we have. It feels cozier.
I think it has potential to get there eventually. It already follows the similar design and usage philosophies, and I imagine the development could really take off now.
Keep in mind that Apollo has years of full-time development behind it, whereas Mlem is essentially an early beta of an open-source passion project.
Thank you for the point about the length of development. I essentially started Mlem a year a half ago as my very first iOS project to take my mind off the pain from a major surgery I had the the time, then it sat abandoned until I revived it just a little over month ago. So the total dev time on Mlem is only around a month and a half. It’s still a little baby 😊
Apollo is a work of art, such a shame to see it go
Hey, everyone, I'm from the Mlem Team, and I'd like you all to know we love hearing from the community when it comes to what you want from the app, bugs, etc.
Please come to the Mlem App Community to share your thoughts and concerns. Also, you can join the discussion on Matrix, or even contribute to the project yourself!
Cheers!
-- The Mlem Team
Loving the app so far. Here are some things I'd like to see implemented at some point (in no particular order):
I’d like to be able to post photos and videos from the apps when you’re replying to a thread, if that’d be possible
I REALLY like the feature in Apollo where you could enable hiding of posts after you’ve viewed them. That way every time you open the app or refresh it you only see new stuff.
I agree. I don’t like having to scroll through the same posts all the time.
What I miss most is
I guess you see I am a Apollo user 😂 I agree with others that posted before: Apollo is a good example, it’s designed very well and usable
Don’t get lost implementing fancy features at the beginning, concentrate on supporting what the Lemmy web UI does and try to provide a smooth and pleasant experience on iOS.
In case you’re looking for inspiration would highly recommend to take a look at the Ice Cubes client for Mastodon. An extremely well made app.
Agreed. But customizable. I want to swipe on a post to hide it and swipe on a comment to collapse to top.
I like gestures. Being able to set them. Long left, short left etc.
I like being able to go back by from the center swipe right(so I don’t have to swipe back from the edge). And then short left is upvote. Long left is downvote. Makes browsing and engaging so efficient. This site needs high votes per user right now. So it would help the site too.
Being able to filter communities is also very helpful.
For an iPad I think an easy(?) first huge improvement is being able to use split screen etc.
Yeah that’s what I meant. If that’s already a feature I apologize.
I love Apollo! Agree with a lot of the sentiments here. Would like Face ID, swipe left/right capabilities, options how to open links, collapsibility, media options (autoplay, loop, controls, mute, etc.)
I didn’t realize how much I missed swipe capabilities until I started using Mlem. Having those added to the app would be great.
Have used the app for several hours now and one thing I miss a lot from Apollo is very long posts being reduced on the main feed so that the whole screen is not taken up. When you want to read more you simply tap.
There are long sticky threads up on a few instances here that are a bit of a nuisance to scroll through each time. While I understand that’s temporary, it could be annoying to see any long wall of text fill the feed.
Tl;dr: please condense posts in main feed :)
NSFW tagging doesn’t blur the picture like it does on web.
The ability to see (and jump directly to) subscribed communities.
Oh, and the Reply button is hard to hit for some reason.
Ah, that’d do it - thanks!
After all the standard features are in place, a good iPad version!
Is there an option to edit? I make tons of spelling mistakes so that would be cool.
Not requiring a login
Searching for communities is essential. Like others have said, lift as much inspiration from Apollo as possible and you'll basically end up with everything users need.
I agree with you. I figure out how to search for communities but a general search functionality would be great!
If they could almost replicate this to Apollo. Or even bring Christian aboard to help out. This app would take off instantly. Thousands of people are on his side. This would easily be a huge competition for Reddit within just a few days.
Christian can ping Mlem's author, @davidbures@mstdn.social, if he wants to reach out to us ^^
Though please don't harass him, he's probably going to take a break after all of this Reddit madness
I’m another Apollo refugee so taking any and all inspiration there would be great. Also I’d like to be able to share / export a post, or grab the web link for sharing, or to be able to bounce out to safari. I’d also like to be able to tap and hold on images in posts to copy or share them.
Ability to view communities I'm subscribed to
Ability to see my posts and comments
iPad compatibility
Gestures
Compact mode
Add photos to comments
These things would be game changers imo.
Search for posts and communities!
Proper font scaling
Currently working on this.
Awesome keep up the good work. iOS is so popular in the US a good lemmy client will be beneficial to the decentralized internet community.
Time to take the www back, we appreciate your hard work
I’d like to be able to load a user profile and see their comments and posts (like how it is on desktop).
I would say, mirror and learn from Apollo app for Reddit. They did a phenomenal job.
Mlem is heavily inspired by Apollo. We're working on a new interface and UX for the app which should be in the next release. we're coding it now and will be testing it internally very soon.
Christian did an amazing job with Apollo, and we want to learn from that, take the great work he did, and carry what we can forward into Mlem!
Please come to the Mlem App Community to share your thoughts and concerns. Also, you can join the discussion on Matrix, or even contribute to the project yourself!
Cheers!
-- The Mlem Team
A way to edit posts lol.
The ability to hide upvoted posts.
Woops, the ability to hide upvoted *submissions.
I’d love to see a Dark Mode personally, but also a way to see what’s on the homepage of a instance. I like to check that (kind of like r/all) to get news or things outside my main subscribed community’s
Currently:
Ideas for the future:
Good luck, and great job so far!
Yup, I’m also heavy on the customisation aspect. Would be fun with custom icons like you said (the dev said they would implement community-submitted icons in the future), as well as in-app themes like Reddit/Apollo had.
I'm working on Mlem accessibility issues, can you please describe what you mean by "More colour contrast between posts and the app background" so I can make sure to document it correctly?
Really just the way posts look against the dark grey background when dark mode is on. Dark on light looks weird to me, and occasionally makes it difficult for me to tell where one post ends and another begins when I'm skim-reading. Personally, I'd suggest making the posts slightly lighter than the grey background, then making the background black (or something very dark, like #262626).
That makes sense, I will look into it. Thanks for the feedback.
I’d very much like an ipad layout please.
Also a way to consolidate multiple accounts across instances into a single feed.
Kbin compatibility.
What do you mean multiple accounts across multiple instances? Your account on lemmy.ml can ask lemmy.ml to fetch posts on other instances, via communities, to which you can then subscribe to.
Do you mean something like a multireddit?
My biggest gripe is the inability to make the home screen/post view compact. Right now, it shows the entire post when someone creates one, which means youre scrolling for a long time to get past a single post in many instances.
It's been said a few times already but I really love Apollo's swipe to vote interaction. The app looks tidy though, thanks for your work!
I feel like Jerboa for Lemmy (Android's Lemmy App) could benefit from some of these suggestions as well, so hopefully the dev is also taking a look at this thread xd.
Save to Photos, and other options for images
I like how Apollo will show trending subreddits. Not sure if mlem can support that given the federated design of lemmy but it was super useful in finding new subreddits.
Improved scrolling performance should be a high priority. Currently scrolling a feed results in tons of dropped frames and poor performance and then the feed jumps around as images load and pop in. It’s even worse when you try to scroll back up. I’m guessing some kind of static size for posts and moving certain tasks off the main thread will help here but my SwiftUI experience is limited
I would pay again for an iOS app that is like Apollo!
I can’t seem to find Mlem on the App Store. Am I missing something?
First you install the app Testflight on App Store (instructions here https://testflight.apple.com/join/xQfmkJhc). Then click on the Apple icon over here (https://join-lemmy.org/apps) to open it in Testflight and install it.
Thanks. I’m assuming they’re working on a standalone app relatively soon?
I can't speak for the developers, but like any app I presume they have to get the crash/bug issues under control as well as add more features to the surface before launching the actual app. The influx of new users is probably overwhelming right now. I'm hopeful they'll release a smooth app within a month, or two, or three... by using Testflight, any beta user can send feedback, which would likely hurry up the development.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but interaction with other servers is not as seamless as the experience on the web frontend. Yes, I can add multiple accounts, but I am yet to find a way to browse posts from across all of the linked communities.
An improved comment editor for sure. Better navigation around the app itself and around communities.
Compact list view
Browse list of communities / single community
@lemmy.ml
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If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
Looking for support?
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The features I’d love to see:
I use (or used to use) the Multireddit feature in Apollo all the time. My big use case is that I can put “spoiler” communities there so they don’t pop up in my main feed but I can go there once I’ve seen the relevant episode! It’s also really good for grouping regional ones… like
UK, Chill UK, UK Casual etc
Edit: and being able to edit your own post!
save