It’s been a few months since the last update post, and Connect has come a long way since then. Here’s a quick recap of what’s new.

Big New Features:

  • Reading Mode: A clean, distraction-free view that strips articles down to just the content. Toggle it on in Settings: Reader Mode, or flip it on per-page while browsing.
  • Inline Chrome Tabs: Open external links in fast, in-app Custom Tabs that keep you inside Connect instead of bouncing out to your browser. Pick how links open in Settings: Open links with).
  • Advanced Search Filters: Search got a big upgrade with new filters, better empty states, and smoother performance so you can find exactly what you’re looking for.
  • Piefed + 1.7.0 support: Delivering on last update’s promise: Piefed polls are now supported, along with broader Piefed 1.7.0 compatibility, dynamic instance detection, flair, and global vote totals.
  • Lemmy 1.0 support: Starting to test API support for the new incoming 1.0 API changes.

Smaller touches:

  • Domain Rewrite settings and a “Trust Domain” button on the link prompt
  • Case-insensitive keyword filters
  • Tap or long-press crosspost dividers to toggle or jump to the crosspost
  • New loading indicators across comments, profiles, and search suggestions

What’s next:

  • Working on some ways to improve discover-ability of new communities

Thank you everyone for all of the support and suggestions, please keep them coming and we’ll continue to make Connect the best app for browsing Lemmy and Piefed!

  • pelya
    1·
    3 days ago

    I am deliberately opening all links in an external browser so that I can keep scrolling while the link loads in the background. I wish most websites were fast, but apparently 20 years of network speed improvement means they can add more crap on top of content. 10 seconds load time is apparently average.

    • SpikesOtherDog@ani.socialEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      10s load time is fantastic to my old timer ears. It burns me when I let a page load and it seems to predict when and where I will touch to scroll and loads an ad there. Using Firefox helps somewhat.

        • SpikesOtherDog@ani.socialEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          I hate to sound ungrateful, and I’m more ignorant than anything. What prevents you from integrating Firefox over Chrome?

          • kuro@lemmy.caOPM
            3·
            2 days ago

            Good question, and it turns out this is just a configuration setting I forgot to flip on. V453 should be up soon (it’s in review now) on the beta channel with this support (or whatever your device’s default browser is set to).

            Cheers!