Wow is it that time again? Why yes it is, its time for another Thunder release! This release has a lot of minor tweaks and improvements to the overall Thunder experience. I’ll list out a summary of all the update points here, but if you’d like to see the full changes, check out the GitHub release page.

A reminder for anyone who didn’t catch the previous announcement, Thunder is now officially available on Google Play! You should also be able to search up Thunder on the Play Store to find it. For more details about the launch, see this post: https://lemmy.world/post/1631968

If you are using the Google Play version or TestFlight, please note that it may take a bit of time before you receive the update. As always, this is an alpha release, so do expect bugs to pop up here and there. Now onto the update notes. This update brings a few major features:

  • You can now select custom accent colours! This will allow you to choose a splash of colour which will be applied consistently across the whole app. Please note that Material You has to be disabled for the accent colours to be applied properly
  • You can now customize the look of the comment indicators. There are different options to choose from to suit your personal preferences
  • There are even more settings for you to customize. You can hide the FABs, hide NSFW posts, show community icons and authors on posts, and even more!
  • Improvements to link previews. With this, you should be seeing more link previews and it should create a more consistent experience
  • You can now manage blocked communities and users. Simply go to your profile, and there should be a gear icon for you to remove any blocked communities and users.
  • You can now access user and community sidebars. If you visit a community, or a user, you can tap in the info icon to bring up a sidebar filled with all the information you could possible want
  • Overall improvements to performance. This update should feel smoother and there should hopefully be less stuttering happening overall
  • Finally, there has been some under-the-hood changes to allow for localization and translations for the future. Look forward to this in a future update!

We have a Matrix space if you would like to join in on discussions: https://matrix.to/#/#thunderapp:matrix.org

If you find any issues or would like to suggest features, please open up a new issue! As always, contributions are always welcomed here.

I would also like to acknowledge all the following contributors that have worked on this latest release! (in no particular order): @machinaeZER0, @CTalvio, @micahmo, @njshockey, @sant0s12, @ajsosa, @vbh


As always, I would just like to thank everyone so far for the amazing support so far. Thunder is still a project that I can only work on the side, and it has been incredible so far. A lot of my time has been taken up to work on improvements to Thunder, and to maintain active and meaningful conversations to improve the overall experience for Thunder.

If you would like to show a token of appreciation, you can buy me a coffee! The donations will help support some of the development overhead costs (e.g., apple developer program for TestFlight builds) and other costs!

Thanks again for everything so far, and I hope you enjoy this update! Here’s some canned beans for you for reaching the end of this post 🥫🫘

  • @[email protected]
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    411 months ago

    You know, you are making it quite difficult to find accessibility bugs in your app. What the heck am i supposed to contribute when they are all gone? /s

  • @[email protected]
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    411 months ago

    Bang up job as always. This is the best “Alpha” WIP app i have ever seen. Normally when i hear “alpha” i think “buggy”, “unstable”, “missing features”, etc.

  • @[email protected]
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    11 months ago

    Link previews in compact view, hurrah!

    Great update. 😁

    Edit: I like how clicking a comment takes you directly to that comment too. Easier to keep track if there’s a fair few replies to a particular comment.

  • @[email protected]
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    211 months ago

    I know this is a bit late, but I’m very impressed with how far along this app has come! It is starting to become reminiscent of the Reddit app I was using before the APIcalypse, ReddPlanet (iOS).

    • @[email protected]OPM
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      111 months ago

      Thanks for the feedback 😄If you have any feature requests, or anything you feel like is missing, feel free to check out the GitHub page and create a new issue for it!

  • TheSaneWriterA
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    211 months ago

    This is super exciting. I’ll make sure to check out this update as soon as it hits me, I really like the development I’ve been seeing to Thunder and I think the app’s been moving in a positive direction.

      • TheSaneWriterA
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        111 months ago

        Oh yeah, this is great. Everything is more snappy and they added the focused comment view I’ve been wanting. This is an excellent update!

  • MentalEdge
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    11 months ago

    Not mentioned above, but an oft requested feature I implemented is also in this update.

    You will now be able to tap-slide with one finger to zoom images.

    The sidebar also enables blocking users.

    • @[email protected]OPM
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      211 months ago

      Could you clarify a bit more on this? If it’s a feature that is not currently available, feel free to open up a new GitHub issue and provide more details/screenshots!

  • TrashMeNot
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    111 months ago

    This app is my daily driver. It gives me that RIF experience. The comments colors are actually a nice way to remember what part of the tree I’m in.

    If you are like me, and want the pre-release updates. Use Obtainium to pull directly from the github.

    It’s been fascinating watch all the people contribute to build an app from the ground up. Random contributors using their unique skill sets to add to the usability and interface.

    PS. Tablet mode is awesome on the S8 ultra.

    • @[email protected]
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      011 months ago

      Do let us know if you encounter any unique issues on tablet! I don’t think it has gotten nearly as much testing.

  • @[email protected]
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    011 months ago

    Is there a way to quickly go to a subscribed community, either from a list or directly by name?

    • @[email protected]
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      11 months ago

      The top left hamburger icon will open a side drawer that has a list of your subscriptions. You can scroll through that and click the one you want. Hope that helps!

      • RBG
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        211 months ago

        Would be nice to be able to mark some as “favourites” so they come up on top.

        Also putting several communities in the same feed, like a multireddit, e.g. all the meme communities from different instances in one feed, that would be a killer feature. Those multicommunities would then also benefit from.being favourites or not, for easy access.

        • @[email protected]
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          111 months ago

          I really like the idea of custom feeds made up of selected subscription groupings. Can’t speak to if or when such a feature would get implemented. But regardless, if you have the time to open an enhancement issue on GitHub, we would greatly appreciate it!

  • @[email protected]
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    011 months ago

    You know what I would LOVE to see at some point? A separate font size control for comments and post content on post pages (as opposed to the feed).

    • Font size - Post Title
    • Font size - Post & Comment Details (feed text, comment user, etc…the current content setting)
    • Font size - Post Content (post page)
    • Font size - Comment Text

    But aside from that, I’ve been quite liking the app lately. Keep up the good work!