What Lemmy Client(s) Do You Use?

I'm a bit sad that my favorite (Infinity/Eternity) isn't that high up. Loved it since my Reddit days. Tried different clients: Lemmy, thunder, liftoff, sync,... still like this the most!
- Eternity represent!!
  
  Eternity represent!!!
- I used Infinity for a while on Reddit, it's pretty cool!
- Wasn't Infinity not available until not long ago?
  
  Yeah, Eternity (the Infinity fork for Lemmy) is comparably new.
  I've really been enjoying it.
- I was using Boost on reddit, but their Lemmy version isn't available yet. Read about Eternity. Thus far I have no complaints. It works.
- I'm loving it. Just to confirm: The last update was three weeks ago, right? I hope the dev continuous on working this.

Closing in on 10 years of Sync (Reddit/Lemmy). I'm too used to it to switch things around. The only time I'm using the mobile website is when I need to use spoilers.
On desktop, I switch between default, Photon and Alexandrite.
- For me, it's not about being afraid of change, but that Sync has exactly the features I want.

Memmy has been my favorite, although I wish it would go back to having updates. I understand they're taking a break though and I just need to be patient
- Same here. I’ve moved to Avelon which I strongly recommend you trying out. It’s legit.
  Once memmy starts getting updates again I may switch back but gotta say, Avelon may have me hooked.
- Oh look, 6 times this time. I shall leave the duplicated replies here. Coincidental proof. Only happens sometimes. Talk about the devil.
  
  Talks about comments being posted five times sometimes
  Memmy: "I'm gonna prove you wrong! >:("
  posts six times
- I'm using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don't mind waiting till this gets fixed.
  
  🤣
- I'm using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don't mind waiting till this gets fixed.
- I'm using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don't mind waiting till this gets fixed.
- I'm using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don't mind waiting till this gets fixed.
- I'm using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don't mind waiting till this gets fixed.
- I'm using Memmy too, although the app sometimes repeat post reply 5 times and I had to delete the other 4. I still use Memmy anyway and don't mind waiting till this gets fixed.
- Yeah, breaks are more important though it is a bit sad to not get new stuff
- Yeah I really liked Memmy. The lack of updates wouldn’t bother me except there are a couple annoying bugs still. Also when I click on a community it opens in my browser. I’ve tested a bunch to find one that has everything I want. I’ve also settled on Avelon. The only thing it doesn’t have is multiple icon options and that’s not an important factor at all.
- My only problem with lemmy is the lack of a client. Right now, for me, memmy and voyager are the least worst, but they’re pretty bad.
  I’m not even asking for an Apollo out of the gate. I’d settle for an Alien Blue. And I have no problem paying for it, either. I was an Apollo ne plus ultra user, or whatever it was called.
  From an information architecture perspective, it really seems like reddit and lemmy might be close enough that a middle layer could be written that would make it easier to port user-facing apps from one api to the other. There’s obviously be some differences, but if feasible it might accelerate development of multiple client options at once.
  For the record, I’ve tried memmy, voyager, mlem, lemmios, liftoff, and I am presently going to try bean. That’s approximately the order of how useable I’ve found them, but they each have their own annoyances. I don’t own an android device, but I hope the options are better over there.
  In any case, I became a heavy reddit user only after Alien Blue came out. I became a very heavy user after Apollo came out. I left reddit the day external clients became unavailable.
  I think lemmy has enormous potential, but the UX needs to be made easier if we’re to really make a dent in reddit usership and get the level of posts, comments, and active communities they have there.
  I also suspect that the backend is going to need a better approach for handling the negative consequences of a large influx of users. I’m not talking about load - I’m talking about community management. Back in the day (by which I mean the early 90s) there was an email blacklist. Admins of important nodes in the email distribution network had a shared list of domains that had unsecured servers, and would update it based on where they saw the (then relatively recent phenomenon of) spam coming from.
  I’m really interested in how the information flow network of the fediverse evolves, if it continues to grow. Are we going to find a network with community structure, with clumps of mutually federated instances that have few if any connections between them? If so, clients will have to have solid account creation and management, and the admin tools will need to be sophisticated.
  
  Avelon is amazing. Feels like Apollo mostly. My only complaints are piddly stuff.
  
  I can't speak for iOS apps so comparing would be hard but, I'm quite satisfied with the current state (and estimated future) of the android clients. So far, I found Thunder and Eternity (fork from Infinity for Reddit) to be the most suitable for me.
  I'm excited to see the progress in a year's time and which apps will be the most popular/developed by then
  
  Yes, try Avelon OP! It’s really good. The UI is so smooth. Scrolling. And it has the ability to hide bars on scroll. It seems I’m the only one who cares about this feature haha but to me it makes content look much better without the navigation bars constantly being on display.

Sync gang
Honestly, its made Lemmy so much more usable for me. Shout out to LJ
- I think only Summit is as good as Sync is in smoothness, I voted for Sync, Voyager and Summit as those are the ones I use more, Voyager is nice, but it is not very smooth compared with the other two (using the native app).

I love whoever answered: "I use a web browser like a Luddite" 🤣🤣
- Yeah I saw that too!
- LemmyUI is great. I've using it until recently I settled on using Eternity.

I've not found anything I like more than Voyager. It has native apps for android and iOS, but I prefer the progressive web app version.
- I recently switched from Voyager to Avelon. Voyager is great and I’m keeping it because it’s always been so reliable, but I just really like Avelon. It has a nice explore tab for finding new communities, and it’s SwiftUI, so it has that clean native iOS look to it. They’re very similar otherwise.
  
  Avelon is my favourite for the very simple reason that it’s compact mode is the most compact of any I’ve tried.
  
  Only things I miss in Avelon at this point are more sorting options for Home feed and a not full black dark mode. Voyager solves both of those for me so that’s where I’ve mostly been.
  
  Thank you for this. One big feature that was missing as autoplay and embed vids. And now I have it again.
- Voyager is 💪🏻
- What do you like more about the PWA?
  
  For me, it runs faster and smoother/more consistantly than the native Android app. I've not actually used the iOS one. Also, the updates come in faster.

Almost all of Syncs business model is ads. The free version has ads and almost everyone who pays for it is doing so to remove ads. Which is just rewarding the implementation of ads. I also disagree with the concept of profiting from free user content with ads like Reddit does. Which was Reddits primary goal of preventing third party apps. They wanted the ad revenue themselves instead of third parties getting the ad revenue.
The only way this can be acceptable is to not have a free ad version and only have a paid version. That way you are paying for software and not paying to remove ads or profiting from free user content.
- I paid to remove ads from Reddit Sync in 2014. 9 years went by where I continued to use the app every single day, as ljdawson continued regular improvements and updates (aside from the incident). By the time Reddit Sync went away, I felt I had vastly underpaid for what I got, and purchased lifetime Ultra as a way of supporting ljdawson.
  I totally get what you're saying. But at the same time, Sync is so much more than just the content that it displays. The ads are not there to profit on free content, they're there to support the user experience that sync provides. They're also far, far less obtrusive than typical ads
  The nice thing is, there's choices! Feel free to use other clients and find what works best
  
  Same here. I used the paid version sync for reddit for years and got my money's worth out of it. When the incident happened I switched to infinity and, while annoyed, I definitely felt I got my worth out of it. When ljdawson released sync for lemmy and added the ad-free upgrade I happily purchased it and I have been very satisfied with the app and all the improvements he is continually making. This is all coming from a hardcore open source 20+ years of Linux on the desktop guy.
  
  (aside from the incident)
  ???
- I'm a sync user and pretty tired of these pointless statements. Don't want it, don't use it! I pay for ultra to support the dev and that's my choice. Again, if you don't want it, don't use it. But can you please stop this sync bashing? It's not as if the torrent of anti-sync memes forgot to cover what you are saying.
  
  Exactly, vote with your time and/or money. If you don’t like something, don’t use it. They’ll be people that are fine with it and will use it.
  
  Why do you care if someone doesn't like your client of choice? They have some value that is different than yours, they have every right to express why they think people using sync is harmful. You are free to disagree but don't complain because they express an opinion you don't like.
- WTF is wrong with supporting a developer (Either with cash or ad revenue)?
- This is such a bad take. Imagine being mad that the user has a choice for a low/no cost ad supported version and a paid version. There are other benefits too, like being able to trial the software for as long as you want before buying in.
- I'm using the free version of Sync for Lemmy now, I don't see any ads. Maybe because my phone has the adguard server as my DNS server and it's just blocking them all?
  How atrocious are they when not using adguard?
  
  Yeah it's from adguard DNS.
  Ads just show up semi frequently. Definitely visible but not obtrusive. Just keep scrolling.
  https://i.imgur.com/8w8mUkE.png
  You should still see the frequency with adguard. It's just a blank area where normally there'd be an ad.
  
  I don't have adguard on my phone and have never seen a single ad on Sync since day one.
- Wait, how is earning revenue from having ads in your app "profiting off free user content," but charging someone directly to use the app isn't? They both do the same thing for the developer (generate revenue), the only difference is who is paying.
- Synce is hilarious to me. "You know how Lemmy is completely free to use? What if it had ADs! And what if you had to pay money to remove those ADs!".
  And people lined up around the block for it.
  
  Yeah, developers shouldn't make money unless granted a benevolent donation.
  
  If people line up around the block for it, maybe it does actually add value? You can hate ads, I do too. But if people willingly look at ads to visit a website (Lemmy) that does not have any in its original version, then for those people the app obviously adds enough value to make it worth it, don't you think?
  
  The app is really nice.
  
  Yes, because the lineup is worth it when the product trumps the competition.
- FYI Izzy got permabanned for stating this opinion. That's really insane.
  
  I’m here from the thread where he let us know. I was expecting something a little more egregious than the above. That’s absolutely crazy.
  
  According to the mod post, this was far from the first time, and when they were warned they didn't take it well, hence the permaban.
  
  Did he get reported or what? I just saw somebody mention Izzy in a Star Wars meme lol.
- Then shut up and make a better app. Because it's sweet.
- As re there any other Lemmy clients that are being worked on full time?
- This is why I use Liftoff.
- Or have a free version to lurk only. Want to participate? Buy the full version.
  
  Non-starter for non-GMS devices unfortunately where in app purchases straight up do not work
  
  That would be a good idea too.
- Every time I see comments like this I imagine that Reese meme from Malcom in The Middle saying "Wah Wah, too bad!" Or whatever the English translation of that is.
  Picture for reference.
- I was considering trying sync. thanks for the info. never gonna touch it now. there are too many good free browsers now to even bother. I'm still trying narrow down between the last three out of five different iOS ones I downloaded. they are all so good and Apollo like
  
  I get like, 1 ad per 5 pages or so. That commenter is kinda goofy.

I've noticed that all the Sync users are polite and never bash any other Lemmy client. Maybe because they know that we have a choice and they do too. I've got money to spare I will spend it on arguably the best app for Lemmy . You guys can use your FOSS . I never complained . Why are you??? Enjoy your clients. There are many. We have got an array of choices. That's awesome. Lemmy wins.
-Happily posted via Sync Ultra

Still on Liftoff, but I wonder if it's still being updated.
- Great to hear!
  
  This makes me very happy!
- Liftoff is fantastic. I think updates are slow, but it's in a good place.
- Same here.
  Still on liftoff. Works good enough for now though it's true ghat updates are scarce right now.
  
  I tried a bunch of Lemmy clients and they all have some issues; some annoying, some catastrophic. The interesting thing is that the pros and cons complement each other, which has lead me to use Bean as my primary client and lifoff as the secondary one.
  Bean is good for browsing, reading, commenting etc. When you get a reply in a long thread 4 layers deep, it’s the time for Liftoff to shine.

Thunder for Lemmy been solid for me since I've been using it.
- I tried using Thunder a while ago and didn't really like it when compared to liftoff, but that was earlier in the development timeline so it's probably better now
  
  I liked Thunder well enough to join the dev team. We're preparing for another update, available on both android and iOS.
- Downloaded Thunder and it’s pretty sweet. I’ll keep Bean and bounce between the two. Thanks for the recommendation.
- Same

I use Sync for now, but full disclosure I am Beyond 's developer and as soon as it becomes more stable and with more features I will be making the switch 😁
- That's a pretty nice endorsement for sync though, BTW can you embed polls into your app (assuming there's an API for straw poll)?
  
  That would be pretty cool, I will add to the community ideas list and look into it when I can, thanks!

I'm not sure which I find funnier, the fact some people are using the other option to put Sync or the one that just says "YOUR MOM"
- I'm surprised more of you aren't using my mom, she gets around
  
  And she doesn't cost anything!

I use Connect. I like it. Seems to do what I need and I've used the customize settings to set font colors, etc.
I'll definitely be checking out Boost when the dev gets it set up. He's a one man show and tries hard to get things running 100% before releasing updates, so, I'm guessing a new app might take longer.
- Same! I'm wondering though at this point how much longer? I understand it's a big job but I've gotten really settled in with Connect at this point.
  
  Yeah, i hear ya. Rueben really tries for "perfect" before he did updates on Boost Reddit. So, I imagine he's trying to make the best 3rd party app that will work without a hitch and give lots of custom options.

Was using Sync but switched to Jerboa, because FOSS.
- Me too, but to Thunder. I find its interface more polished.

Sync for Lemmy Ultra on mobile. Switching between photon and alexandrite on desktop.

Liftoff, though I kinda like the layout of Jerboa more, but it's scroll is too laggy.

Good poll. I've been using liftoff. Tried jerboa, just didn't feel right. Liftoff has been solid experience for me.
- Yeah, Liftoff is really good for me
- I'm using Liftoff as well right now I wanted to take a look at Eternity a while ago but it just never came to that for some reason. Probably cause my main is kbin idk. Might as well just try it now that I'm reminded by the poll, I guess.
  Edit: Well, Eternity doesn't seem to handle logging in from lemmy.blahaj.zone yet. Or something else's wrong with my credentials idk.
  
  Liftoff doesn't work with beehaw right now but seems to work with other lemmy instances.
  Yeah I'll probably check out the other open source lemmy apps. Sync doing the ads is a no go for me. I do really like lemmy so not sure really what I'm looking for.
- I tried like 10 different clients and ended up sticking with Liftoff. I just want it to implement spoilers, though.

- Tell us how it goes!

Am I weird for still just using Firefox? I don't see the need for a standalone client.
- Well you still use a UI; do you use the default web UI or something like photon?
  The only reason I use a client is on mobile just because it integrates better, and I still flipflop between a photon PWA and Sync/Liftoff
  
  Default UI, just on dark. Might look into photon though.
- Are you on desktop? I assumed clients were more a mobile thing
  
  Nope, I'm on Mobile. Since all I really use lemme for is text posts, links to articles about things, and the occasional star trek meme, there's just no added value in using a client for me. I have no interest in ad-supported software at all, so if there's a decent FOSS one I'd maybe try it eventually, but unless there's something as minimalistic as BaconReader, probably not.
- Not weird, but definitely missing out in smoothness, check out Sync or Summit if you use Android.

Jerboa is close enough to RIF for me that it's borderline perfect as is.
- really? have you tried connect? it is much MUCH closer imho ( if configured right)
  
  I haven't. Screenshots look nice but it appears to be only on G Play and i prefer FOSS.

Wow ~~seven~~ eight people in six minutes, thanks guys!
- Sure thing. Polls are fun. I would love a native poll feature in lemmy.
  
  You don't necessarily need it as a builtin option in Lemmy, actually. You'd just need someone to hand-roll it. Before GitHub had forums with surveys, there used to be a third party provider that offered inofficial surveys that could be added to comments as embedded SVG images. The only drawback was that you could vote even as a non-registered user (but that's true of Strawpoll as well). I sadly both forgot the name and think the company/people behind that tool may have stopped providing it.

I have four installed on Android: Sync, Jerboa, Connect and Voyager. Five if you count Firefox which is the only one that does all the admin tasks I need. I switch between them because as admin I find myself testing the user experience frequently.
I have Memmy on iOS, but really only use iOS for testing purposes. I don't browse with it.
I default to Sync for most browsing and commenting because the Dev is very active and it's the only client I know of with any mod tools at all. It is the most polished of the clients at the moment.
- Where do you get all these apps like Sync and Voyager?
  
  Google Playstore

Sync
- Sync is pretty cool, it just works so smoothly!

I was on Memmy but it seems to be abandoned so I switched to Avelon. It’s great!

I use primarily Connect, but I'll switch to Thunder from time to time.

Jerboa. Came up when I was searching on F-Droid
- For me when I was looking for an Android client via https://join-lemmy.org/apps .
- It's FOSS or it's loss.

theres so many lemmy clients i guess thats one of the benefits of lemmy being licensed under agpl and has a free api
- Let's see which one will rule them all after a while.
  
  Would love to see an, at least, 3-way struggle for dominance. Keeps them scrappy and competing for our attention :D

Lemmy UI and Jerboa seem to work well for me and they are both open-source.
- Yeah, personally for the web UI I prefer the also open-source Photon but whatever floats your boat!

Sync on my phone and Photon on desktop.

Eternity is one my favorite client

I'm using a mix of Sync and Eternity. I was using Infinity for Reddit before the migration.
Because Sync came first, it's still my default way to navigate Lemmy but Eternity is slowly growing on me. I prefer to alternate between a few apps to stay up to date on the alternatives, and to ensure I don't become dependant on a single app/interface.
I've also tested a few times Photon, great web UI which can be installed as a PWA.

I access Lemmy through the browser all the time. The experience is solid and consistent across devices and I need access to both mod and (occasionally) admin tools.

- My favorite part about the results are how the "other" responses include answers that already have a pre-made option you're supposed to pick.

I use Connect. Ive not had any issues.
Im not a power user either though, so maybe theres some features not here, you may want. No idea
But theres custom themes. You can pick your own colors for the different elements.
- I use Connect too and I consider myself as bit of a power user(have 6 clients installed my phone). Connect has all the features or even more than any other client. The horizontal swipe to navigate the posts is my favourite and probably only client that has this feature.

Voyager is 90% Apollo and is absolutely solid. Try Voyager App. Intuitive, beautifully designed and based off Christian’s source code.
- I really love Voyager on IOS, slowly Lemmy is taking over reddit for me ...
- been using wefwef since the start and didn’t hear about voyager until this poll, love it :) is it made by the same person that did wefwef?
  
  It's the same app, it was just renamed a while back

Hell yeah, 30% sync users. I've always thought Sync was the best reddit client, and now it's the best Lemmy client.

I was previously using Memmy and it’s good, but it hasn’t been updated for a while. I’m giving Avelon a try and it is nice so far.
- Yeah, Avelon looks cool! I use android so I can't use it, but hope it turns out good!

Alexandrite & Sync

I've found Summit the best for me, personally, on Android. I've been able to configure it closest to how I used RIF which is what I wanted.

Love Voyager's UI.
- I'm trying it right now in my smartphone! The design looks better than Jerboa, now I'm testing intuitiveness and ease of use
- t-thanks

To be honest I was extremely skeptical about Sync because I didn't use it for Reddit and I thought that the default web-ui is pretty neat even on my mobile phone. But curiosity got me and I installed it, even though it's not FLOSS and it has ads in it which are two no-goes for me. Still I'm using it on the phone predominately, but I hate myself for it.

after trying a few, Eternity was the first one that worked without errors on my older Android phone. i enjoyed using Infinity previously and i'm glad it was repurposed
- Which one though ? There's literally 4 forks of infinity called Eternity coming up on obtainium
- I had tried the original port over and found some things were a bit rough. Now trying it again and it seems flawless!

Arctic is pretty good
- Is there a way to collapse comment threads on it I'm missing? I've been loving some of its other features (like being the only one I've found that stretches when I turn my iPad lengthwise).
  
  I don’t think so unfortunately. I find myself trying to collapse sometimes and it’s just not there. Hope they add it soon.

Curious what sync users find about it worth paying for above say Jerboa or whatever? Would appreciate comments.
I used sync on Reddit and was kinda sad to see the dev didn't grandfather people into Sync for Lemmy - especially given the high price of sync and the reuse of work that I'd already paid for. Obviously the guy should get paid, but I think £18 is excessive, especially for existing users.
- Actually I like the very fact that it is paid. Supporting the developer, and some sort of accountability.
  Also, after trying connect, liftoff, jerboa (all perfectly good apps), etc I find that sync is most smooth and customizable.
  
  Yeah I have no problem with it being a paid app - just disappointed that it's so expensive and that existing users of sync didn't get any kind of offer. No hate...I'm just expressing my feelings.
- I got close to a decade off a $5 purchase. (Or however much it was) I can't think of a single other thing I've used daily for that long that cost so little. $20 now is no biggie to pay for a major update to switch to lemmy.
  
  Fair viewpoint.
- I didn't realise how much I missed image peek (long press a post to popup the thumbnail image) until I switched back from jerboa to sync when it first came out. Especially since I mostly seem to be reading webcomics.
  I don't comment much, but sync's draft feature feels very solid.
  Otherwise I did feel jerboa was good and would have gotten used to it.
  
  Is that any different to tapping the image in jerboa? Seems to act the same to me, so maybe I'm missing a nuance
- I never used sync on reddit (was on boost) The dark overlay feature is absolutely amazing for me
  Personally I don't pay for ultra and don't really notice the ads
  
  I don't notice the ads either. They're blocked systemwide. Lol
- There was a big thread about it where I got a lot of hate for saying that I was amused that sync users wanted to pay for no ads, when there are so many free apps. The consensus amongst sync enjoyers seems to be that they are so used to the UI that it is like muscle memory, which is a decent excuse I guess. I'm pretty sure that's why people still use Adobe products, for example.
  
  Yeah a minority of folks don't like any smell of negativity around their team, regardless of whether your point is valid or interesting

Just an interesting note, I see a lot of talk about Avalon in the comments being amazing but not as many votes as other clients. It seems pretty new, but already has a loyal userbase. Wish it was on Android so I could check it out!

www.wefwef.app/

I’m glad to see Voyager so high. I was hooked on Memmy for a while, even though I had been trying wefwef and a few other interfaces occasionally. But now the app version of Voyager is just about perfect for me.

Artemis doesn't let you sign in with different instances but as soon as it does I'll start using it more.
- That makes sense, I use account switching often just so I can see things on different instances

Have tried out quite a few of the apps (was stuck the longest with Voyager, it's awesome) - but I tend to come back to Jerboa ever so often - may be because it is the oldest Android client for Lemmy, so probably the most tried and tested.
I kinda like the vintage look of Jerboa (and the cool icon) - so as soon as Jerboa gets its search feature enhanced (right now it just searches for communities, not posts or comments - but I hear that work is in progress) - Jerboa will become the best Lemmy app out there, at least for me.

Y’all on iOS need to check out Bean.

Glad to see eternity is up there
- Really very polished now!

As far as I'm concerned, on an AOSP device, a good client should be available in the F-Droid repository.
- Jerboa is on Fdroid, but it's not good I'm afraid. The keyboard bug is maddening.
  
  It's good as a read only client :/

Alexandrite for desktop and Voyager for iOS & Android is nice combo
- Alexandrite is everything the Reddit desktop redesign should’ve been. How they managed to fuck that up is beyond me.
  
  Yes the infinite scroll on alexandrite is smoother than new Reddit

I mostly use Jerboa, and then a bit of Liftoff, I have installed Sync, Connect and Infinity just to have plenty options at hand.
I just tried Sync again and can see why people like it, with that polished fancy look.
But prefer Jerboas larger font and don't mind having vote/reply buttons at every comment.
- For any who do use Sync and would prefer the font to be larger, there is a font size setting available by tapping the following shortcut:
  Settings shortcut: General > Base font size
  
  And settings > comments > always show comment actions for the other issue mentioned.
  Settings shortcut: Comments > Always show comment actions
  
  Good to know!
  Changed font size, and I found out you can also disable animations, much better.

Pretty happy with voyager, it's a pretty solid choice despite being styled entirely for iOS. I'll probably look into a more Android designed / focused app going forward.
- same here, using Voyager until Eternity gets more developed
- Never even saw that one, looks great now!