Agreed.

Believe it or not that will not do us any favours lol, the term “forum” is becoming a thing of the past and if we want to become more mainstream and break being a niche platform, that isn’t the way to go.

To be honest you are better off using 3rd party apps on mobile, web is mostly for desktop use and it’s best on desktop. That being said hopefully photon improves in coming updates on mobile as well.

While it would be best if lemmy devs can be more involved with photon, photon is still completely open source and the project is open to contributors, worst case hypothetical scenario of if the project ever gets abandoned it can always be forked, continued, or even better it can be handed by the current dev to someone who can continue to keep it alive.

If photon is widely used I see no reason the dev would just abandon it as it is rather than handing over the project to someone else who has already been contributing.

It seems you’re uncomfortable with the term “default,” and I can understand why. However, when I use “default UI,” I’m referring to what users see when they access a server through its primary link (rather than alternate UI links like those offered by lemmy.world, for example). My proposal to replace the current base UI with Photon doesn’t take away the option for users to continue using alternative UIs if they prefer. That flexibility remains intact. However, the average user, especially those new to Lemmy, is likely to access and evaluate the platform through the default link.

Unless every single server admin changes to alternative UIs manually on their own, “default UI” will exist because a lot of servers, atleast to begin with, settle on whatever Lemmy comes with.

This proposal is aimed at both server admins, particularly those managing “general-purpose” servers where average users are most likely to join, and Lemmy devs themselves. A modern, intuitive default UI could significantly improve first impressions and help attract a broader audience.

In my experience, Photon has been responsive and largely glitch-free in terms of performance, especially compared to Reddit’s new UI, which I personally find horrible. That said, hearing that Photon is being rewritten for further performance improvements is encouraging and only adds to its potential as a suitable base UI.

BTW I actually used an outdated version of Photon on the screenshot, looks like lemmy.world haven’t updated their photon version, I have updated the post with the updated current Photon UI, I think more people will like it. It’s an improvement from the older version.

I mistakenly used the old photon version, I have updated the post with the image of the new current updated version of Photon.

You can customize photon’s post layout to make it more info dense, even more than the newer image I have attached on the post.

I should mention this is mainly for desktop users :), but even for mobile users, people usually check the website first before downloading apps.

People who prefer old Reddit often say the same thing about new Reddit. While old Reddit, or in this case a barebones, simpler UI, is lightweight and “slick,” the reality is that if we want Lemmy to grow beyond its current base of tech-savvy users, we need to consider a different perspective, one that focuses on the needs and expectations of the average user.

For example, despite old Reddit being lighter and having its loyal supporters, 80 to 90 percent of users still prefer new Reddit. As someone who used to moderate on Reddit, I can confirm that the majority of traffic came from new Reddit, even though old Reddit was still available. This highlights how a more modern and user-friendly interface is often what appeals to the majority.

From my personal experience as someone who primarily used new Reddit, Photon feels far more intuitive and familiar compared to the default Lemmy UI. That said, I am not claiming Photon is perfect. However, considering that most alternative UIs are currently niche and their development relies heavily on a small group of contributors, Photon stands out as a mature and robust option.

While it is encouraging to see Lemmy’s developers working on improving the default UI, the project is still in its early stages and may or may not succeed. Why start from scratch or bet on something that is just beginning development when we already have a well-developed alternative like Photon? By adopting Photon as the default, we can take advantage of an existing solution that is in good shape, has significant potential, and can continue to improve with more widespread adoption and contributions.

This approach would ensure that Lemmy becomes more accessible and appealing to the average user, while still leaving room for users to choose other UIs if they prefer. First impressions matter, and adopting a polished and familiar UI could make all the difference in attracting and retaining new users.

BTW those who want to can still change to alternative UIs, nothing will stop them from doing so.

I already created the discord server a long while back when I was at r/RedditAlternatives, people knew what it was and many average users were already on the platform hence accessible, matrix is great but still not at a stage where the average person uses/knows it compared to tech nerds or enthusiasts, besides we already have around 100 people if not more on the discord server, reusing it made more sense for now although I wouldn’t mind creating a matrix in the future once the community grows to offer another way of keeping in touch with our community for those who have or are ready to go to Matrix :)

https://github.com/jwr1/interstellar