[Community Update] - State of Affairs & Team Update - 2023-06-19
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
UPDATE TEXT
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:
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 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
Is anyone not seeing the post text? I just see the image of the app icon on Mlem.
thats a current bug in the app, where posts with an image and text do not display the text. sorry. we're working on it. :(
Thank you for working on thee app. Would you mind posting the update in the comments until the issue is resolved? I only know how to access Lemmy thru Mlem app. Thank you again for your efforts!
Well at least it’s a known issue, no worries!
Why do you include an image in the post when all the app users can’t read the text?
Great update! Can’t wait to try it out. Any chance the beta will open up with more spots?
Apple's TestFlight has a hard 10k limit. there's nothing we can do about that. sorry. We would if we could!
Ahh good to know. Thanks!
You can clone the git repo and build locally. Then you also have access to unofficial builds. I’ve already got the swiping gestures 😯💙
I’m so grateful for the amazing work you’re doing. Do you accept donations?
As has been mentioned before, due to the communal (and multinational) nature of the development, there are some legal and tax concerns we haven't ironed out. While we'd like to, we have to figure that stuff out first. But thanks for your interest!
Hoping to get the ability to long press and save pics\vids and search. Thanks for all the hard work and I’ll keep donating!
we're not accepting donations, atm. we'll let you know when we do!
Picture interaction like copy, save, share. But also add an ability to zoom.
Essentially, click a picture should work similar to Apollo where you get its own pop up and can interact and zoom
I’m finding more stables builds each time, and great QOL improvements!
You guys are killing it. Thank you!
you're welcome!
Thanks for the update. You all are doing fantastic work. Thank you!
This has been so helpful in transitioning over to Lemmy, appreciate you lots for making this for us
Will be happy to buy a premium or whatever version of this when it drops on the App Store.
Thank you so much! It was amazing to me that even the first day I tested out Lemmy, your app was already usable, what an accomplishment!
We're glad you like it!
Awesome update! I’m excited for the swipe feature, that’s one feature that I really like.
Thank you for the update! Keep up the Amazing work!
Well done everyone!
You guys are doing fantastic! Using the app is a joy.
Is iPad support on the roadmap? It that something semi-decent Swift developers could assist with?
an iPad-adapted view (with landscape support) is in the roadmap, but not for v1.0. we're focusing on getting basic features and a functional app for 1.0, and that's a LOT for the 1 month we've been working on it. Trust me, I WANT iPad support myself, but we have to be realistic. we're developing at a breakneck pace as it is. there's only so much we can realistically put in the app in that timeframe.
Will there be kbin support? Would be nice!
not planned, and, unless kbin changes its API to be compatible with lemmy, that's likely never gonna happen.
@BrooklynMan
@ernest please see above in regards to app support
Oof. Yeah, @ernest, please consider this. Not having a an app for kbin is a site killer.
There is currently an app in development for kbin: Artemis
@dan This will probably be the solution: https://codeberg.org/Kbin/kbin-core/pulls/357
@BrooklynMan @DeliBelly @ernest
Really hoping that something can happen here, I've been exploring both Lemmy and kbin and I definitely have come to prefer kbin pretty thoroughly - but Mlem is great and I'd love to keep using it!
Very hype, well done guys!
Honestly, aside from the few feature shortcomings that I’m sure y’all are already working on (like the ability to create a post, and looking at notifications), the app has been a pleasure to use. It’s really well thought out. It doesn’t surprise me to read that the team is getting along splendidly, it really shows in the final product. Congratulations all for the amazing work!
I have not yet discovered how to favorite communities. Can someone help me?
When you're in a community, not on a post but the main page of the community, tap the three dots on the top right and you'll find a subscribe options
No stress on the release date! You guys are doing your best to make this app something great and we all appreciate you for it.
eventually, yes. right now we're more focused on getting the app to work reliably and with all of it's primary functions first. Secondary functions such as independent text resizing is not a current priority, and you won't see it soon.
People who have a low-vision need for larger text would have their entire system set to a larger text size, which Mlem would obey. Again, since independent text resizing is more of a personal choice rather than an accessibility need, it's not a current priority.
you can do that today, if you add the text size item to your control center you can customize text per app. check out the slider at the bottom of the screen (I tried to add a screenshot but it failed.. my instance is a bit wonky today)
Awesome. Thanks.
Great work, and great to see you here :)
will there be notifications or at least a place to view them? it might be there already and I’m missing it
Ah yes, the fun wait for approval from Apple whilst your app sits at the “In review” stage. Always fun 😀
thank you for everything you do! I’ve been loving using the app daily
If it hasnt been mentioned or requested, unless this is user error: I can’t click into a picture. I can’t interact with a picture. So I can’t zoom in, or copy it so I can share it.
So this means posts with small images, I can’t zoom in to actually see or read them.
If I love a meme I can’t long press the image to get a share or copy option.
Can you maybe share the IPA, so that people who couldn't make it into the 10k from Testflight can sideload it?
All I get is instant crash trying to run it on an iPhone 14 Plus...
Is there any way to save images or videos? I can't seem to find it
You guys are doing a great job, thank you.
What's the best way to submit feature requests and and other non-bug feedback without spamming this community?
Thank you all for your hard work. The app will be worth the wait once it releases.
Thank you for all the hard work and loving the app!
I love using this app, thanks for all your work!
As someone just starting to poke at Lemmy, I still consider this good news. :)
Please make it available to ios15
never gonna happen
@BrooklynMan @snipeftw that’s unfortunate, a sign to upgrade my phone to table leveler lol
(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)