Is there a one time payment option to remove ads?

Or is sync ultra the only way to remove ads?

I would love to support sync, but the subscription fatigue is real.

  • @[email protected]
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    3511 months ago

    Is there a one time payment option to remove ads?

    Dev said he will ad a ad removal feature

    • @[email protected]
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      11 months ago

      Honestly I would prefer to be able to buy a separate “Pro” version from the Play Store, without an in-app purchase. There have been issues in the past where in-app purchases didn’t get recognized or when ads suddenly started appearing for people who bought the ad removal option.

      • @[email protected]
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        711 months ago

        He said that this won’t happen because when developers publish “copies” of apps Google sees it as “abuse”.

        • @[email protected]
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          1011 months ago

          That doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen again. I just have less trust in an IAP model. It’s inherently more fragile because it does a license status check with Google every time you launch it, whereas a one time purchased app doesn’t need to ask permission.

    • @hightrix
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      411 months ago

      Excellent to hear. This app is a no go until that option is available.

  • @[email protected]
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    11 months ago

    It will continue to be so weird for me to go from no ads to ads (or paying a subscription) just because you like the interface a bit more. All the free UIs already available seem perfectly usable and roughly equivalent in convenience.

    • @[email protected]
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      911 months ago

      Yeah, if subscription is the only way to remove ads then I’m fine with the Foss options like liftoff. And I’m blocking ads system wide on my phone, so it’s not like I see any ads on Sync. But, I would still prefer to be able to pay to remove it, since I have moved away from using apps that have ads in favor of Foss or paying to for the ad free version over the years.

      • Lemmington Bunnie
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        511 months ago

        Yep, I had my credit card out (figuratively) and was ready to buy the ad free version, just to support the dev - but I turned right around when I saw the price (AUD$34).

        I don’t see ads either, it was literally just about the support for me. I’m weighing up whether to go back to Connect on principle, and if Adguard stops working on Sync, I’ll definitely just walk away.

      • nobody
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        211 months ago

        Hey, any tips to block ads system wide?

    • @[email protected]
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      911 months ago

      Yeah. I don’t see a compelling reason to switch to Sync when there are so many other alternatives that are free and without ads. And then comes the subscription! Get outta here. I’m not even going to mention the data tracking. I’m sticking with my FOSS apps, thank you very much.

  • wilberfan
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    1811 months ago

    subscription fatigue is real.

    I LOL’d at that phrase. So true. That being said, $17/yr feels pretty reasonable to me.

    So far, I’m seeing placeholders for ads in my feed–but no actual ads. But I have multiple layers of adblocking set up at home, so…

    • @[email protected]
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      2211 months ago

      $17/yr feels crazy expensive. After only a few years it’s the price of a AAA video game which obviously has an order of magnitude more development put into it. The money wouldn’t even be going towards Lemmy where the real costs are since they are the ones actually hosting it all…

      • @[email protected]
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        1211 months ago

        Apps used to be, what, $5? Now everything’s a subscription and you end up paying 10x as much money if you use the app for just a few years. I will never buy into the subscription model for services that used to be single-payment. Never.

        • @BURN
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          711 months ago

          $1.29 forever

          I miss the days when buying something was actually an option

        • Fazoo
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          111 months ago

          Everyone and their mother thinks they’re a SaaS provider.

          • @[email protected]
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            411 months ago

            I’d rather it be that then what we used to deal with… 6 month old apps that never got any more updates because the dev has no incentive to keep developing it.

          • @o_oli
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            311 months ago

            Ultimately if it earns more money, people will do it, and I can’t blame people for wanting to earn more money because I’m sure most of us would do the same in that position. Like sure £1.99 to perma remove ads is great but I’m sure you can’t retire on that as a dev lol.

      • wilberfan
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        411 months ago

        $17 is almost 20% less than it will cost me to see OPPENHEIMER in 70mm IMAX. The former lasts a year, the latter 3 hours. Which will be more engaging? 🤔

        • @madcaesar
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          411 months ago

          Your point makes no sense. If we are going by amount of work per hour / price, if Oppenheimer costs 17$,then sync should cost like 2c…

        • @[email protected]
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          211 months ago

          How much of that ticket price went to the projectionist? I feel that would be the equivalent of Sync in this comparison since the actual hosting and creation of the content is elsewhere, Sync is just one person who shows it to you

    • @[email protected]
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      111 months ago

      Subscription models only make sense for an app/service that have recurring costs.

      In the case of Lemmy apps, the instances are the ones with recurring hosting costs, not the apps.

      If an app doesn’t have recurring hosting costs, it only makes sense to have one up front payment and then maybe in app purchases to pay for new features going forward.

      Subscription models for an app that’s not hosting anything is just the dev wanting a constant revenue stream, no matter how they try to word it.

      • @njinx
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        311 months ago

        Development is a recurring cost

  • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏
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    1311 months ago

    I can’t see ads (only a placeholder) due to my adblocker, but cannot purchase a subscription anyway (no play store)

    Screenshot of Sync for Lemmy with an ad placeholder

    Spoiler

    Screenshot of Sync for Lemmy with an error connecting to Google Play

  • @[email protected]
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    1011 months ago

    Get the duckduckgo app and go to settings and enable the BETA feature to disable trackers from apps on your device.

    You will see blank spots that say sponsored content but you will not see the actual ads. Good enough for me.

  • @cory_lowry
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    811 months ago

    The dev is working on one and it’ll be released soon

  • @chairman
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    711 months ago

    Yes. But please update to the latest version. This option JUST got introduced.

  • @[email protected]
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    511 months ago

    While I really like the app, I still find the communities need to grow before I invest in it. So far it’s been great. Just feels a little empty.

  • @[email protected]
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    411 months ago

    Where are they putting the ads? I haven’t seen one yet and would prefer to not be hoodwinked.

    • @[email protected]
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      511 months ago

      I’ve already seen some placeholders in my feed. Not sure yet if the ads aren’t ready yet, or if my myriad adblockers are doing their jobs.

  • @3nyder
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    411 months ago

    Maybe just launched with the beta, but on my menu on the left there’s an option to remove ads

  • @[email protected]
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    111 months ago

    It sounds like there will be a one time purchase option (Sync Pro) but I haven’t seen a timeline.

    Personally, I’m doing the monthly subscription until Pro comes out. I appreciate that the dev got this beta up and running so quickly so I’m treating the subscription as a “thanks for your hard work.” Like you, I’m overburdened with subscriptions, though, and can’t maintain that long term.