I see your point - I’m also happy with the current version. That said, I did purchase the app with the expectation of continued development. I’m not demanding major weekly updates in perpetuity or anything, but I don’t feel it’s unreasonable to want reassurance that the app you paid for hasn’t been abandoned a few months after release.

(To be clear, I mentioned in another comment that I know this is normal for Sync and we will likely get more updates down the road. I can just also understand OP’s concern.)

I have no concrete answers, but this was fairly common with the Sync for Reddit app as well. We’d go several months without updates before they’d resume for a while and then drop off again.

I’m relatively confident the same will happen here, so updates will probably return soon^TM .

Like others have commented, unlimited texting has been available in most phone plans for the better part of a decade now; I’d struggle to name a place that offers plans without it.

As for the accented characters, that’s something I personally don’t encounter much as a native English speaker. I obviously can’t speak for those who do need those keyboards, but for me it’s not a problem.

With regards to encryption/privacy, I can’t say that’s a concern I’ve personally had regarding my texts. Could the government read my messages? Probably, but all they’re getting is cute cat pics and random chatter about games and food and whatnot. Again, that’s another aspect that’s probably more of a concern for people in more sensitive situations, but I can’t speak for them.

SMS text messaging unless it’s a group chat/voice call for gaming, in which case it’s Discord.

You make a fair point - there are plenty of free apps for Lemmy with no ads or purchases at all. For me personally, I use Sync (and paid for no ads) because I used it for years on Reddit and struggled to find a Lemmy app that worked/looked exactly how I wanted.

The price is on the high end, imo, but I don’t consider it unreasonable given that I would’ve wanted to donate to the creator of whatever app I settled in anyway in order to support their work. The only difference to me is that this was a one-time upfront payment rather than a monthly donation on Patreon.

There’s an issues tracker on GitHub, which is also where you can submit enhancement suggestions or check to see what’s already been submitted.

My biggest feature request is an option to view upvotes and downvotes separately rather than as one combined number. Ideally the current combined method would remain an option as well.

Same, the subscription page is essentially my homepage. It has exactly the content I want on it, and I can always use the sidebar recommendations if I feel like browsing for something new after my queue is complete.

My response comes down to what I feel the other person’s intent is. If they’re a troll, I don’t engage to begin with - downvote and move on. If we entered into a conversation but I find that they’re arguing in bad faith (they want to argue, not reach an understanding), then I say something like “I’m not going to argue with you about it, but I appreciate your perspective” (even if I don’t). If it seems like it could be a useful disagreement, though, I’ll consciously remind myself that there’s a person behind the text, and I’ll continue the conversation until it reaches an end. It may be uncomfortable, but remembering that we’re all just humans being human helps me tone myself down.

There currently isn’t a way to see upvotes and downvotes separately in Sync, but it’s listed as an enhancement request on GitHub.

The annual survey linked in the article gives me the impression that this comes down to a lack of understanding about how social security works and what we can expect from it. Apart from addressing the actual issues with the system itself, we also need to ensure people are properly educated on it.

I know the common suggestion is better financial education in schools - although the likelihood of it sticking long term seems low to me - but that would have a greater impact if resources were also more readily available to adults. Financial advisors were mentioned in the survey as becoming more popular with younger workers - perhaps we’d see better success with a combination of school instruction as well as access to resources/advisors via HR benefits?

As someone who grew up in the US, from my perspective it’s less a question of “how good of a job did they do” and more a question of “did they do so poorly that I’m okay with them not making enough money to pay their bills or buy food this week.” Not that my single tip is going to make that difference, of course, but at least in my circles the thought is that delivery drivers and waitstaff are paid poorly enough that tips are needed even for average service. It’s not a great system and I’m all for changing it to making tipping truly optional, but in the meantime I’d rather tip even subpar service than contribute toward someone’s financial worries.

In general, I tip a flat $5 for food deliveries (pizza, Uber Eats, etc.) and $10 for grocery deliveries since they have to carry more stuff to my door. I may do more than that for special circumstances, but I find tipping the same amount every time makes it easier for me to ensure it’s fair across the board and I haven’t shorted anyone. That said, I’m only ever ordering for myself - I’d probably adjust amounts if the orders were for multiple people and routinely had a lot of items.

There currently isn’t a way to see upvotes and downvotes separately in Sync like there is in some apps like Jerboa (I was wondering the same thing a few days ago), but it’s listed as an enhancement request on Sync’s GitHub so hopefully it’ll be added at some point!

I paid to remove ads immediately (which is also what I did with Sync for Reddit), but I’m also waiting to purchase Ultra to see if it gains any must-have features. The app is already great in its completely free version so anything else will just be cherries on top.

If you click on Sync Ultra in the left bar menu, it gives a list of everything currently included as well as a few features coming at a later time:

I agree, and I would extend this thought to also include situations where it’s simply the wrong audience for your post. The content itself may not have anything wrong with it, but if you post a casual joke or comment without much depth in a community that’s built on deep conversations and well thought out replies, for example, you’re likely to be downvoted simply because the context wasn’t appropriate.

This sparks a few different thoughts for me:

1. I believe there are a few Lemmy instances that don’t have downvotes enabled. (Beehaw might be one of them, but don’t quote me on that.) If downvotes are a stress point for you, you could try joining one of those instances.
2. I personally find both upvotes and downvotes to be useful as a way for me to quickly see the community’s reaction to a piece of content. If I’m scrolling through my feed and see a post with many downvotes and few upvotes, for example, I know that post is unlikely to interest me and will move on. Conversely, a highly upvoted post or one with a mix of both upvotes and downvotes is more likely to have a good conversation in the comments in my experience.
3. If I make a post that receives a large number of downvotes - or if most of my posts tend to be downvoted - that’s a signal to me that I’m either not communicating my message well (confusing, passive aggressive, etc.) or that my message itself may not be welcome (hate speech, misinformation, etc.). In either case, I use that as a mental trigger for me to reflect on my posts rather than a reason to become unhappy with the community/platform as a whole.

I’m able to hide posts I’ve read in Jerboa. On the main home feed screen, go to the menu in the upper left corner, then open Settings > [Account Name] Settings. Uncheck the box next to “Show read posts,” save your changes, and then refresh your home feed (or close the app and reopen). From what I can tell, this only works for posts you’ve actually opened; it won’t hide posts that you’ve simply scrolled past.