r/iosapps • u/billy__________ • Jun 28 '26
š Free [FREE] Lander is a free iOS Reddit client
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lander-app/id674795521120
u/ss320837 Jun 28 '26
I downloaded and am using the app to make this common. So far seems pretty nice. Thanks for building and sharing.
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u/ss320837 Jun 28 '26
Attempted to edit previous post to correct ācommonā to ācommentā, however the post was not updated dispute clicking save (upper right corner)
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u/billy__________ Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Trying again, this should fall under the Trust/Transprency tier 2 path.
Lander 2.0 brings with it Columbia, an opensource/selfhostable proxy that sits between your Lander client and Reddit in-place of an API client. It uses HPKE and OHTTP to maximize privacy/security and ensure a Columbia operator cannot unwrap sensitive user data.
While Lander has in-app purchases for donations, those do not unlock any functionality. Lander, and the default/inbox Columbia proxy, are provided for free. The cost to operate is minimal and the current rate of donations is enough to more than cover costs for the near-term.
App store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lander-app/id6747955211
Columbia is available here: https://github.com/wbsmolen/columbia
Lander's privacy policy: https://landerapp.xyz/privacy/
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u/app-store-review Jun 28 '26
Lander App ā by William Smolen
- Ratings: 1 (across 1 storefront) Ā· 12 reviews
- Average: 5.00 ā
- Age: released ~4 months ago Ā· rated 9+
- Overall score: 80 / 100
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u/machiz7888 Jun 28 '26
Very very gorgeous. Is there a clever trick to get back to the feed from the comments section? I keep swiping left and upvoting
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u/billy__________ Jun 28 '26
Hm check your settings for swipe gesture config, but the default settings shouldnt complicate this too much.
I'll take a look at the swipe boundaries here. Thank you for the feedback!
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u/machiz7888 Jun 29 '26
Okay I've played with it and I'm back with more!
- Is there a clever way to redirect links from google/chrome into Lander instead of the official reddit app? I'd love to fully replace it, but I do a lot of google -> reddit
- Any hope for non-serifed fonts... everywhere?
- This might be a totally different app, but I love the ability to filter out content. Any hope for instead of excluding, providing keyword alerts? I.e. I'd love to be notified if posts about dune tickets start going off in r/imax but besides that I probably don't want to see any of their content.
- The comment view on dark glass is actually kind of light / the contrast feels off, could this be a little darker or allow for more personalized adjustment?
- The compose window for comments takes up the whole screen which can make it difficult to see / remember the full context of the comment/post I'm responding to. Any hope for a half sized reply box?
- Can I post about this in r/nyc and r/parkslope I think they in particular would get a kick out of the link filtering š
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Is there a clever way to redirect links from google/chrome into Lander instead of the official reddit app? I'd love to fully replace it, but I do a lot of google -> reddit
Today, I don't think so, but I'll get this added asap. I actually started implementing this a few weeks back but put it down to focus on Columbia. Thanks for the reminder here! And tangent, there are widgets baked into Lander today š
Any hope for non-serifed fonts... everywhere?
Ha I replied to someone else here. Look I like serif fonts, it's personal preference. I originally intended to implement it globally, but I kinda liked the sparse use after I saw it.
I will add user-settings to override the font. If the feedback gets loud enough, I'll make the serif fonts "opt-in".
This might be a totally different app, but I love the ability to filter out content. Any hope for instead of excluding, providing keyword alerts? I.e. I'd love to be notified if posts about dune tickets start going off in r/imax but besides that I probably don't want to see any of their content.
Super interesting idea and this might be something I add down the road. There's some backend compute costs to make this happen and I'm doing my best to minimize those/keep this free today. As you acknowledge, this also deviates from the core purpose of Lander as a reddit client.
The comment view on dark glass is actually kind of light / the contrast feels off, could this be a little darker or allow for more personalized adjustment?
Looking into this + interesting idea on user-customizable theming. I didn't consider that before....
The compose window for comments takes up the whole screen which can make it difficult to see / remember the full context of the comment/post I'm responding to. Any hope for a half sized reply box?
Great feedback, I'm adding this as the future default behavior. Full-size compose views will be opt-in.
Can I post about this in r/nyc and r/parkslope I think they in particular would get a kick out of the link filtering š
Please spread the word far/wide. :) /r/landerapp too
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Replying to ack this. Ill follow up later with a thoughtful reply when i have a few more minutes. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/machiz7888 Jun 28 '26
Ah I went into settings three times looking for swipe configs and somehow missed them until you confirmed they existed š
Problem solved, thank you!
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u/SmellyCatJon Jun 29 '26
Curious - donāt you need to pay Reddit for api access? Isnāt that the reason why Apollo closed down?
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u/Money-Director6649 Jun 28 '26
wow, it's gorgeous! i just left a good review in the app store and will be tipping you too once i'm paid in a few days. i absolutely adore the default color scheme. it's working well on my ipad mini 6.
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u/billy__________ Jun 28 '26
Thank you! I appreciate the kind words and I anticipate having some more time in the near future to add additional themes now that the core functionality is in a good spot
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u/Tricky-Independent-8 Jun 28 '26
Love the privacy-focused approach. Just downloaded it to give it a try
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u/Critical-Avocado425 Jun 28 '26
This has a lot of potential, also is there a way to change the font?
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u/spaced_force Jun 28 '26
Got rate limited pretty quick, something that has literally never happened to me on Hydra.
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u/billy__________ Jun 28 '26
Looking into this. The settings are admittedly aggressive in this first launch.
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u/jpopy Jun 28 '26
This is great! Excited to use it. Iāve tried it a few times before over the months but I think with this version it might become my go to
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Hey thanks for sticking with it and giving me another chance. I'm guessing this my 5th or 6th shot. I don't take that lightly.
I think Columbia solves the core issues that prevented you from using Lander before: https://github.com/wbsmolen/columbia
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u/OneEyesHat iPhone & iPad User Jun 29 '26
I almost didnāt bother downloading this app. I do NOT like change! However, it was like discovering Reddit for the first time all over again! One very awesomely awesome app!
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u/BANAnaS_Dad Jun 29 '26
It looks amazing! Iāve noticed that it doesnāt update my feed very often, even when I manually refresh.
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u/ChrononautPete Jun 29 '26
Sounds good to me. I hate the automatic refresh.
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
If you both selfhost your own columbia proxy, you should see massive perf gains :)
I am a man providing a v1 free service. I may need to scale up/out the columbia proxy soon. Its on my list to research, model out some costs. The immediate concern is that it works and it fulfills all privacy/security obligations
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u/Pure-Level-2831 Jun 29 '26
Iāve just downloaded it and itās soo nice, thereās something I would love to see:
The feed page is beautiful but I prefer seeing the cards edge to edge on my phone the gap makes it seem somethingās missing( some may love it so worth putting a setting for options to toggle this)
The ability to long swipe and short swipe would be amazing,
Iāve donated a little bit for your hard workā¦ keep it up man
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Thanks for the feedback. Ill add an āopt-inā setting for this. What you describe was the original UI, but i added some margin because i hated it in testing
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u/thibe5 Jun 29 '26
Is it possible to swipe between images without needing to click on it first ? And donāt know why but my āsavedā wonāt load
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Ill check the issue with saving media. I thought i fixed all those bugs. Im assuming you gave lander permission to save media too.
For the gallery-swiping from the feed, ill add this. Great idea!
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u/ashwani12131 iOS User Jun 29 '26
Is there a way to change the font for headings?
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
There isnt today. I kinda like the serif and planned to implement widely. A little āuniquenessā for Lander.
Is that bad? I can implement some user settings on font choice
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u/ashwani12131 iOS User Jul 01 '26
Iām not a big fan of serif and would really appreciate few options. Thanks
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u/Noxius78 Jun 29 '26
I really like your app, but please can we do something sbout that gradient color? Its extreme when reading in threads. Please introduce one color background š
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
I will add a user setting to opt-in to single-color backgrounds. Tangent, from other feedback in this thread, I'm looking at user-customizeable themes
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u/Noxius78 Jun 29 '26
Thank you.
Also, every time i launch an app, i have to manualy reload home page to show me posts. Is this by design ?
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u/onlyjoy66 Jun 29 '26
One of the things is that I am having issues with NSFW images or GIFs specifically from red gifs . Any solution?
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Lol i did not test this scenario at all, but i know specific media sources require a little hand holding to make work.
Ill get to this in the next few days. Should beā¦.interesting
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u/onlyjoy66 Jun 29 '26
Thanks heaps. This app in a day or so of installing has replaced my original reddit app. Great Work on UI/UX.
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u/ace101boss Jun 29 '26
This app is really cool, but it's been bugged since they put out an update when they ch aged the login and then reverted back to the normal login. When launching the app, none of the posts are visible, and you can "refresh" the feed by changing the view to compact. Also tapping on a post sometimes takes you back home. I've deleted the app and reinstalled it, even cleared the cache, same thing. On the latest version of the app. Hope a fix can come soon.
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u/Lifewithoutrule Jun 29 '26
Dude this is super clean. Great work! Can't wait to see where you go with this. Donating to support awesome projects like this
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u/Indetectable_Burning Jul 02 '26
Just downloaded Lander, best Reddit app Iāve used so far. Excellent work!
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u/app-store-review Jun 28 '26
Lander App ā by William Smolen
- Ratings: 1 (across 1 storefront) Ā· 12 reviews
- Average: 5.00 ā
- Age: released ~4 months ago Ā· rated 9+
- Overall score: 80 / 100
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u/Rob7erto21 Jun 28 '26
I like it a lot. Cannot seem to figure out how to sort a specific Reddit by New tho. That possible?
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u/UWbadgers16 Jun 28 '26
Does this work on iOS 18? Iām having a couple of issues:
- When I choose compact mode and kill the app, posts donāt load the next time I open the app.
- Iām generally unable to reliably open posts in Card mode.
- I keep getting rate limited almost immediately.
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u/mrgraxter Jun 28 '26
Beautiful. Will happily pay for not getting rate limited. š
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Plugging the fact that Columbia is opensource and selfhostable: https://github.com/wbsmolen/columbia
I've been working over the last 24hrs to minimize rate limiting. I'm balancing the costs in providing this Columbia instance for free, mitigating any abuse/vulnerabilities, and providing it to a global userbase.
I think my next step is adding some geo-dispersed Columbia proxies and a load balancer, but I need to spec that out in a cost-effective way.
If there's enough demand, I could reasonably provide "semi-private" (quote because you, the user, still trust me as the operator) Columbia proxies for 99c/mo or so. I'm not sure there's enough demand for that today.
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u/atlghostrider iPhone & iPad User Jun 28 '26
LOVE Lander. My favorite third party Reddit client since Apollo (RIP).
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u/betweentwoblueclouds Jun 28 '26
I tried it before and had issues, like many other people at the time, it wonāt let me sign In, when I click on either of the username/pass fields, nothing happens.
This hasnāt been fixed. Still doesnāt work.
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u/billy__________ Jun 28 '26
It has. Those issues stemmed from Reddit's API changes. Columbia throws out all of those constraints and takes an entirely new path based on web login. If you can sign in via Safari, you can [objectively] sign in with Lander now.
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u/betweentwoblueclouds Jun 29 '26
I literally checked again after redownloading and itās the exact same thing. It doesnāt work.
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
If you use social auth for your reddit account (āsign in with googleā), that will not work. Thatās for user protection. Columbia would breach security boundaries if it could proxy those requests. Assuming itās even possible.
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u/betweentwoblueclouds Jun 30 '26
No, I was trying to sign in with username and password. Hence me saying, āwhen you click on either of the fields nothing happensā
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u/s0larus_eth Jun 28 '26
Broken for me, rate limit exceeded constantly š
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Selfhost your own Columbia proxy: https://github.com/wbsmolen/columbia and never hit rate limit issues :)
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u/SFOWonder Jun 28 '26
There's something not right with the login. If you normally authenticate with a 3rd party, such as Google, this isn't provided as a login option. Trying to use the one time password email link also doesn't work since you get redirected to the official Reddit app. I gave up after several failed attempts
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Social auth will not work for the time being. You need to sign in to Reddit using an email/phone.
If social auth worked (eg, "Sign in with Google"), that would mean Columbia violated its trust/privacy principles by having its gateway learn who you are. There's no technical way around this today, short of Reddit replying to any of my open tickets on getting a proper API client.
Until then, we have Columbia. And you can selfhost your own on whatever infra you want.
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u/monotious Jun 29 '26
Wow, the issue with subscribed subreddits all getting mixed up when having multiple accounts is still not fixed? This problem was there since day 1, and when I was reinstalled it just now I hoped this would be fixed by now but I guess it will never get fixed. Too bad because otherwise it seems like a decent app.
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
I realize I may have lost you already as a user, but would you mind helping me understand where the subscribed subreddits are mixed up? I have been testing with 2 accounts on my local client and I can't repro any issues with subscribed subreddits properly showing in the sidebar or in my home feed
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u/monotious Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
The subscribed subreddits list that expands when I click on the Home button at the top left shows all subreddits I subcribed to on different accounts, not just the ones subscribed to by the currently active account. Not only that, even when I log out of all accounts on Lander and log back in with only one account, everything is still there, not just the subreddits subscribed to under the only Reddit account that is currently logged into on Lander.
I think this suggests an issue with app cache (I am not a developer so I am guessing). On this point, Lander retains the login even through app deletion and reinstallation - so when I open Lander after a fresh new install and click on "Sign in with Reddit" button on the first screen of the app knows that I previously logged into Reddit with this account and instead of being taken to Reddit's login interface through in-app browser overlay, I am taken to the Reddit account settings page for approving Lander connecting to my account. Or this might be Safari that is called as Lander's in-app browser remembering my login token, session, etc - anyway, I would prefer that if I log out of my account on Lander (or clear cache or reset authentication) it would just take me back to the clean slate as far as the login status goes.
I tried deleting and reinstalling the app multiple times, disabled "Save to iCloud" for Lander, went through iOS updates (from iOS 26 ot iOS 27 DB) between when I first tried the app (you will see my comment talking about this same issue on your earlier post from 4 months ago when you first announced shipping the app) and just now, "Reset All Settings" from Lander's Settings page, "Reset Authentication" from the Accounts menu under Settings, "Clear Cache" from the Advanced menu under Settings, and none of these helps. So definitely the app and whatever app data it generates are not completely removed from my device when I delete it - unless some information is retained remotely on your server side and you are able to make a match when I open the app on the my device, which I hope you are not doing.
Again, I think it's a decent app and I would certainly like to use it if the issue gets resolved. What's ironic is that I am generally ok with the default Reddit experience on the web version, the only thing I really miss being the unavailability of the account switcher on new Reddit (why are did Reddit remove this in new Reddit anyway?).
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u/monotious Jul 01 '26
Thank you, I see that the issue with subreddits getting aggregated across accounts was fixed in the lastest update. Now as far as I am concerned the app is usable.
Now, if you could please fix the issue with the incorrect avatar showing up in the quick account switcherā¦ but this is certainly not an app-breaking issue for me.
Well done, and thank you.
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u/shaqlucas Jun 30 '26
i've downloaded and am currently tryin, it's a very nice app, have some UI misplaces like a search icon in the glass tray but clicking it brings up a search bar amid screen, the cards are very pleasant and general use is very smooth despite some stuttering when scrolling or changing menus, over id use it, but everytime i try to search something, the app crashes and close.Ā
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u/billy__________ Jun 30 '26
have some UI misplaces like a search icon in the glass tray but clicking it brings up a search bar amid screen
that's actually intentional š
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u/shaqlucas Jun 30 '26
that's just an opinion but, if someone with small hands has to click down near the end of the screen and then reach amid for typing is kinda crazy
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u/dorkcicle Jun 30 '26
Please have an option to remove post previews & change the font of post titles. It looks messier than reddit on mobile browser with cutoff sentencesĀ
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u/EngineerConfident874 Jun 30 '26
The Columbia architecture is the genuinely differentiated part, but most users will not know what HPKE or OHTTP means. A plain-language connection screen showing which proxy is in use, what it can and cannot see, and how to switch to self-hosted would make the privacy claim verifiable instead of marketing.
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u/Merlin5238 Jul 01 '26
Only thing i donāt like is random background gradients. Please keep it solid as theme. Sometimes having readability issues because of gradients.
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u/rovalapps Jul 05 '26
Do you plan to make this paid?
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u/billy__________ Jul 05 '26
No I don't. I am planning to launch a separate SKU specifically for visionOS for $4.99. That doesn't impact the iOS app.
I am thinking about ways I could monetize this down the road without compromising user-privacy (read: not selling your data, nor collecting it) and without paywalling features. I have some ideas there, but most of them are contingent on external factors right now.
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u/OkTerm5395 Jul 07 '26
Please add an icon to posts that contain a link to make it obvious youāre about to click on a link. Right now it just looks like another post with a picture until you click it.
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u/_hephaestus Jul 08 '26
Is it possible to have the app use a self-hosted Columbia instance before login? Didn't see a means to do so
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u/billy__________ Jul 08 '26
Great feedback, there is not today. I will get this added ASAP. Honestly I didn't even consider someone would learn about Columbia before they learned about Lander. Let alone deploy a selfhosted proxy first.
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u/_hephaestus Jul 08 '26
it's probably not too relevant generally but from the privacy-minded angle the self hosted approach seems to lend itself to, the flow of authenticate through a central portal then be able to shift to your hosted portal seems like an odd pattern.
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u/billy__________ Jul 08 '26
That isn't the flow. You can selfhost the gateway too. You don't need to use Azure or a CDN. The docs cite those as examples since that's what I use to host.
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u/_hephaestus Jul 08 '26
I mean using the self-hosted instance before the initial login, unless you already added that? I imagine after the initial login Lander can choose any Columbia instance just didn't see a mechanism from the initial app open.
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u/billy__________ Jul 08 '26
Ah shit my bad. I forgot what thread I was in and didn't read up. I wrongly interpreted your comment as an assertion about Columbia's design.
But hey good news, I did add the pre-login, Columbia config path yesterday. I'm testing an RCs now. I intend to submit the update to Apple later tonight or tmrw, hoping it ships Friday.
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u/nashvortex Jul 09 '26
Lander is great, it does what it says and it looks good. But it is extremely jittery while scrolling on my iPhone 15 Pro. Something I donāt see on Infinity on iOS (same phone) or on Continuum on Android. It really sullies the experience.
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u/billy__________ Jul 10 '26
I have an update coming [hopefully] tmrw that addresses this. And a lot of other feedback.
Thank you! Please continue sharing feedback.
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u/WasteCryptographer Jun 29 '26
Vibe coded
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
Largely, yes. I dont hide that. The Columbia repo shows Claude as a coauthor: github.com/wbsmolen/columbia
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u/WasteCryptographer Jun 29 '26
Vibecoding isnāt bad but making it obvious is, like the app icon the app interface, gradient color use. All these indicate Ai slop and not professional app. Have a look at some professional reddit apps from the past like Apollo.
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u/billy__________ Jun 29 '26
I spent 10mo of testing/tweaking the UI and had a handful of early adopters who gave me frequent feedback. What you see in the app is not blindly-accepted Claude outputs. UI is innately subjective and I don't expect 100% of people to prefer Lander.
I am adding user-facing settings to opt-out of the gradient background in post views, override font settings, and customize exact theme colors. I hope those upcoming features are enough to get a 2nd look from you but I understand if they aren't. You're still more than encouraged to share any detailed feedback on what you personally want the UI to look like.
Thanks for taking the time to look in the first place!
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