this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Boost For Lemmy
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Afaik I've used ALL the lemmy apps on android. Connect is by far the best. It was kinda neck and neck with thunder and infinity for a bit, but the 1.0+ release implemented some amazing features, while still keeping the most functionality and managing to avoid the "scroll stuttering" that plagues other apps. Infinity (now eternity) is also good but account switching is more difficult and you can't block instances or communities from theain page like you can on connect. Example fo why that's lame - say you're scrolling by all and theres a bunch of gay/furry/anytypeofpornyoudontwanttosee...on many apps you have to GO to that communities main page just to block it. On connect you just tap the three dots menu and pick which you want to do. Easy peasy.
You can block like this with a long press in Thunder! There's been a pause in nightly releases but a lot of good updates coming for it in the near future :) feature and performance wise!
Nice! I feel like I'd read somewhere that they added it but I haven't used Thunder in weeks now, connect has become my #1 daily driver and sometimes I check on eternity when it updates. I should try to give thunder some love though,not was my #1 for a while when connect was still a little jank/less polished.
Definitely check it out again, I love it <3 I really love the compact mode, it's very clean. Sounds like there will be an updated nightly in the next few days, too! I'm going to go check out connect again :)
What's your thoughts on Voyager? It was my first favourite app, then Sync launched and I abandoned it for a while but even if I'm using the free version I can't get over the monetization so now I'm back on Voyager and wonder why I ever left. I tried Thunder, Connect and Infinity recently as well but they all had bugs that I couldn't get over.
Honestly didn't give voyager much of a shot. I didn't like how the UI was like an iPhone app, and I kept getting confused by it (because I'm a non-Phone user). I wasn't into wefwef for the same reason, but they both seemed solid enough.
There is an Android layout since a while back! Give it a shot!
Edit: and it's on the Play Store now as well.
Oh neat! I will check it out
Did you try it?
How is Voyager not in your top 3? I know there are a lot of good apps and I've also tried "all" but for me Infinity and Eternity just had annoying bugs where the UI froze in wierd positions.
I didn't like iPhone layout and UI which was the only option during the initial release, and never went back to it. I heard they added an android skin from another user but I haven't found time to try it yet.
It's really great. The Android look has been arround since the first week of Reddit mess or even earlier, feels like forever. Even if I'm waiting for Boost I'm not even sure I'll swap to Boost when it laumches. App has to be damn good for me to trade this mouse space suit for a Rocket!
Okay, I gave it a solid six hour test drive. There's a lot to like, but I gotta abe honest I'm still not loving it. I don't like that the nav bar is permanently stickied to the bottom, and I can't find a way to move it. Even on the android beta mode, I don't like that the icons are still iPhone themed, and I wish the color theming was more pronounced. I also wish you could re-tap to blur NSFW like you can in connect/thunder/eternity (probably my favorite feature in social scrolling apps). I do like that you can block communities with a long press but in my short testing I found it to be buggy - sometimes it works and sometimes it just vibrates but nothing happens - and I wish it was just an option in the three dots menu instead.
Despite the gripes, it is very slick though and I can see why people like it. I really like the sync-esque (though much less aggressive) use of negative space between posts, and the layout has a nice subtly to it that I think looks much nicer than Connect, on par with eternity. I'll be the first to admit that of the major apps Ive used (Thunder, Connect, Jerboa, Voyager, Eternity, sync) Connect's post layout is bottom three, but in terms of ease of use, quick navigation, and feature density it's my favorite, which is why I prefer it. I also like that in voyager, some lesser used options are a little shrunk/out of the way (like post sorting). It can be harder to find at first but options you won't touch often should be less pronounced IMO, and voyager does that really well. I didn't get any push notifications so I can't weigh on on how well that stuff works. Also the icon choices are FUCKING SWEET. I legit might steal one to use on my homepage.
I'm also waiting for boost! Really hoping they haven't abandoned ship on it, feels like they might've given up. That last UI update for boost before the shutoff was SO DOPE, and it always was my favorite Reddit App. Honestly I think I like connect because it's the most like boost. Nowhere near as polished, but almost every UI/interactive option is in the same spot or executed the same as it was on boost, so it feels the most intuitive to me.
Nice writeup! Glad you liked it even tho it won't be your daily driver. Post layout is the most important to me and that's why I dig Voyager a lot. Not much comes close. Also I can't stand small jitter when scrolling and I have that on most other apps except Sync, but I can't use that app with the (imo) horrible monetization choices. Let's all hope Boost does a lot right when the Rocket actually arrives!