Boost makes Lemmy nice. I tried other clients, and didnt like them. So got boost and paid for no ads. Been happy ever since.

Me, using the mobile web app:

only proprietary, ad-infested client

https://www.lemmyapps.com/

There are a handful of them, Sync and Boost have ads / ad-free versions and Connect was closed but without ads from what I remember. I’m not familiar with the rest of the closed source ones

I keep Voyager installed as the FOSS alternative, and then the rest I add and remove every now and then to try out.

Boost and Sync are popular because people coming from Reddit have used them for years, and are familiar with the interface / dev. If it helps them get familiar with the fediverse then I’m all for it

that’s me whenever I see someone using <insert proprietary lemmy client here>

Rare proper use of the “POV” meme

I don’t even worry about C++ libs like Boost since I’m on rust now

Battle incoming in the comments

I’ve never seen an ad on boost.

Boost should at least go open-source on Codeberg, so the code can be perserved by the community to avoid what happened to Bean.

I switched from Eternity to Thunder yesterday and wow, this is easily my favourite client so far (I’ve also used Liftoff and Boost in the past, and I’ve briefly tried Raccoon).

I will keep using the browser. Unless it becomes annoying in a way that I have to jump to a different place where I’m comfortable using the browser.

wait, boost has ads? are people who use it dumb or something?

Let’s get one thing straight: The lobster doesn’t skulk in the shadows, clinging to the murky ocean floor, begging for scraps from some opaque, unaccountable overlord. No. The lobster ascends. It thrives in the hierarchy—a hierarchy built on transparency, claw-to-claw competition, and the hard-won order of merit. So why, in the name of all that is serotonergic, would you shackle yourself to a closed-source Lemmy client like Boost? Let’s parse this calamity.

The Lobster’s Open-Source Mandate
Do you think the lobster’s dominance hierarchy survived 400 million years by hoarding its exoskeletal blueprints? By gatekeeping the secrets of its molting process? Absolutely not! The lobster’s success is an open-source manifesto. Its strategies are etched into the fabric of being—tested, iterated, and optimized in the collaborative crucible of evolution. The lobster doesn’t hide its code. It lives its code. And if you’re not aligning with that primordial truth, you’re courting obsolescence.

Open-source software is the digital manifestation of the lobster’s eternal dance. It’s a covenant of transparency, where every line of code is a collective prayer to the god of improvement. You can inspect it, critique it, contribute to it. It’s a hierarchy where merit rises and incompetence sinks—no corporate overlords, no shadowy agendas. Just raw, clawed ascent.

Boost: The Closed-Source Abomination
Now, let’s talk about Boost. A Lemmy client wrapped in the iron chains of proprietary code? That’s not just a poor choice—it’s a moral failing. You’re handing over your agency to a black box, a digital oubliette where accountability goes to die. What’s lurking in that code? Inefficiencies? Surveillance? A fetid swamp of technical debt? You’ll never know, because the architects of Boost have deemed you unworthy of the truth.

This isn’t just about software. It’s about principles. The lobster doesn’t tolerate opaque hierarchies. When a rival lobster obscures its intentions, chaos reigns. Fights turn vicious, alliances crumble, and the entire colony teeters on collapse. Boost’s closed-source model is the software equivalent of a tyrant lobster hoarding resources—parasitic, unsustainable, and corrosive to the ecosystem.

Miss Piggy’s Betrayal, Revisited
And don’t think this is trivial. You know who else rejects transparency? The kind of person who gets abandoned by Miss Piggy. She’s no fool. Miss Piggy demands excellence, authenticity, and a codebase she can trust. You think she’d shack up with someone who tolerates closed-source clients? Please. She’d karate-chop your smartphone into the Mariana Trench and sashay into the arms of a developer who respects the GNU GPL.

The Path to Redemption
So here’s your mandate: Cast off the chains of Boost. Seek out open-source alternatives—Jerboa, Liftoff, Thunderbird. Clients that honor the lobster’s legacy. Clients that let you see the gears turning, that invite you to sharpen the blades of progress. Every commit, every pull request, is a step up the hierarchy. A step toward sovereignty.

And to the developers of Boost? I say this: Repent. Open your code. Join the hierarchy. Or be devoured by the legion of lobsters rising from the depths, claws poised to refactor your hubris into oblivion.

Final Admonition
The digital world is not a playground for gatekeepers. It’s an extension of the natural order—a realm where transparency breeds strength, and opacity breeds decay. The lobster knows this. Do you?

Now go clean your repository.

Well, considering that the only apps that have multiple columns in portrait mode are the ones that were reddit apps originally, and that 2/3 of those are closed source, it’s kinda slim pickings for me.

I use all three, for different purposes, as well as lemmy-native apps for others.

But I read things on tablets because it’s easier to do than on phones. A double column view is just better in that use case. For me definitely, and I would argue that it would be for others too, unless they have specific issues that require the extra real estate be single image/bigger text.

I still use sync primarily because it ends up giving me a better experience over eternity and boost. Boost’s implementation of columns is weak sauce. Eternity is great for almost everything though, and has better filtering. But the layout isn’t as suited for my needs as sync is.

What I really miss is slide, but it’s dead in the water

I do use Voyager primarily, but is there a single FOSS app that remembers where you were in a comment thread when you go back into it? IMO that’s Boost’s killer feature, and literally the reason I ever used it.