Mlem for Lemmy

Is there any eta for this version releasing? Do you guys know if it will be in the App Store version?

The recent update re-arranged the buttons and put the comment/post time in the center of the view, which is a bit distracting/unbalanced IMO.

I re-arranged the buttons and made them in a darker grey than pure white (comment text), so the comment text is more in focus. I also removed the clock-icon as it is unnecessary IMO (it adds no value since the time is already clearly visible).

I would personally remove the buttons entirely and just keep the vote count and time at the top bar, but I can see that not everyone is a fan of minimalism UI. Maybe we can get that as an optional compact comment view.

(This is just a mockup, I am a designer but not a dev. I also submitted this via TestFlight feedback.)

It's here: the last big update before we apply to the App Store! We've got some exciting new features and a bunch of awesome fixes for you:

NEW ADDITIONS

• Back by popular demand: the old compact mode! We've given it a little bit of a touch-up in the process. The previous not-very-compact compact mode is now called "headline," and large is still, well, large.
• New search UX: We gave community search a whole tab of its own, featuring recent search history (clearable, of course) and a much smoother UI. Keep an eye on that tab--we've got big plans for it down the road.
• Reporting Content. We added ability to report posts and comments via context or the ellipsis menu. These reports will be sent to community moderators.

BUG FIXES

• Optimized image loading to improve scroll performance significantly
• Fixed spelling mistake (thanks J0hnny007)
• Fixed bug where link posts made it hard or impossible to enter the comments
• Fixed bug where NSFW tags were sometimes missing
• Fixed bug where new posts required a link and body text
• Fixed issue where comment times could show up with incorrect times

KNOWN ISSUES

• Cross-instance subscriptions are currently not displaying. This is a server-side problem, nothing we can do about it :(
• Link posts are a little choppy in the feed--we're working on smoothing that out

Keep in mind that this is beta software (though not for much longer)--there may be bugs, and we want to hear about them!

Thanks again for using Mlem! We hope you love it as much as we do.

Cheers,

The Mlem Team

• Mlem App Space on Matrix
• Mlem App on GitHub

Hey, Mlem Community.

You might have noticed our community has been closed for the past few days and that several posts have been removed. If you're especially keen, you might have noticed that we momentarily migrated to vlemmy.net.

We recently parted ways with the team member responsible for most of our community outreach. We had hoped that he would agree to smoothly step away from the project. He did not. On his way out, he used his power as the primary (active) mod on this community to shut it down and remove several posts. He also refused to relinquish control of the Mlem Official accounts on Lemmy and Mastodon.

First and foremost we apologize deeply for his behavior. He is not, nor will he ever again be, affiliated with this project, and we have enacted greater redundancies and shared authority to prevent anything like this from happening again.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

We continue developing, of course! The core dev team is intact and as excited as ever to bring you the best Lemmy app that we can. We've got a new TestFlight build coming down the pipeline soon and an App Store application just around the corner from that. The community is open, and we look forward to hearing all your voices again.

Cheers,

The Mlem Team

• Mlem App Space on Matrix
• Mlem App on GitHub

Can we get the option to block communities from our /all feed? I’m sure ich_lel is funny, but I can’t read German, so I’d like to just stop it from showing up on my feed.

Hey all,

I'm currently working on the inbox feature. It's coming along great, but to properly test it I need a full inbox--like, a really full inbox.

That's where you come in.

Spam me with messages, replies, mentions--all of it.

Thank you all for your support and, hopefully, your deluge of messages.

Is there a way to search for new communities in mlem or am I dumb and just missing it?

Hi, is it planned to make the app fully iPad OS compatible? I mean, that the UI is scaling correctly etc. Right now the app runs as the iPhone version on the iPad.

https://i.imgur.com/zJZ5WUX.png

When clicking lemmy links !xxx@xxx.de the app opens it using safari. Would be nice to have it open in the app instead so we can browse it properly

Thanks for all your work with the new update!

I currently have “show community icons” disabled, but they are shown in my feed, but don’t shown in the compact view at all no matter what I select.

Will you add/update customizable settings in the app and add new ones in the future? The new update made the UI a bit busy for me with all the colours and buttons, it would be awesome to be able toggle UI elements like in the first version of the app, eg disable the big voting buttons (only colour the counter).

I would also suggest moving the comment counter next to the voting counter instead of next to the comment time and moving the buttons (share, save, …) behind the ellipsis button, like Apollo.

The current comment view feels a bit overloaded but compressed compared to the previous view, where you had one section for comment text and one section for the meta (account name, voting, time, …). That moves the focus from the actual comment text to all the meta and buttons. Now you have a section with username and time, a section with comment text and another section with comment meta buttons; compared to the previous minimalistic approach of Mlem.

I downloaded the latest update from the new Testflight link. I must say, I said “Nice!” when it opened with a sub list. Very fine work developers! Thank you!

Loving the app. One thing missing is an option to hide the username in the bottom menu bar. Makes it easy to spot my username when showing stuff to friends and family and I would really like to stay anonymous.

Hi, Mlem App Community.

As many of you have probably already seen, our founder David has left the project. We wanted to take a moment to address this news and any concerns it may cause within our community.

First and foremost, we want to make it unequivocally clear that we harbor no resentment or hard feelings towards David. We understand that he made this choice for his own well-being and support him for it. He was a joy to work with, and without his leadership or vision the Mlem app would not be what it is today or what it will be tomorrow. David, if you're reading this: we thank you, and wish you all the best.

Development of Mlem will continue. All of us still on the the team remain as engaged and passionate as we were yesterday and continue to work tirelessly to bring you the best Lemmy experience we can. It is no secret, however, that this news was as much of a surprise to us as it was to you all, and it has introduced a couple of hitches in the short term. The GitHub repository where we store our code has been passed to another member of the team, but the App Store app could not be transferred so easily. We will be rebranding our App Store name to "Mlem for Lemmy"; the app will still appear as "Mlem" on your homescreen. As David mentioned, the current TestFlight beta has ended, and we will provide a link to a new one ASAP. The timing of that depends on Apple more than anything, so we cannot provide a concrete timeframe just yet. We'll keep you posted with links here in this community.

We thank you for your patience, your understanding, and all of your support.

-- The Mlem App Team

• Mlem App Chat on Matrix
• Mlem App on GitHub

Can someone explain to me what the vote complex style setting adjusts when switching between Standard and Symmetric?

I will no longer be working on Mlem.

I started it a year and a half ago when I needed to take my mind off pain from surgery. And I always intended it to be a personal protect that would help me relax.

With the current development of the app, I no longer find being a part of the project relaxing or fun.

I’m not doing any coding anymore, since it’s all done by much more talented and experienced people. If I tried to contribute to my app now, as an outsider, I would be rejected. I’m also not doing much project management. I feel like I don’t have much voice in the development anymore.

I’m also getting backlash for trying to make the app accessible to the average person as opposed to just tech nerds, and it’s not worth the stress. This is happening mostly in my DMs (the other developers are not doing this, so please don’t go after them. They are very nice and would never do this), since some elements of this and Mastodon community don’t have the balls to face me in public.

These are just some of the many reasons I found working on the app for the last few weeks frustrating. Ever since the app exploded in popularity and the community grew, I can say that even thinking about working on Mlem made me instantly angry, annoyed and just overall pissed off.

It’s just not worth it anymore.

The current TestFlight version will keep working for two more days, after which I will erase the app from the App Store. Until then, someone from the team will have given you a new link. I have also transferred the app’s source code to a new owner.

I have released a new version just before posting this, and it’s the last version I have any influence on. The community will continue working on the app.

I will focus on my other apps, which will hopefully not become like Mlem.

Enjoy life, and don’t try to contact me.

New to Lemmy, and want to help out testing Mlem! But Testflight says the beta is full. Any way to join?

I might be a little confused about the ability to download/save images but is that currently not possible or implemented yet? Also it would be nice to tap on an image to fullscreen it sort of like how Apollo and im sure other apps worked. Thank you devs for all the work you put in!

Hi, Mlem App Community!

We on the Mlem Team wanted to share some information regarding the progress on the development of Mlem, what we're working on, and where we see the project on July 1.

THE GOOD

For the next build, we're working on 5 major components:

1. Main Feed - We are refining both Large and Compact post views, improving their functionality and adding a bit more spacing to compact mode so that clumsy/"fat-finger" tapping results in fewer mis-taps.
2. SWIPE-TO-VOTE! - Yes, we have brought this feature to the main feed! Swipe right to vote (up/down) and left to reply/save. This is the only configuration right now, but we plan to add customization in a later build.
3. Profile Tab - This one is taking a lot of work and time, as we want to get it right. We felt that Apollo's profile page is a bit... blah, so we wanted to make something... prettier. Featuring both your profile picture and your banner image, the profile page will be information-rich and engaging. It will also feature a quick and simple way to sort between Overview, Posts, Comments, and Saved items without diving into a context menu.
4. Community View/Browsing - Another biggie, and one which takes a lot of work. We are adding a dedicated screen for browsing, subscribing, and favoriting communities (Local or All federated) and sorting by Local, All, and Subscribed. This functions similarly to the "All Subreddits" screen in Apollo.
5. Accessibility! - Our accessibility expert has audited ALL of these pages and tabs to make them 100% compatible with iOS's VoiceOver and Screen Reader Accessibility features, so those with visual impairments can use Mlem without impediment. We're proud to say that the next build of Mlem will be fully a11y compliant, as will be all future builds! Mlem is an app for everyone!

Of course, in addition to these 5 major components, we've also been working on tons of bug fixes and performance improvements.

THE BAD

We (especially me) have been telling everyone that we're aiming for July 1 for our 1.0 app launch. That was very silly to say, as the Apple App Store review process is... nuts. To realistically hit that date, we'd have to submit the app now, and it's pretty far from ready. So, suffice to say, that's not going to happen. We are now making a revised projection that we will have a Gold Master (GM) for 1.0 ready for submission to the App Store on July 1 which will go public whenever Apple decides to approve it. That could be days or weeks after initial submission--we will all just have to wait and see. Development will continue during that time, but further updates/releases will be much quicker after the initial approval.

We (I) apologize for setting unrealistic expectations with the Mlem community in this regard. We (I) should have known better. Nonetheless, we've taken this bad news and are moving forward with a renewed fervor to get this app up to snuff for the rigorous (and somewhat bastardly) App Store review process. Releases will be limited for now to our 10k TestFlight beta testers, for whom we are extremely grateful!

THE TEAM

We continue to labor. Our team, which ballooned to about 20 devs and designers at one point, has constricted back to about 10 main contributors, with about 6-8 core contributors. Such is the nature of FOSS projects as people come and go as their lives permit. This is a completely volunteer project where people donate their free time. It's not a job. We actively recruit when we have shortages in manpower or project goals that require specialties our current team lacks. Remaining flexible is critical. The best thing about our team is that everyone seems to like each other, and works together very well. Working with this team is a pleasure!

Our team currently has representatives from all over the world. From the North American cities of Seattle, Boston, Ottowa, and NYC to rural Indiana and all the way to Europe's Scotland and Slovenia and even to Sydney, Australia, we have team members contributing their time and talent 24/7 from around the globe to make Mlem the best app we can-- for you!

THE FUTURE

As mentioned, we plan to hit 1.0 GM by July 1 to submit to the App Store, with approval forthcoming afterward. Until then we're working as hard and fast as circumstances allow to bring as many 1.0 features and bug fixes as we can to make that a reality. We obviously can't get to implementing every feature and squashing every bug, but we'll build in many features as is realistic for a 1.0 app and squash as many bugs as we can. Until then the beta app will be missing some features and harboring some bugs. It's just the nature of the beast.

Keep testing, stay excited, and check back here for updates and discussion about the Mlem App!

Cheers!

-- The Mlem App Team

• Mlem App Chat on Matrix
• Melm App Recruitment Chat
• Mlem App on GitHub

Download the TestFlight beta for iOS 16+

After a massive reorganization and recruiting almost 20 new developers and designers from the community, we've made a HUGE amount of additions and improvements to the app, with many more to come! Yay!

NEW ADDITIONS

• Redesigned interface! NEW POSTS, COMPACTS POSTS, ALL THE THINGS!
• Updated Settings Tab
• Tap to collapse comments/threads
• Long post text is now truncated so they don't take up your whole screen. They will have a maximum height.
• Increased contrast between post/comment cards and background
• The way the application interacts with the Lemmy API has been improved, this should reduce crashes in multiple places

BUG FIXES

• Tapping community links will no longer crash the app, instead an alert shows saying they're not currently supported (we're working on it now, it needs a few different chunks of work completed)
• Duplicate/looping posts when scrolling feeds should no longer happen 🤞
• Rapid scrolling through feed should no longer cause crashing 🤞
• Mlem icon is now brighter!

KNOWN ISSUES

• Some images may extend beyond the post card bounds in Card View
• In compact mode, link previews may not load
• Comments still have old up/downvote buttons

MORE TO COME

• Full a11y compliance which should work perfectly with iOS's Accessibility functionality like Guided Access and Screen Reader. (Thanks to contributor Weston for your expertise and audit!) Note: we weren't able to work this into the current build because of the constant changes to the interface, but some/most of it should be in the next build!
• New Profile Tab and Messages Tab
• New & improved fullscreen image viewer (not ready in time for this release)
• Inbox notifications (not Push, as that takes more work-- more on that later)
• Colored thread indicators
• Swipe-to-vote
• Post/comment saving
• Updated NSFW tag/blur

Again, please keep in mind that this is an early beta. As such, it's not feature-complete and there will be bugs and unexpected behavior. Enjoy testing, and we look forward to hearing your bug reports via TestFlight and your feedback! You can comment here or come chat with us in The Mlem Space on Matrix.

PS, and because lots of people have asked-- Mlem app will never support iOS 15. Sorry, but we'd have to rewrite the app from scratch, and that's not something we're gonna do. Additionally, kbin support isn, for now, out-of-reach due to incompatibilities between the kbin and lemmy APIs. Although this may change in the future, for now, it's not going to happen.

Cheers!

The Mlem Dev Team

• Mlem App Space on Matrix
• Mlem App on GitHub

Am I just missing where the setting is to blur NSFW images before opening the post? Or is this something that's yet to be implemented? I'm subscribed to a couple of NSFW communities and not having the blur can make opening the app a bit awkward at times

Hi, Mlem App Community!

We on the Mlem Team wanted to share some data from our TestFlight so far with you all to let you know how popular the app is.

The Testing Numbers

So far, we have just over 8k beta testers for the Mlem App! That's out of 10k total test slots in TestFlight, which means that we're close to our max allowable testers! That's a lot of adoption for a week since our announcement!

Also, 89% of currently-registered testers have the latest build installed and are currently testing (meaning 11% deleted the app but are still registered), and there's a 34.6% reporting rate for crashes-- meaning some of you could do a better job with crash reporting.

New Recruits

Last week, we posted a call for new contributors, and you, the community, stepped up! We've added a bunch of new developers and designers, including those with expertise in accessibility compliance, helping us to make sure that everyone will be able to use our app, using all of the system's features iOS provides and meeting a11y standards. With new UX designers, we've overhauled our interface, and with new graphic designers, we're bringing a great starter set of custom icons, with more to follow in future releases. And, most importantly, after an internal reorganization, higher-quality and more regular updates will follow with more strict project management, bug tracking, and resource delegation-- all thanks to the lemmy community coming together to make a great app for everyone!

Development & Feedback

The app testing is going well and development is proceeding apace. We've heard tons of positive feedback, and we're thrilled to hear that everyone is loving the app. We've also been listening to all of your excellent feedback. We've put everything into our Issue Tracker on our GitHub project page, and we're working through them, along with all of the bugs you've been reporting and new features we're planning, and we're working on a huge update for our next beta, which we hope to release very soon!

So, keep testing, stay excited, and check back here for updates, and discussion about the Mlem App!

Cheers!

-- The Mlem App Team

• Mlem App Chat on Matrix
• Melm App Recruitment Chat
• Mlem App on GitHub

I saw on GitHub that dark mode is included in the app but I can’t find it anywhere in the settings. Does anyone know how to turn it on or is just something that will come in later updates?