What's wrong with using a browser to view Lemmy? Seems like a lot of posts are about best apps for Lemmy. Am I missing out on something by not using an app?
First post. Majorly a lurker on reddit, and now that I've switched to Lemmy, most likely will continue to stay a lurker.
I know I can download and try all the apps to see what the difference is but I'm curious as to how many people just use their web browser or mobile browser?
Since I'm new, I have no interest to figure out what apps would work for me as all my time is used to figuring out Lemmy, and absorbing the contents.
Would it be a better experience to use any app to learn how to use and navigate Lemmy? The idea of using multiple apps at the same time to find what I like more seems overwhelming.
Edit: typo
Apps are generally more optimised for phones, and thus work a little bit better (with the exception of www.wefwef.app). But if you like the website, you don't have to use apps.
wefwef might be a webapp but it's very mobile optimized (: feels almost native and it's just like Apollo
Wefwef is awesome I just installed it as a web app!
The only thing it's missing is haptic feedback, would've been perfect if it got that
And it’s trustworthy with my username and password?? 🤔
every app needs your username and password to log in? and it's fully open source on github..
I took a leap and I’ve been using wefwef all day (and I love it)!
However, just because the source code is on GitHub doesn’t mean that the wefwef server I’m connecting to is running unaltered code straight from GitHub.
Hosting my only server may be the only way to be certain my credentials are protected.
What does this mean? Wefwef is amazing, easy to install, and provides one of the best Lemmy mobile experiences right now, in my ever so humble opinion.
I meant that, wefwef is the only non-app that is well optimised for phone.
Ah, my bad. Sorry for misunderstanding.
Nah, my bad. English is not my first language, so I make some mistakes (:
I think your English is great!
wefwef is a progressive web app. It's something inbetween a native mobile app an a traditonal web app u would load in your browser(aka the user interface of your homepage). They have certain advantages but also disadvantages like performance and dependemcy on specific browsers etc. Basically everything you download from app stores like Google play are native mobile apps everything else runs in a browser or some container of it (roughly summarized)
I know. That's one of the things I find so amazing about it. It's so fast and snappy for me, even on a low end, $200 Android phone. Most PWAs I've used are pretty janky, even from big companies. I like that it stands out as the lone Lemmy PWA as well. It's easily accessible (can be installed in Firefox and its derivatives, Chrome, Edge, Safari (most Chromium browsers? Not sure) and is platform independent. I even put it on my Windows PC. With Windows snapping, I can put it over to be half-screen, and it's a perfect feed for me, with its own icon, that I can just leave open. I did give up trying to make it work in Desktop Firefox though, and used Edge because it was so easy. I would rather I was using FF, but I like Edge enough anyway. Then you get sidebar search as an added bonus to search things and not be taken away from Lemmy to do it.
Even on wefwef it’s very noticeable performance wise though. Swiping back to the feed from a post is very sluggish among other things.
Apps can also be customized a a very granular level (post font size / text font size / color / compactness). The initial theme for Lemmy was terrible with regards to whitespace. I needed to scroll a mile to see 10 posts.
The biggest annoyance for me is hitting the back button in my browser as it doesn't remember how far down I scrolled on the page.
There are lots of other little convenience things but that's what prompted me to download an app.
That's what started me too. Then it snowballed as i tried every other app available to install. And now i cannot go back.
What app did you end up liking?
Sorry for the late reply. I was jumping from instance to instance.
Thi is now my app ranking
I got on wefwef today and I’m in love with it. (I came to lemmy after Apollo was shut down. Now I feel right at home with wefwef!)
Apps have a few advantages not the least of which are Push notifications, individualised UIs, additional functionality like swipe to upvote etc. Webapps are ok, native Applications in General just have greater flexibility and access to more features of your Smartphone.
In short: browser on PC, app on mobile
This is the way
This is the way.
It's probably just that the majority of users here are here because their Reddit app stopped working yesterday! So they're used to a certain app and are looking to fill that hole
Yes, the void is massive. Too much free time. Need to touch screen.
You're not missing anything by not using apps, as other people said, many people came here because reddit apps stopped working and they're looking for replacements.
I never used apps on reddit, old.reddit on desktop was by far the best experience for me, I don't intend to use apps on lemmy either.
There are some themes to make Lemmy style like old.reddit just in case you're not aware!
desktop browser is the best! if you wanna write a quality comment that links to sources and quotes people, there's just nothing better. I couldn't imagine writing anything useful on some app on a touch screen. and even when I zombiescroll on the toilet, the mobile browser did fine with old.reddit. and no extra software clogging up my devices, that's a massive benefit for me.
Same, old.reddit
Nothing really. The mobile app is mainly to browse on the phone when not in front of the computer. I guess you can browse it in a phone's browser but it's more convenient, at least for me, to use an app.
I think a lot of people want an app, because they left reddit because of apps.
Using Lemmy on a browser on a phone is fine, better than old.reddit from a phone which is what I always did.
I find the mobile browser experience on Lemmy to be very good, except for the issue of going back and being sent to the top of the list of posts.
Who said there's something wrong using a browser?
Nothing wrong at all with using a browser to view. Lemmy. People just like an app because it can better organize the site, posts, and comments. It really comes down to what you find most efficient and visually appealing.
nothing wrong my guy. it just that apps feel more fluid and smooth than web apps on mobile. wefwef is web based but it feels great to use.
I found it would constantly jump to the top when reading/scrolling as new content was added, so I found various apps to be a much better experience. I guess that's what happens with such a jump in new lemmings coming online!
I understand the scrolling/jumping problem was supposed to be addressed in 0.18.1, which is great!
Right now you are not missing out on anything. Infact most apps are not fully functional yet.
I downloaded Connect for Lemmy as I'd seen others recommend it. I suppose I was drawn to using an app out of instinct rather than need. I'm waiting for Sync for Lemmy and can't be bothered to try out a bunch of other apps before then.
I've tried a few and Connect seems most similar to Sync and most polished IMO.
First of all hey and welcome to lemmy^^ As some people already stated, there's a big "which app to use" wave because of the whole "Reddit shut down 3rd party apps" and since lemmy is growing pretty fast a lot of apps are popping up. You don't have to use them but for my experience, it's less clunky and feels smoother than any website. On Desktop I still prefer to website.
Nothing wrong with browsing how you like, but apps are usually more accessible for mobile.
My biggest gripe using the browser was the constant auto-refresh. I’m using wefwef which has better functionality and looks way nicer, feels more like a ‘Reddit’ experience.
I think they got rid of that auto-refresh in version 0.18.
When you're reading the post title, then suddenly new posts come in and bump the current post. And now you're lost.
Also if you click a post and after you go back to the feed. The browser doesn't remember your position. And now you're lost again.
It doesn't do that thing where the new posts bump the page around while you're reading it, as of version 0.18.
It does still have the second issue you mentioned.
I was trying out lemmy.world when All was freaking out and constantly spawning new posts on top. I moved to kbin and enjoy the boxy feel
I'm firmly a desktop user here, I'm old-fashioned, I don't like using my phone, I'd rather be doing just about anything else than reading and typing on a phone screen. But each to their own!
If someone wants to make a desktop app I'd be interested (there never was one for Reddit), but the browser experience is just fine - especially with version 0.18 it's starting to feel polished.
you clearly aren't suffering from the random screen fast scroll bug. Every time I try to browse on the desktop, it just starts scrolling like mad and I close the site.
There are bugs but they are getting fewer by the day, I don't think I've had the fast scroll thing for a few days now. But that's not relevant for me, I have no interest in using my phone so it's either live with the bugs of the web version or don't do it at all.
That should have been fixed in last nights release.
I think Infinity for Reddit had a desktop app.
I've not seen or heard anything about it if they did.
Nothing is wrong if that is your preferred method. Period end of story.
I prefer the option to just scroll without accidentally putting myself back at the top of the list.
How else can I meme while pooping?
I hope with a smaller community you feel more able to start / contribute to quality conversations. You add value here. Reddit was easy to feel like your comments didn’t matter.
I use my phone for Reddit mostly. The web UI was awful on mobile, and constantly annoying you to install their app. If the mobile UI for lemmy works well it's not an issue. But I think many people have a workflow that consists of an app for interacting with Reddit, and now lemmy
If the browser version works for you, that's perfect. There's no need to test out all the apps that are currently flying around.
To be honest from what you said I would advise against checking out the apps right now because all of them lack some features and will have some annoying bugs.
There's a few apps on the way that promise to be really good, but that's still a long way from stable release. If you wanna use them when they are useable, you should check the apps out at the end of the year, because that's when a few more major things are figured out and the apps will be far more stable.
So why are ppl talking about the apps so much? All personal preference. Some are only using lemmy on their phones and with that in mind it's important to know how to do that. But if that doesn't phase you, that's totally fine.
Hope you're enjoying your time and happy lurking :)
Edit: I hate grammar
If you can stand it, then go for it. You don't need to explain what's wrong with it, to most it's a terrible and janky experience immediately. There's a reason why people prefer native. If you don't see why, then who cares?
I'm pretty sure the desktop browser version of 0.17 had a memory leak. My Lemmy tab in firefox would crash when left idle for too long. I trust its been fixed now, but when I first joined, using Jerboa on my phone was a more stable and usable expierence than the browser.
Use Lemmy in whatever form you find most enjoyable. Web browsers are perfectly fine if you prefer it.
I don't think there's anything wrong with using a web browser. I think people like the app just because it makes it easier to manage when browsing on the phone.
Since I work from home on a company PC now trying to use my own PC for anything is depressing lol so now I browse pretty much exclusively from my Android phone
The Lemmy web interface works well on mobile and seems to be a progressive web app because the browser gives an "install" option. Installing it from your local instance gives you a desktop icon that takes you straight into Lemmy.
I've found this to be very usable, much better than Reddit ever was through a browser on the phone. I don't feel the need for an app.
I started using Lemmy in a mobile browser, but it isn’t optimized for it. Feels clunky and the auto reload of new posts made it close to unusable. Coming back from a post to the feed always had me searching for where I was last. Also the experience in these mobile apps is more optimized.
The mobile website for Lemmy is a pain