Why are all basic app settings tied to the Lemmy account/instance? (lemdro.id)

submitted 1 year ago by PurpleTentacle@lemdro.id to c/syncforlemmy@lemmy.world

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Why on earth are most, if not all (?), basic and general app settings tied to the Lemmy account@instance?

It really doesn't make sense to me that stuff like "base font size" and virtually all app usability and appearance settings are reset to their defaults every time I add or switch Lemmy accounts/instances.

Even if there are good arguments to be made that the app *should *look completely different for each account@instance and not share any settings between them (and I'm struggling to think of many), why would that be default behavior?

I'm pretty sure my app's font size and media handling didn't change every time when I switched accounts in Sync for Reddit.

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[-] can@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Create a backup.

Settings shortcut: Backup > Backup now

Then import it on new accounts.

Settings shortcut: Backup > Restore from backup

[-] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 20 points 1 year ago

This is a good workaround, but still a workaround.

[-] can@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

If you have many accounts I suppose. I have only a few I use and I keep their setting mostly the same but with different base colours.

[-] PurpleTentacle@lemdro.id 13 points 1 year ago

Now do that for 10 different Lemmy instances every single time you choose to change a setting ...

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Hmm... Maybe a single button down by import/export to push the current settings to all accounts.

[-] CrayonRosary@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It definitely needs a way to sync some settings (most?) between accounts. There are some I would not want synced when performing a settings sync. For one, I really like how each account can have their own image download folder. That way my, uh... one account's image downloads go to a hidden folder. I also have a different view mode set for that account.

What I did with Sync for Reddit was setup one account the way I wanted most to be, then saved a settings backup into a folder called "Default". When I needed a new account for some reason, I would set that folder as that account's backup folder and load the backup.

It worked "OK". The problem is when you find a few other little settings to change on one account and have to remember to do another backup so you can load it in your other accounts at some point.

I feel like everyone's going to have their own opinions on which settings should be the same on every account, and which should be separate. The sensible thing is to have them all be separate with a way to sync them between accounts, which is what we have now. A simpler "settings sync" feature would save about 6 taps after adding a new account. Six taps really isn't a big deal, but it would be nice to have that feature.