It's a nice app, (first time Sync user) great functionality and design, but the downside is it's not open source and it has ads and even optional subscription service. Some people think it goes against the whole fediverse mindset, others (long time Sync for Reddit users) defend it as they are looking for the same experience they had on reddit.
That said it's 100% usable, but if you don't like this kind of stuff you have half a dozen free alternatives with just as many functions and different designs.
(I hope I don't come off as attacking you! I'm kinda just using your comment to piggyback and make my own haha)
It's closed source, as was his reddit version, so idk what anyone expected there. He also never said it was ever going to be open source. But I completely understand anyone who isn't willing to let go of their FOSS. FOSS is good for a reason! :)
I do understand the mindset that it goes against the fediverse, but I happen to disagree. In other threads, there's been discussion about how they are actively paying donations, patreons, paypal, etc to help fund their favorite instance or whatever else. That needs to happen to offset the cost. Especially if it is the instance owners hobby, and not full time job.
Well, what if we want a nice experience while using Lemmy? Sure, there's plenty of apps, but what if someone was able to dedicate their entire working hours to that app? To make it as good as possible? Well, then they'd need to make money somehow, right? Or they'd have to get a different job, and do the app as a hobby. This hurts the app, and then it just becomes another run of the middle Lemmy client.
I understand why people are upset. Lemmy is free. The fediverse is free. (Most of) the apps are free. But someone is paying for all of this, whether we realize it or not.