Yeah. That's the same reason why I use Sync.

We get a lot of flak for it but… listen. I'm a Linux user. I don't even use Windows or Mac anymore at all. I try to use as much free software as possible. But I am also incredibly off put by the sheer jank that some FOSS solutions have.

What causes this situation is that Jeroba had to start from scratch and FOSS from the start, but Boost and Sync are based on the code base of two of the most popular Reddit clients, which have also been profitable enough to allow the respective devs to work on these apps as a part-time job, not a hobby project.

And… it freaking shows. All the polish has been ported over to these apps. Countless hours of work, and Sync is just as much of a joy to use as it has ever been - it even seems faster than when it was on Reddit.

I am going to say something that is a bit on the unpopular side here: while I get the fact that some people are irked at a developer profiting from a free project like Lemmy with a paid client, my response to that is - you don't have to use it. Nobody forces you to use Sync or Boost. The fact that Sync or Boost exist does not limit your freedom in any way. And the second thing is that it's right for someone who has poured a lot of time into a product to sell it and have a reward for it. I already know all the arguments: "How about making the source code free and the binaries paid?" - same as what happens to every Android app that tried this: F-Droid publishes the free binary, nobody will pay for the app, they will hide under the "but but my F-Droid build is completely free from Google trackers" excuse - but will conveniently forget to donate to the project… most people don't donate. Hell, most people who argue that a project should survive on donations don't donate.

The ad privacy stuff is something that should be sorted - but it's well within their rights to use AdMob. It's not a hobby project - it's a job. And again… I'd use the FOSS clients, but there simply isn't anything good that isn't full of jank and incredibly unpleasant to use.

As a last point: the Fediverse and Lemmy are already super niche and unpopular. Part of the problem is that they suffer from a flaw that Linux used to suffer before the more mainstream adoption it's beginning to enjoy: what are, simply put, low-quality UI/UX. You would be surprised how little people are going to put up with shitty UX if there is an alternative. Even the FOSS types. When the UX is janky and bad, you've already lost plenty of people. Linux is, again, a great example: many people are only migrating to it now, because their previous attempts had been a total fluke due to shitty UX - between ugly user interfaces, general X11 jank and tearing, overall instability etc. they just couldn't get used to it. Now, their experience is vastly different. I'd rather people join the Fediverse through proprietary clients with good UX for now rather than use mainstream social media - while the community behind FOSS clients polishes them out, and makes them viable alternatives. Maybe not quite as beautiful, but not as janky.

"But you should stick to your values and help improve it!!" - true, but when you are involved in FOSS… you kinda have to pick your battles. My area of interest here is desktop Linux and more open / repairable hardware that has better Linux support, which I buy voting with my wallet even if it's the worse deal in a pure price to performance metrics. I'm starting to find the time to learn to and make contributions to the Linux desktop projects I use, I've taken up maintenance of a popular package repository and successfully identified and reported several kernel bugs that were then fixed recently and working my way up from there. This is "my" battle. "Improving free as in freedom Lemmy clients" is not my fight, but I encourage those who keep ragging on Sync / Boost users and don't yet have a "battle" they picked in FOSS to put their money where their mouth is, and consider contributing to this ecosystem themselves! Everybody will benefit, you will even get a nice entry in your resume for that, and you will polish out the jank and thereby make FOSS clients easier to recommend and much more attractive.