gromdroid

joined 1 year ago
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[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Hmm strange.. I waited with the announcement post until the new version (v0.0.5) got approved by Apple. But it seems that for most people v0.0.4 is the most recent version that they can download. Hopefully this will sort itself out in the coming days 🤞

The new version includes some bugfixes, like the cancel buttons not working, but also the ability to create / edit / delete posts

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s written in React Native, with some Swift modules here and there. I wrote down some more in depth behind the scenes in a previous post.

When Apollo shut down I really missed it in my day to day use, so initially this project started out as a personal project to see if I could replace that Apollo craving. Since then the development was going so well that I wanted to share it with the rest of the community as well.

Since then I’ve also build some things that imho are an improvement, for example:

  • the onboarding
  • the markdown editor
  • the chat interface for private messages

It’s been really fun to work on, but now that the basis is quite stable I’ll look into features that make it more tailored to Lemmy

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for the feedback! Initially this started out as a personal project, so most of the UI is tailored to my personal preference.

I’ll have a look at supporting better accessibility with regards to text sizes

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Awesome to hear! I spent quite some time on getting the video player right, so I’m glad to hear people enjoy it (:

The fact that videos don’t play when you’re viewing a post is actually a dumb thing I forgot haha. Videos get a signal to auto play as soon as they get into view of a virtualized list, since it’s not in a list when viewing a post it actually never gets the signal 😅

I’ll make sure that this is fixed it the next release

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Maybe at some point, since it sounds like a really interesting challenge. But I gotta be honest that it’s quite low on the list

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It isn’t forked from any existing Lemmy client, I built it from the ground up myself. Took me a while to get it of the ground with enough features to make it usable in the day-to-day life, but I’m quite proud of the current state :D

The design has been greatly influenced by Apollo (like a lot of other Lemmy iOS apps), so there might of course be some similarities.

125
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by gromdroid@lemmy.world to c/fediverse@lemmy.world
 

Welcome to Lemma - Your New Favourite App!

I’m thrilled to introduce the very first public release of Lemma on TestFlight. Get ready to experience a whole new level of browsing the fediverse!

🌟 Key Features 🌟

  • Super-charged Media Viewer
  • Powerful Markdown Editor
  • Effective Search

🔥 Why You'll Love Lemma 🔥

  • Fully Customisable
  • Swipe Gestures
  • Multiple Accounts
  • Cross-post Support
  • Share as Image
  • ‘Open in Lemma’ Safari Extension
  • Private messaging

📣 Join The Community 📣

I would love to hear from you! Join our growing community of users to share your feedback, ideas, and suggestions. Together, we'll make Lemma even better.

💡 How to Get Started 💡

  1. Download TestFlight from the App Store if you haven't already.
  2. Follow this link to find Lemma in TestFlight.
  3. Tap the "Install" button to get early access to Lemma.
  4. Explore the app, try out its features, and let me know what you think.

🤝 Feedback & Support 🤝

Your feedback is invaluable to me. If you encounter any issues, have suggestions, or just want to say hello, please reach out to the Lemma community (!lemma@lemmy.world). Thank you for being a part of our journey. Together, we'll shape the future of Lemma. Get ready to experience something amazing!

🍺 Buy Me a Beer 🍺

I’m building Lemma as a side project in my free time. If you’re enjoying Lemma and would like to say an extra thank you, you can buy me a beer ❤️

📌 Note: This is a TestFlight release, so your feedback will help me fine-tune the app for its official launch.

1
TestFlight - Public Release 🚀 (testflight.apple.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by gromdroid@lemmy.world to c/lemma@lemmy.world
 

Welcome to Lemma - Your New Favourite App!

I’m thrilled to introduce the very first public release of Lemma on TestFlight. Get ready to experience a whole new level of browsing the fediverse!

🌟 Key Features 🌟

  • Super-charged Media Viewer
  • Powerful Markdown Editor
  • Effective Search

🔥 Why You'll Love Lemma 🔥

  • Fully Customisable
  • Swipe Gestures
  • Multiple Accounts
  • Cross-post Support
  • Share as Image
  • ‘Open in Lemma’ Safari Extension
  • Private messaging

📣 Join The Community 📣

I would love to hear from you! Join our growing community of users to share your feedback, ideas, and suggestions. Together, we'll make Lemma even better.

💡 How to Get Started 💡

  1. Download TestFlight from the App Store if you haven't already.
  2. Follow this link to find Lemma in TestFlight.
  3. Tap the "Install" button to get early access to Lemma.
  4. Explore the app, try out its features, and let me know what you think.

🤝 Feedback & Support 🤝

Your feedback is invaluable to me. If you encounter any issues, have suggestions, or just want to say hello, please reach out to the Lemma community. Thank you for being a part of our journey. Together, we'll shape the future of Lemma. Get ready to experience something amazing!

🍺 Buy Me a Beer 🍺

I’m building Lemma as a side project in my free time. If you’re enjoying Lemma and would like to say an extra thank you, you can buy me a beer ❤️

📌 Note: This is a TestFlight release, so your feedback will help me fine-tune the app for its official launch.

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That form is indeed closed, but it was for the initial closed beta. As soon as Apple approves the newly uploaded version I will make it a public beta and share the link so that anybody can join.

I’m hoping that happens today, so stay tuned :D

[–] gromdroid@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Kind of a shameless plug, but you could have a look at !lemma@lemmy.world.

The ‘Share as Image’ feature is still work in progress, it doesn’t handle very long threads that well yet, but overall I think it’s working quite well already.

I pushed a new release yesterday, once that’s approved by Apple I will announce (and share) the public TestFlight link!

1
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by gromdroid@lemmy.world to c/lemma@lemmy.world
 

🚀 Introducing Commenting Feature! 🚀

I'm thrilled to present the latest update to Lemma that brings an exciting new feature to your fingertips - commenting! I've been hard at work, and now it's time for you to be a part of our testing phase.

✏️ Markdown Editor: Say goodbye to plain text comments. With the sleek new markdown editor, your comments will stand out like never before. Format your text with ease, add links, insert images, and even gifs – all in a snap!

📣 Engage with Your Community: Now, you can participate in discussions and share your thoughts directly within the app. Your feedback matters, and I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

🔍 Help Me Improve: I want your input! Test the commenting feature thoroughly, and let me know about any bugs, suggestions, or improvements you'd like to see. Together, we can make Lemma even better.

👥 Connect with Others: Join the conversation, interact with fellow users, and build a sense of community within the app. Your comments can make a difference!

🔮 Upcoming: While we're busy testing the markdown editor with the new comment feature, I've also started working on adding the ability to create posts. I'm aiming to have it ready by the weekend, which I think will be the perfect time to invite everyone to join the public TestFlight as well!

Thank you for being a valuable part of the Lemma community. Your feedback helps Lemma grow and deliver an outstanding user experience. Let's make this commenting feature shine together!

Edit after v0.0.4 release:

I typically only share these types of updates after they have been approved by Apple. However, I am making this post now to prevent people from mentioning bugs for which a fix is already on its way. Many thanks to those who were quick and helpful in catching some of these bugs!

Fixed/Added:

  • You can now add images to comments again.
  • In addition to swiping, I have also added the reply option to the comment menu.
  • You can now also edit and delete comments.
  • Comments now indicate if they have been edited.
  • Swiping on compact posts will now also bring up the reply modal.
  • Spoilers are now rendered correctly.
  • An overview of private messages has been added to the inbox screen.

Fingers crossed – you might see the update with fixes tomorrow! 🚀

 

Hey everyone! It's been a while since the last update, mainly because I've been diving deep into working on the markdown editor. I'm aiming to roll it out this weekend, but in the meantime, I wanted to give you a sneak peek (check out the attached video!) and share some of the behind-the-scenes reasons why this update is taking a bit longer.

I've had a few folks asking how Lemma was built, especially in terms of the language or framework used. In my regular gig, I'm a frontend developer specializing in React and React Native. So, it was a no-brainer for me to build Lemma using React Native. I'm actually pretty stoked about how native Lemma feels on iOS, even though it's not developed with Swift. It's mostly because I went all out to recreate the Apple Design Guidelines down to the tiniest pixel. I hunted down Figma designs of various iOS elements to get a solid reference for element sizes and padding between them.

Now, why's the markdown editor giving me more work? To really nail that genuine native feel, I've been crafting some native modules that I'm connecting to my React Native app. This includes things like the action sheet that pops up when you tap certain action bar items, and even that little pencil notification that shows up when you join a community. It's been a totally new experience for me building these modules; I'd never even touched Swift before this. So far, they've been quite manageable, mostly acting as wrappers around existing iOS elements or Swift libraries.

As you've probably guessed by now, the new markdown editor is also coded in Swift, specifically using SwiftUI. There aren't a ton of guides out there on how to blend SwiftUI into a React Native app, so this journey has been both tough and intriguing. Before I move on, big shoutout to Kyle Nazario, who put together the underlying SwiftUI library. This library does most of the heavy lifting for the inline markdown rendering, but it still needs to communicate with the React Native code. I've been wrestling with a challenge for example: keeping the selected text or cursor in the right spot after the text changes due to hitting a markdown button (because these buttons are React Native views). Normally, all these events and functions come built-in with the standard React Native TextInput, but now I'm dealing with a completely separate SwiftUI input on the native side, so I'm bridging all these functions myself.

It's been quite the journey, and I'm soaking up a ton from it. I'm already pretty stoked with where things are at now. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I could bring this markdown editor that's been bouncing around in my head to life. I hope you all are as amped about this upcoming feature as I am. However, I hope you guys still have a touch more patience because there are still a few pesky bugs I'm aiming to squash this week.

One more thing, let's chat about the current TestFlight situation. Big thanks to everyone testing out the private beta; your support means a lot. I'm aware that some folks didn't get the initial invite, and I hear you. Here's what I'm thinking for the near future:

  • Drop the new markdown editor, complete with the ability to post comments.
  • Push out a version that lets you craft new posts as well.
  • Open up Lemma to the public once the new markdown editor proves its stability in the closed beta TestFlight! 🥳

This time, I'm sharing a bit more technical stuff, but I thought you might dig these behind-the-scenes updates too. I'm super excited to hear what you all think of the new markdown editor. I'll keep you posted as soon as it's good to go!

1
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by gromdroid@lemmy.world to c/lemma@lemmy.world
 

Hey everyone! I'm back from my vacation, and I brought some goodies with me. My trip was a blast — I saw cool stuff and met some new people. It was also awesome to take a break from the digital world before I dive into my new job next week.

The feedback I got so far has been really encouraging. So, I rolled up my sleeves today and got to work on fixing those pesky bugs you all found. Plus, I've added some cool new stuff to make the whole experience even better. Remember, I've had some time between jobs in which I've been tinkering away on Lemma. Starting a new gig next week doesn't mean I'm abandoning Lemma though. I love working on this app, and your fantastic feedback just fuels my motivation to keep making it even more awesome, it might simply mean that some updates might take a bit longer then you’d hope. If you're curious about future plans, keep on reading!

What's New?

  • feat - added 2FA support
  • feat - new profile switcher, which now shows your instance and avatar as well
  • feat - remove markdown from post titles and body previews
  • feat - remove duplicate cross posts (needs more testing)
    • similar to how the official Lemmy UI does it
  • feat - searching for posts, communities and users now actually works
  • feat - opening a comment from your inbox now marks it as read
  • feat - ‘Mark all as Read’ button actually works now in your inbox
  • feat - support for better Lemmy link recognition (for example !community@instance.acme)
  • feat - support for more markdown types
    • tables are now horizontally scrollable, still WIP but seems to work better
  • fix - clicking images in compact posts opens the image viewer correctly
  • fix - show video in compact posts
  • fix - keep playing video’s when opening in fullscreen
  • fix - “View All Comments” button actually shows all comments now
  • fix - cancelled swipe actions don’t trigger action anymore
  • fix - score is now properly calculated after voting
  • fix - correctly load posts when viewing a community, before this release Lemma got stuck sometimes on 5 posts until you did a ‘pull to refresh’
  • misc - change post size label to “compact” in settings
  • misc - updated profile scores

Coming Soon!

I've got a bunch of ideas for the next update, and I'll spill the beans on a few below so you can get excited. But I'm also dying to know — what features do you think are still missing in Lemma?

Posting Power

The big-ticket item everyone's been waiting for is the ability to create new posts and drop comments. Let's be honest, without these, Lemmy isn't all it can be. You might be wondering why this hasn't been part of the app from the get-go. Well, I wanted to do it right, not just easy. Check out this sneak peek below for a little taste of how I'm envisioning the editor:

editor sneak preview

Sharing Is Caring

As Lemmy's content grows, I've noticed a bit of repetition in my feed. But guess what? Lemmy's been on it! They've made cross-posting smoother, so you won't see the same thing over and over. In this update, I've already incorporated their new filtering trick, showing only the original post in your feed. And in the next update, I'm going to jazz up how you can check out cross-posted versions of a post.

Media Magic

Time to give GIFs some extra love in the media viewer. Right now, they're always playing, and that can sometimes slow things down. My mission? Make GIFs play more like videos. I might even dive into making GIFs rewind and fast-forward (no promises though, it's a tricky one).

Oh, and there's more! I'm revamping the media viewer for pictures too. Think smoother full-screen transitions and handy actions for a better overall experience.

Oops, Something's Not Right

Let's talk about those error messages. They're a bit basic right now. And that's not cool for you or me. So, in the next update, I'm on a mission to make error messages more user-friendly. You'll know exactly why something's acting up, and it'll also help me track down issues faster based on your bug reports.

Big thanks for all the support. Let's keep the Lemma vibe going strong as we jazz it up together!

 

Exciting news! Lemma got the green light for testing on TestFlight! I was totally stoked to see so many of you signing up for testing—I never expected this much interest. For now, I've closed the signup form to get some initial impressions and work from there. I've invited everyone who signed up through the form to TestFlight. I'm not super familiar with this stuff, but fingers crossed everything works out fine. I'll check later to make sure all the invites went out. So, if you haven't received anything yet, just hang tight, and I'll keep you guys in the loop. Once we've ironed out the kinks, I'll share the TestFlight link so others can join in too.

Lemma began as my little pet project, but I'm really proud of what it's turned into. I've spent weeks fine-tuning little details to get it just as I wanted it to be. In the last few weeks, I've been off from work because I'm starting a new job later in August. And guess what? I managed to release it right before I’m going away on a little holiday trip, with a few hours to spare! Woohoo! 😄

But don't worry, I'll still be keeping an eye on the Lemma community to catch those first impressions, even though I won't be too active during the coming week.

I'm super curious to hear what you all think about Lemma, so please shoot any feedback (good or bad) over to the Lemma community. Just a small favor, though: make sure to check if someone else already reported the same issue before you post, so we can keep things a little organized.

Alright, that's it for now. Enjoy Lemma, folks! 🚀

1
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by gromdroid@lemmy.world to c/lemma@lemmy.world
 

Wondering what sets this app apart? As a user of Lemmy (and previously Reddit), I understand the importance of a perfect platform for discovering new content. That's why my top priority, from the very inception of this app, has been to showcase all content in the most captivating manner. Here's what I've achieved so far, with more exciting features on the horizon:

GIFS

GIFs will automatically play in your feed, as well as in comments. Let's highlight this aspect: all images will be displayed inline within comments and posts, scaling perfectly to fit the available space. No need to click a link to enjoy that spot-on GIF someone replied to you with!

Video’s

Lemma supports inline videos too! The app employs various checks to determine the type of post, including videos. Better yet, videos auto-play as soon as they come into view, and I've added a beautiful progress indicator, inspired by Apollo.

Albums

Whether it's multiple images included in a post or a dedicated Imgur Album, Lemma seamlessly assembles all the images into a stunning gallery view. Effortlessly scroll through each image just as it's meant to be, while still being able to view the descriptions of specific images (Imgur only).

Live Text

Of course, an iOS app wouldn't be complete without Live Text! Spot some information you'd like to copy? No problem, Lemma has built-in support for Apple's Live Text feature.

 

Hey everyone! I'm thrilled to announce Lemma, yet another Lemmy client for iOS!

As a longtime fan of Christian's work with Apollo, like many others in the Lemmy community, I embarked on developing Lemma when Apollo closed its doors. My goal was to create a native feeling iOS experience that captured the essence of Lemmy.

What began as a personal project to challenge my technical skills has now evolved into something remarkable. I'm delighted to share Lemma with the world, even though it's still in its beta phase. I'm continuously working on adding more features every day. At the moment, the focus is on optimizing the viewing experience and discovering new communities. Soon, I'll be incorporating features like submitting new posts and responding to existing posts and comments.

Key Features:

  • Super-Charged Media Viewer
    • From videos and GIFs to (Imgur) albums, Lemma supports it all.
    • Lemma goes the extra mile by parsing the body of posts to find even more media than most other apps. For example, it can collect all images inside a markdown post, displaying them in a neat image album overview.
  • Powerful Search
    • Lemma seamlessly integrates with Lemmyverse.net, making it easier than ever to discover new communities.
  • Fully Customizable
    • Personalize your experience with 16 themes (both dark and light mode), 6 comment color themes, and a compact post viewing mode.
  • Swipe Gestures
    • Upvoting, downvoting, or saving a post? With Lemma, it's just a swipe away.
  • Share as Image
    • Sometimes, a picture says more than a thousand words.
  • Safari Extension
    • Effortlessly open Lemmy content in Lemma using the built-in Safari Extension.
  • Cross-Post Support
    • Stay updated with cross-posts in your feed.
  • Multiple Accounts

TestFlight

In the coming days, I'll be launching Lemma on TestFlight for a closed beta. If you'd like to be part of Lemma's development, sign up using the form below:

https://forms.gle/38YK7Merm1MzzcP89

Join the Lemma Community:

Excited about Lemma? Want to connect with other users, share feedback, and stay up-to-date on the latest developments? Join our community at lemmy.world and be a part of shaping the future of Lemma!

!lemma@lemmy.world

 

Hey everyone! I'm thrilled to announce Lemma, yet another Lemmy client for iOS!

As a longtime fan of Christian's work with Apollo, like many others in the Lemmy community, I embarked on developing Lemma when Apollo closed its doors. My goal was to create a native feeling iOS experience that captured the essence of Lemmy.

What began as a personal project to challenge my technical skills has now evolved into something remarkable. I'm delighted to share Lemma with the world, even though it's still in its beta phase. I'm continuously working on adding more features every day. At the moment, the focus is on optimizing the viewing experience and discovering new communities. Soon, I'll be incorporating features like submitting new posts and responding to existing posts and comments.

Key Features:

  • Super-Charged Media Viewer
    • From videos and GIFs to (Imgur) albums, Lemma supports it all.
    • Lemma goes the extra mile by parsing the body of posts to find even more media than most other apps. For example, it can collect all images inside a markdown post, displaying them in a neat image album overview.
  • Powerful Search
    • Lemma seamlessly integrates with Lemmyverse.net, making it easier than ever to discover new communities.
  • Fully Customizable
    • Personalize your experience with 16 themes (both dark and light mode), 6 comment color themes, and a compact post viewing mode.
  • Swipe Gestures
    • Upvoting, downvoting, or saving a post? With Lemma, it's just a swipe away.
  • Share as Image
    • Sometimes, a picture says more than a thousand words.
  • Safari Extension
    • Effortlessly open Lemmy content in Lemma using the built-in Safari Extension.
  • Cross-Post Support
    • Stay updated with cross-posts in your feed.
  • Multiple Accounts

TestFlight

In the coming days, I'll be launching Lemma on TestFlight for a closed beta. If you'd like to be part of Lemma's development, sign up using the form below:

https://forms.gle/38YK7Merm1MzzcP89