I gave sync a try earlier and definitely did see ads. Ngl, I've gotten somewhat used to Liftoff (although collapsed comments reopen once they're offscreen) and it's not too bad.

I'm looking forward to trying out Artemis once it's out since it also supports Mastodon.

This comes at a time where I'm considering replacing my 5 year old phone battery due to significant degradation, but at the cost of my phone's water resistance. I'm all for user repairability and really look forward to these consumer friendly changes.