What Android app should I use to browse Lemmy?

WheatleyInc@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 59 points –

I'm trying to stop using Reddit, but it having an app I know about makes it have quite an advantage.

I know there's a few apps out there I can use to browse Lemmy, but I'm not sure about their names and the different features they offer.

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These are the apps I'm using rn. So far i like thunder, connect and liftoff.

out of all those you are testing which one would you say has the closest UI to reddit is fun?

So I am using lift off but how do you upvote posts from other instances ? It says unable to upvote coz youre not signed into lemmy.ml. Is there a way to upvote post from other instances?

I am pretty sure that you can upvote most of the stuff on instances you don't have an account for. However some instances require you to apply for an account rather than just singing up (eg Beehaw was like that for me). An admin has to manually click a button for you to become a member. In those cases you can not just upvote or comment on one of those instances without an account. I think it's to prevent a flood of bots on some of the instances. Not entirely sure if I got it right, though!

If you are a fellow reddit refugee, the Sync for Lemmy is coming soon.

I'm the developer of Summit. Unfortunately I don't see anyone mention Summit but I would suggest giving it a try as well.

I think I've been a bit slower to implement certain features compared to the other apps, but the app is heavily focused on scalability and performance. Give it a try just in case you might like it. Play store link: Summit for Lemmy

Is it open source?

Unfortunately the app is not open source :(

Is that something you would be open to working towards? Since the growth of Lemmy is attributed to Reddit becoming "closed", I think many users might see it as a dealbreaker or be less inclined to use a closed-source app.

My feelings towards this might change in the future. However for the time being, my enjoyment of the project hinges on the project being closed source. Ie. open sourcing the project will likely lead to me stepping away from the project. So even if this significantly impacts the number of users, I would still prefer to keep it closed source. I'd rather have a fun side project I made than to create a popular project that I do not contribute to. It is unfortunate but it is what it is.

I found Summit about 2 hours ago and love it! Thanks for your hard work.

Tried it. Looks like it has a lot of promise, but I couldn't view any comments on posts. I realize it's early release but that makes it pretty unusable for now.

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Thank you for your suggestion, I've just download it. Looks very good!

Is it libre software?

I'm not sure what "libre software" is but if you are asking if it is free then yes, at the moment the app is 100% free with no ads. If you asking if it's open source then no, it is not open source.

Libre software is used as a synonim for free (as in freedom) software, which is open source software with some nuances. Do you plan to open source it?

Unfortunately I am not planning on open sourcing the app. Summit is a fun side project for me. I think open sourcing the project would no longer make it a fun side project so I am keeping it closed source for my own selfish enjoyment.

Wouldn't it be more fun if multiple people help you out and it may still be maintained if you stop working on it?

Darn, I didn't want to debate this on a Monday morning. I'll give a tl;dr about my thoughts to avoid a debate:

First of all I 100% support open source software (I even donate monthly to some projects), but I also think every developer should have the right to choose to open source or close source their own software.

Second, I write code full time as my job 8 hours a day for the past decade. Summit is a fun hobby for me. If I made Summit open source, it would end up more in the job territory. Why would I want to make a fun project into a job?

If you love debating and want to discuss further feel free to slide into my DMs.

I mostly use open-source software for the last few years but I would still support closed-source software if it's by an individual developer.

I'm replying on Connect for Lemmy. I just looked at your app and it's super dope but I've got to say the one thing that throws me off is the button for the link is on the far side from my finger. I also like swiping to reply and vote and nonsense like that and your app doesn't have it.

Take your time however and implement things well and I'll keep it in mind. My favorite app for Reddit was Relay I think I will be looking for an app until I get something similar or exactly the same.

List mode ftw

Thank you for your feedback! Regarding "button for the link" could you clarify what this is? Are you talking about the link to the community the post was from?

Sorry, I didn't see this reply until now. I mean the button for whatever the post is linking to. Pictures, other communities, or external links. I'm right handed and the button is on the left. This makes it a big reach for my thumb to reach across my screen and I'm less likely to click on things or use your app because of it. I know it's a small complaint but it's all about feel, especially when it comes to apps, that's why reddit had so many!

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is my last update included a lot of new customizations including changing the direction of the content. See this demo: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8mIVZflUHhU.

The bad news is I submitted this update ~1.5 days ago to Google Play. The app is still in review. I have no idea what is going on since usually updates are reviewed within 1-4 hours. I hope the update will be available soon. You can take a look at my community at https://lemmy.world/c/summit to see updates about this.

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I've tried jeroba, liftoff and thunder. My experience with jeroba is mostly negative. It's not good enough to be a full replacement for using a web browser and with the new update it crashes on my older, not bleeding edge phone. It can't even open lemmy links people post half the time.

Thundar is ok. I'm not a fan of its interface but at least you can actually browse communities you aren't subscribed to.

The third one I've tried is Liftoff and it's the best one I've seen so far. It's about the same in terms of quality as Boost for reddit. You can explore new communities in other instances, have more than one active account logged in to be able to simultaneously use different instances and best of all there's a search.

Connect is great for me so far...lftoff wouldnt accept my login details and Jerboa only returns a server error message

The developer of Sync for reddit is creating a lemmy app. Can't wait to try it, as Sync was my favorite reddit app.

I tried them all (Jerboa, Thunder, Liftoff, Lemmynade) and I like Jerboa the most. The layout is clean, compact and it works really well.

I was a Slide user on Reddit so I'm waiting for it to be available for Lemmy!

Another satisfied Connect user here, at least for the time being. It needs polishing, but it seems to just work.

I'm using Jerboa, Connect and Summit. I really like Jerboa, but rn is buggy as lemmy.world is still at 0.17.4 while Jerboa only support 0.18. I'm still trying out Summit and Connect, only time will say!

I'm currently switching between Liftoff, Thunder, and Jerboa, altho Jerboa refuses to let me sign in, 'cause server version BS.

Liftoff has a nice UI IMO, and I like Thunder's navigation, so I'll prolly end up using one of the 2. Notably, Liftoff is more feature-complete than Thunder, so... Depends on what you want I guess.

Well that got out of hand quickly.

Have a nice day!

Jerboa, works better than any other app atm

At this exact moment might be a little buggy - Jerboa updated to support Lemmy v0.18.x only and Lemmy.world remains at 0.17.4 for a bit.

Is there any word on when lemmy.world will be updated to 0.18? I really hate scrolling through the feed, because of the auto-refresh. And I saw that auto-refresh was removed in 0.18.

Jerboa - a bit buggy still, and sometimes posts take a while to load, but its features are fantastic.

Connect - I love this app, and I tried to switch to it, but being unable to disable "swipe to upvote" is a dealbreaker for me.

Liftoff - I just switched to this. It's very polished and responsive, and accomodates my preferred way of scrolling and interacting with communities.

Lemmotif - pure minimalist doomscrolling. It doesn't even let you log in to vote, comment, or post. Blazingly fast, and I love it. Uninstalled.

I'm new but Jerboa works like a charm on my Samsung, very fast and responsive.

My only complain is it's a little too easy to click on the sub instead of the title, other than that Jerboa has been great.

My current problem with jerboa is that it keeps pestering me to update server to a newer version without giving me a clue how to do it.

You can't. System admin needs to, and they posted that they can't yet because the new version doesn't support captcha yet. They're expecting a fix but have to wait.

It's bit buggy, sometimes I press to open a sub and I need it used the internal browser and sometimes it takes me there within the app. No idea why it has two options.

Since the most recent update it closes wben I bookmark something and keeps saying to log into my instance.

Because not all the instance links has been added to Jerboa. It's reported on github and hopefully will be fixed soon.

I am using https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kuroneko.lemmy_connect

Looks pretty good to me, it can make text larger so yeah. Like 10 minutes in rn though lol

Very much Connect for Lemmy, I think it's the best of the pack now, works with 0.17 and 0.18 servers unlike the Jerboa official app. The latest update fixes commenting (keyboard used to cover input field) and there is now markdown. Gestures have been added.

It's very much like my old favorite, Slide for Reddit.

https://lemmy.world/c/lemmyconnect@lemmy.ca

It has an amoled dark mode ! That was one of my biggest requirement for an app.

I agree on the amoled setting requirement! So far Connect is one of the smoothest options.

Just tried out the amoled mode and it's definitely an improvement! But it doesn't look quite amoled black, it seems a few shades lighter to me.

The divider lines between posts and the menu are definitely darker than the posts in the feed, which makes me think it's not fully amoled black. Having an amoled setting where the bulk of the UI isn't fully black seems counterintuitive. Anyone else notice this?

I'm currently using Liftoff since lemmy.world isnt on 0.18 yet and therefore doesn't work with Jerboa.

lemmy.world is waiting for 0.18.1 because 0.18 removed captcha as a consequence of a change away from websocket, i think. they announced they arent going to update until its added back in, which the lemmy developers promised to do.

It seems to work pretty fine with jerboa for me

I use Liftoff and like it. The auto picture loading is great.

This might sound crazy, but i am just using the website via Firefox on my phone. Jerboa wasnt doing it for me, and someone recommended just using the website... I prefer it over jerboa. I imagine with all the development going on, there will be something better showing up, but until it does, I'm just going old school.

For me, the web client keeps re-rendering itself for apparently no reason. It's a very janky experience.

Jerboa was doing fine for me until Jerboa got updated beyond the Lemmy instances I've been browsing (which aren't updating because the new Lemmy release removes the captcha, which then prevents new sign ups). Now Jerboa says the biggest Lemmy instance is below the minimum version Jerboa supports, and refuses to open the instance. Helluva bump in the road...

I'm using Liftoff as of this morning when Jerboa started crashing every few minutes. So far, so good.

+1 for liftoff! Still supports older and newer versions of lemmy, unlike jerboa.

I've been using it today... Just found the oled setting and aaaahhhhhh

Seven Android apps for lemmy are listed here (disclaimer: I haven't tried any yet)

Another list I got from a similar post on r/RedditAlternatives. I personally used Slide for reddit, so I'm excited about getting something similar for Lemmy. For now, I got Jerboa from the play store and am enjoying it.

https://lemmy.world/post/465785

Currently I use 'Jerboa for Lemmy' It has yet to fail me but that is the usual default app. If anyone has any information of a better app I am willing to try another :3

Unfortunately it is currently broken with lemmy.world. For those of us that are already signed in it seems to work ok, but new users will need to use something else at the moment. Connect for Lemmy is a good alternative on Android.

This is because Lemmy.world hasnโ€™t updated to 0.18 yet. The admin said captcha doesnโ€™t work on 0.18.0 so heโ€™s waiting till 0.18.1.

Jerboa if you're on Android but it has a login issue that makes it unable to connect to instances that are still running the 0.17.4 version of the backend (and among them is lemmy.world). You'd have to wait for those instances to update to the 0.18.1 when it comes out before you can use Jerboa reliably.

Meanwhile, you can just open the web UI in your mobile browser and it will work just fine.

The Connect for Lemmy Android app works pretty well too.

Got a link? Not seeing it in F-Driod nor the (ugh) Play Store.

  • Edit Nvm. It was right under an ad, I'm so hardwired to just ignore ads.

Doesn't work at all for me on a Fold 4. Crashes as soon as I attempt to open the app

I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know what to recommend for a Fold. I use Pixel phones and have been fortunate with compatibility with Jerboa and Connect, but it's hit and miss. I've seen a lot of other users complain about issues with Jerboa even before the server version issue, but it's been working great for me.

I'm on a Fold 4 using Jerboa and it's pretty decent.

Although I'm all in on Sync as soon as it's available.

I'm using Jerboa. I used to use BaconReader for reddit, and they seem kind of similar to me in that it's very no-frills, simple ui that gives you access to the content you want.

Oh god yes please. Thanks for asking! I had the same question! I've been trying to browse lemmy.world on Firefox, but the auto updating feed bug is still killing me...

Keep an eye out for the upcoming Sync for Lemmy, the dev from Sync for Reddit has agreed to make it and it'll definitely be a winner.

I've found Connect for Lemmy to be a great successor to Reddit is Fun

I quite like Connect for Lemmy, it's maturing quickly. Looking forward to Artemis, which should do Lemmy/KBin/Mastodon and who knows what else. For Mastodon I like Tusky.

Liftoff for Android is better than Lemmy imo having tried both, there are less annoying quirks.

Until Sync for Lemmy comes out, I've been using the chrome Web app via Chrome browser.

I love Jerboa, but can't right now because lemmy.world doesn't support the latest update. Currently using Liftoff for the meantime.

I'm browsing lemmy.world with Jerboa right now, I just get a warning that this instance is using an older version and to tell the admin to upgrade.

Mine was doing that, be careful once I got signed out its not letting me sign back in

I've noticed today that I can't sort by anything other than "local/active" in jerboa.

My phone updated last night, so maybe it's related to that?

But it's super annoying, as it makes it impossible to see new content.

Yeah, you need to subscribe to some of the 'subreddits' on fediverse. At least that's been my experience. Otherwise you will not get suggested communities.

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Liftoff is my choice. Nice clean UI and covers every function i need

I've been using Jerboa for quite a while now. Everything has worked alright, with no big complaints.

After the 0.18 update, I have had issues with using lemmy.world, so I decided to give yourbsuggestion a try instead.

Turns out I had already installed Liftoff, and was quite surprised now that I gave it a second try.

It's clearly still in development, and there are some things from Jerboa that I will miss, but I'm set on giving it a sincere try this time around.

If anyone is interested, its available in the Play Store:

Play Store

Huge fan of Thunder - it's still in alpha so it's missing features, but it's slick as heck and the developer is crunching out great updates already based on feedback on the GitHub page/their community page! Using Jerboa mostly for now, but likely will be using Thunder as my main in a few weeks :)

I actually just switched from Jerboa to Connect based on this thread, and I'm loving it. Much nicer UI and easier to use. I think I'll stay with this until Sync is ready!

How do you switched to your subscribed communities in connect? I seem to only be able to switch to 'all' or 'local'.

You're probably not logged in.

Just realized now that Connect labels subscribed communities as "Frontpage".

All solved!

Currently using Jerboa. I want simplicity and no clutter. It would be nice if there was a "collapse all" for comments. And would like to be able to double-click an image and have it zoom in.

Mostly just he collapse function for comments. It's really necessary.

I'm really loving the web app. I run this in Brave. It's lightweight has almost all the functionality.

Thatโ€™s what I use as well, works just as good as most apps and does what I need.

I'm using Jerboa, but a version from GitHub. The app in Google Play and F-droid crashes upon being opened... at least on my phone.

๐Ÿ“ Note that the most recent version on GitHub doesn't work too, since it requires a higher platform version of Lemmy. Use a version of Jerboa a bit older if you're using the .world instance of Lemmy.

I haven't figured out how to login using Jerboa. There's no option for me.

swipe from the left to bring up the navigation menu, and click the veeeeery top. On mine it shows my profile name but that is where it lets you add accounts.

I downloaded connect for lemmy yesterday just to see, and although it won't let me sign in unless I give it my email instead of username. (ive been SOL if an instance doesn't require an email, but maybe it works on someone elses) i think I'm liking connect better than jerboa though. For me it's been less glitchy, and it easier to access content.

I've been liking Connect.

Me too! Just migrated from Jerboa to Connect due to Jerboa not working properly for lemmy.world

I like that there are daily updates. I've been abusing the "tiny left swipe to upvote" feature from the latest version. I can scroll and upvote using just one (smallish) hand

What's wrong with the browser?

I have a limited data plan, and the browser uses up a lot more data then an app would.

It's true for reddit, with its autoloading of videos, but is it the same for lemmy? The browser version already shows you the least amount of possible data, what more could you optimise?

I think a lot of it has to do with the constant updating bug. I burned through 50gb's of data in a few days using the webpage, where the apps sip data. I really wish Android had a "hey, something is burning!" for data usage like that..