Universal Twitter alternatives: Mastodon & co apps

[pacorob]

Introduction:

I've been using alternatives for Twitter in recent days such as Hive Social (more Instagram like, buggy and slow, no known users, account mess), Koo (no active EU users mostly Brazil and Indian users), Post.News (only site, no apps yet) looks good though. BlueSky Social (sign up list) and Tumblr (currently more Instagram like), Pleroma (not much known users, limited amount of apps: Tusker, B4X). I haven't used Parler, Truth Social and Tribel since I think these are to biased (my opinion). The best option for me a(s a person living in the EU) is Mastodon in the end.

Mastodon:

Some background on what Mastodon is and that it is different from Twitter please read: https://mastodon.help/ and also TechCrunch wrote a good article about the features and limitations.
You can create an account and select a service via: https://joinmastodon.org/
The official Mastodon app is really limited so better not use that.

In general all apps do lack certain features which the browser version has but some of these apps haven't been around for long but rolling out tons of features (e.g. Mastoot, tooot).

Mastodon in general isn't perfect but it does do the trick mostly for me. Hoping that more Twitter users make the switch and that a federate search so to search in all instances will be possible in the future.
I'm missing in general on Mastodon:

- there is no way to search in all instances (to my knowledge) which is a big limitation, what you can search
- quote toot doesn't officialy exist (as available on Twitter), however there are some third party apps that offer support for it (Ice Cubes, Trunks)
- you can only add people/accounts to your List(s) if you are following them (different from Twitter)
- you can't see followers / following in apps for users that have an account at another instance, only possible to see via browser (I hope third party apps can get this fixed if technically possible).
- DMs aren't private messages, they are username posts

Do definitely also check out this Google Docs Spreadsheet for a more detailed (and more up to date) comparison which doesn't contain all apps (e.g. Pipilo, Fedigardens, FediFriend, Twoot it!, Think Social, Komondor, Trunk and Twidere X). In addition it contains some older apps which haven't been updated in years. This wat originally posted on Reddit.

The (third party) iOS apps around are:

- Ivory (App Store, account on Mastodon, website, TestFlight) - subscription based: 1.99 euro month or 17.99 euro year - by Tapbot (which created the well known Tweetbot) - has list support, multiple accounts, slick UI, push notifications, iPad column layout, edit post, edit profile, add GIF to post
Cons: only partly hashtag support (follow hashtag timeline is still missing to my knowledge), no option to draw, no emoticons, no history of post edits.

- Woolly (App Store, dev. account, website) - subscription based: 0.99 euro month or 7.99 euro year - UI really nice, fast, adjustable columns, great iPad multi column layout, hashtag support, easily access to hashtags and lists, GIF in post, edit post
Cons: lacks edit/add list, edit profile, no private note

- Mona (App Store, dev. account, ) - free, full version pay once (11.99 euro)
It has tons of features it supports, not all but most of them. Great to see a pay once client soon in the App Store.
Cons: not my favorite UI (personal opinion)

- trunks (Mastodon account, App Store) - free (no tracking) Is a really nice Mastodon client: fast and slick UI (my opinion). There is also a nice web client (in alpha) and on Android as well. It is slick, fast and has language translation option, full list and hashtag support, see edit history of a post, edit profile, has a column layout although posts side by side not lists and hashtag side by side for iPad.
Cons: GIF to post support, no private note, create a drawing and add to post, adjustable footer, bug that you can move cursor in post creation, doesn't follow Mastodon API for followed hashtags you need to manually search and pin them to have the easily accessible, no true iPad column option for e.g. lists and hashtag side by side (only posts or notifications side by side), can't press links in bio or press on stats 'posts' on profile page.

- Ice Cubes (website, App Store, TestFlight, dev. account, app account) - free, with optional in-app - lots of features: full lists support, full hashtag support, push notification, multiple accounts possible, remember last position in time, edit post, edit profile, read and save other instances and love the fact lists, hashtags and other instances are really quickly accessible via the timeline (top), find a user with their name (besides with their username)
Cons: slow response time when switching between tabs/starting the app. Some of the feature wishes: add audio to post (you can view/listen them in timeline), schedule post, full iPad column support like Mammoth/Woolly have, GIF to post support, toggle excl. boosts + replies in timeline, report user, create a drawing and add to post, adjustable footer

- Manny (website, App Store) - free, with optional in-app to support developer - quite some customizable options but still lacking quite some features

- Mammoth (website, App Store) - free, but will might become subscription based - lots of features (save hashtags, lists, History of post edits, total replies, edit posts), iPad column layout Feature wise it's the best option around however see cons:
Cons: was really unstable, haven't used it in a while

- tooot (website, App Store, dev. account) - free - UI excellent and tons of handy features: toot history, posted by client, has support for multiple accounts, list support, full hashtag support, push notifications, edit profile, edit post, note: do turn off in settings the anonymized tracking when using. Cons: Clean UI, however lacks customization for e.g. lists and hashtags to be more prominent instead of at Profile, lacks iPad columns layout

- Mastodon for iPhone and iPad (website, App Store) - free - trending hashtags, follow/unfollow hashtags, push notifications, edit profile, multiple accounts, iPad column layout
Cons: no list support, no edit post option, lacks many other features third party clients like e.g. Ice Cubes, Mona and Trunks do have.

- Mastoot (website, App Store, dev. account) - free - tons of features and pretty good UI, timeline sync, push notifications supported, theme support, has support for multiple accounts, hashtags (save/remove, read saved hashtags, trending hashtags), features are constantly added after launch in April 2022
Cons: lacks lists, showing total characters for a toot, not showing total replies only 1+, can't add multiple images in one go for a post (you can do it but one by one), no option to edit profile in app but redirect

- Toot! (App Store, dev. account) - paid: 3.99 dollar (once) - push notification support, supports multiple accounts, has full list support, theme support and has it's own hashtag support (on iPhone tap the lower right button to see Federated timeline where you will also see hashtags that you saved with Toot! (it won't recognise the main hashtags you created in other clients).
Cons: lacks showing separate toots and toots and replies on profile, no option to edit profile in app but redirect, personal opinion: not a fan of the UI, e.g. Search in at '...'

- Metatext (website, App Store) - free - lots of features (lists: view, add, create, see trending hashtags, (no option to save read saved hashtags) push notifications, multiple accounts possible, thread posts in one go, remember last position in timeline).
Cons: slow and timeouts, lacks edit toots, lacks saving/reading saved hashtags, no option to edit profile in app but redirect - Note: the developer has paused development due to health issues.

- Tusker (App Store, in TestFlight, dev. account) - free - has full list and hashtag support, has support for multiple accounts, Cons: lacks edit/delete posts, no push notifications possible, no option to edit profile, you can't search in other instances (you can save instances though), you can't see total followers/following on your profile

- Tootoise (App Store, dev. account) - free - UI nice but lacks features

- Komondor (TestFlight, dev. account) - really limited functionality last time I tried

- Trunk - (TestFlight) - really limited functionality currently

Haven't been updated / poor quality:
- Mercury for Mastodon (last update 2021)
- Tootle for Mastodon (last update 2020)
- Tootter (with ads)
- StarPterano (ugly UI and not much features)

 

[MisterSavage]

Thanks for the summary. I haven't researched yet and this is helpful.

 

[pacorob]

Thanks for the summary. I haven't researched yet and this is helpful.

Sure glad I can help.

I just added a bit more introduction to the post to explain a bit more the differences with e.g. Twitter.

Mastodon has it's strongpoints but also limitations due to the different servers you create an account on and what limitations the developer set on servers and who can access their servers and the limited searching in other instances/servers.

Possible Koo and Post.News could be serious alternatives (Hive Social definitely not) in the US for Twitter but for now I haven't found much users from my country or international people I follow on e.g. Koo while I do find quite a few on Mastodon.

 

[LogicalApex]

There is an attempt at a wider search engine across the Fediverse @ https://search.noc.social/

 

[lexvo]

Thanks for sharing this!

I have only a few weeks Mastodon experience, but here are my additional impressions of some apps:

Official Mastodon app
I agree with you that it is limited

Metatext
I started with this app as my go-to app after reading some reviews. I haven't encountered any slowness, and only occasionally a timeout.

Plus
+ looks like it has the best search function, finds often more users or hashtags than Tooot and Mastoot
+ follow local timeline of other instances
+ open source
+ list of trending hashtags, with number of people talking
+ shows number of people talking besides hashtags when searching

Minus
- dark mode is pure black; too much contrast for my taste, I prefer dark grey for comfortable reading
- I've read that the developer has paused development, see: https://mastodon.social/@metabolist/109422457953717612

Tooot
I installed this app recently and trying it out now

Plus
+ dark mode is a nice dark gray
+ follow hashtag
+ edit user profile in app

Minus
- use of iPad landscape mode is not well implemented. It renders many images in timeline blurry (tapping on an image gives a sharp image), many images are too big on iPad in landscape mode. With a lot of text readability would be better if the toots were less wide
- search function sometimes finds less users/hashtags than the website or Metatext

Mastoot
I installed this app recently and trying it out now

Plus
+ timeline sync!
+ unread post count in timeline
+ follow hashtags in a separate list/timeline

So-so
+/- dark mode has option for dark gray, but for me it is still a bit too dark

Minus
- search function sometimes finds less users/hashtags than the website or Metatext

Toot!
I have used this app almost exclusively the past time

Plus
+ UI is for me the nicest of the apps I tried so far, but it‘s certainly not perfect
+ dark mode with nice grey
+ several color themes
+ follow hashtags and other instances in a separate list/timeline

Minus
- search function sometimes finds less users/hashtags than the website or Metatext
- occasional crash when adding image from photo roll to toot
- no timeline sync
- no unread post count in timeline (surprised me a bit)

Summary: Metatext, Tooot, Mastoot and Toot! are nice apps, but each has its shortcomings. But I’m tending to Mastoot and Toot! as my favorite apps.

Note: I edited this post several times.

 

[lexvo]

I just discovered that Mastoot has timeline sync! This is massive, because I both use my iPad and iPhone for Mastodon.

 

[pacorob]

Thanks for sharing this!

Metatext
I am using this as my go-to app after reading some reviews. I haven't encountered any slowness, and only occasionally a timeout.

Plus
+ edit user profile in app

Summary: Metatext, Tooot and Mastoot are nice apps, but each has its shortcomings.

As far as edit profile I think only tooot offers editing profile within the app. All others (Toot!, Mastoot, Metatext) have a redirect to the Mastodon website where you can edit it (with Toot! you have to login with others you are already logged in).

Thanks for your detailed response and also testing out some of the apps. I've updated my original TS since my post was incomplete, some features were added or I incorrectly stated that a feature was missing. In addition I've added Ivory (from Tapbot) and Mammoth since both do deserve to be mentioned as well (both in TestFlight) and much more details such as color theme option that some offer also seeing the history of toots is nice (tooot, Mammoth).

I agree at the moment they all have their shortcomings. I do think Mastoot looks most promising as far as recent progress. It is unfortunate that the developer of Metatext has health issues and therefore stopped working on development recently.

 

[lexvo]

As far as edit profile I think only tooot offers editing profile within the app. All others (Toot!, Mastoot, Metatext) have a redirect to the Mastodon website where you can edit it (with Toot! you have to login with others you are already logged in).

Thanks for your detailed response and also testing out some of the apps. I've updated my original TS since my post was incomplete, some features were added or I incorrectly stated that a feature was missing. In addition I've added Ivory (from Tapbot) and Mammoth since both do deserve to be mentioned as well (both in TestFlight) and much more details such as color theme option that some offer also seeing the history of toots is nice (tooot, Mammoth).

I agree at the moment they all have their shortcomings. I do think Mastoot looks most promising as far as recent progress. It is unfortunate that the developer of Metatext has health issues and therefore stopped working on development recently.

You’re right: only Tooot offers true in-app editing of the user profile. I edited my post to correct this. I also made some other small edits as I found out more about these apps.

Mastoot is my favorite app at the moment, and as a Tweetbot user I am also curious about Ivory.

 

[pacorob]

I've added the official Mastodon app as well in the TS just now since they added hashtag (see follow hashtags, unfollow hashtags, trending) support. Still lacking list support and edit posts though.

 

[pacorob]

Some new clients have been added to TS and there have been some updates to existing clients and I tried to update that also in TS. For example you can now also edit a post in Mammoth.

- Woolly (TestFlight, dev. account) - UI really nice (e.g. adjustable columns) but lacks features but just launched in alpha version recently - looks really promising but needs further features to become a daily driver

- Komondor (TestFlight, dev. account) - Will be testing it soon.

- Trunk - In TestFlight - really limited functionality currently

- Mona (dev. account) - expected

 

[lexvo]

I just bought Toot! and I like it so far. Not perfect of course but I was pleasantly surprised by the user interface, especially on iPad. Yes there are some differences with the iPhone version, like the search via "..." as pacorob mentioned, on iPad this is a separate option. But for interacting with toots it reminded me a bit of Tweetbot which has a (in my opinion) very thought out interface. Other apps I tested are not bad but lack the fluency of Toot! Of course this is very personal and just some first impressions.

I also discovered that Toot! has hashtag support: you can pin a hashtag and the app creates a separate list.

Alas, it does not have timeline-sync.

 

[MisterSavage]

So the part about Ivory is partially correct. Their TestFlight is full BUT they periodically release more slots. Was lucky and snagged one. Feels way farther along than I expected. Notifications are working. You can't follow hashtags yet but it's planned. I'm 100% paying for this when it's released.

 

[pacorob]

I just bought Toot! and I like it so far. Not perfect of course but I was pleasantly surprised by the user interface, especially on iPad. Yes there are some differences with the iPhone version, like the search via "..." as pacorob mentioned, on iPad this is a separate option. But for interacting with toots it reminded me a bit of Tweetbot which has a (in my opinion) very thought out interface. Other apps I tested are not bad but lack the fluency of Toot! Of course this is very personal and just some first impressions.

I also discovered that Toot! has hashtag support: you can pin a hashtag and the app creates a separate list.

Alas, it does not have timeline-sync.

Where did you find the hashtag support? I was able to 'pin' a hashtag but can't find anywhere the option to see my earlier saved hashtags in a timeline for that specific hashtag? I'm looking at the app on my iPhone. I can't get used to the app on iPhone where I mostly use it. On iPad I should try it once again. I do prefer the Mammoth and Tusker apps on iPad but as written above the Mammoth apps is really great as far as features but remains really buggy and Tusker lacks notifications and edit post.

So the part about Ivory is partially correct. Their TestFlight is full BUT they periodically release more slots. Was lucky and snagged one. Feels way farther along than I expected. Notifications are working. You can't follow hashtags yet but it's planned. I'm 100% paying for this when it's released.

I've updated it in the TS to make it a bit clearer. I tried to get in in recent days as well but the European time was right at the moment when I was making diner and taking care of the kids. I had hoped for later in the evening (CET). I hope I can also soon get access so I can add it to the iOS Mastodon comparison sheet. I still also have to add Komondor and Trunk as well but for now seem more limited then others.

 

[MisterSavage]

I've updated it in the TS to make it a bit clearer. I tried to get in in recent days as well but the European time was right at the moment when I was making diner and taking care of the kids. I had hoped for later in the evening (CET). I hope I can also soon get access so I can add it to the iOS Mastodon comparison sheet. I still also have to add Komondor and Trunk as well but for now seem more limited then others.

It's really, really hard to get into. The official account says that the last 1000 slots that they opened were gone in 13 seconds.

 

[lexvo]

Where did you find the hashtag support? I was able to 'pin' a hashtag but can't find anywhere the option to see my earlier saved hashtags in a timeline for that specific hashtag? I'm looking at the app on my iPhone. I can't get used to the app on iPhone where I mostly use it. On iPad I should try it once again. I do prefer the Mammoth and Tusker apps on iPad but as written above the Mammoth apps is really great as far as features but remains really buggy and Tusker lacks notifications and edit post.

If I hadn’t discovered this on the iPad, I probably wouldn’t have found it on the iPhone either

After pinning a hashtag, go to the local/federated timeline (via button in low right corner), and tab on the top bar where you can switch between local/federated, there are the pinned hashtags stored.

The iPad version of this app is certainly a bit more accessible than the iPhone version.

 

[pacorob]

If I hadn’t discovered this on the iPad, I probably wouldn’t have found it on the iPhone either

After pinning a hashtag, go to the local/federated timeline (via button in low right corner), and tab on the top bar where you can switch between local/federated, there are the pinned hashtags stored.

The iPad version of this app is certainly a bit more accessible than the iPhone version.

Ah thanks so much that button in the lower right corner is so weird. The iPhone apps is so quirky. I constantly have to search for things and doesn't feel user friendly/intuitive. I've tried the iPad version which is so much better (not as slick in UI but clear). It does seem the hashtags shown there are own the ones I've saved within Toot!. It doesn't seem to recognise all other hashtags as saved via other apps while they are supported in e.g. Mastoot, Tusker, Mammoth.

 

[circatee]

I have actually stopped using Social Media (Twitter and Instagram). However, I was watching a video on YouTube, and Aaron from Zollo spoke about Mastodon. Am just not sure I even want to bother with another social media platform.

Alas, thanks for sharing your insights...

 

[lexvo]

Toot!
I have used this app almost exclusively the past time

Plus
+ UI is for me the nicest of the apps I tried so far, but it‘s certainly not perfect
+ dark mode with nice grey
+ follow hashtags in a separate list/timeline

Minus
- search function sometimes finds less users/hashtags than the website or Metatext
- occasional crash when adding image from photo roll to toot
- no timeline sync
- no unread post count in timeline (surprised me a bit)

 

[MisterSavage]

Honestly I'm loving Ivory. They just added a notifications tab item to the iOS version.

 

[lexvo]

Honestly I'm loving Ivory. They just added a notifications tab item to the iOS version.

Yes, I tried to sign up for the beta a few times, but there are so many people doing the same

As a Tweetbot user, I have high expectations on Ivory.

 

[pacorob]

Honestly I'm loving Ivory. They just added a notifications tab item to the iOS version.

Yes, I tried to sign up for the beta a few times, but there are so many people doing the same

As a Tweetbot user, I have high expectations on Ivory.

Same here I tried to get into Ivory numerous times now but TestFlight slots were full in a matter of minutes. I wasn't expecting so many people to try it. I'm also curious to try the Mona app but for that you need to have bought the Twitter app (which costs 14.99 euro).

I like the Mammoth features but have been really unstable but I tend to use it on iPad. On iPhone I use Tooot. Still hoping the tapping of a followed hashtag (in Profile) will be possible soon still can't understand it was added but then this is not possible.

I really like the option that Woolly has to add Lists and Hashtags to footer menu so to say although I would prefer to add the option (see all lists, see all followed hashtags) not a specific list or hashtag there. Not sure what the official name is. For now that app is very limited though but UI is great.

 

[MisterSavage]

Set up post notifications for the Ivory account. Sometimes they'll open slots with no warning (Christmas) and sometimes they schedule them. It took 13 seconds for 1,000 slots to be filled so it's still tough even if you do that.

 

[pacorob]

Set up post notifications for the Ivory account. Sometimes they'll open slots with no warning (Christmas) and sometimes they schedule them. It took 13 seconds for 1,000 slots to be filled so it's still tough even if you do that.

I already did but at that point in time I was preparing a diner so the timing was a bit off. In addition not sure if I would be able in time since the slots filled up so quickly. I wasn't expecting so many people wanting to try it. I didn't think as much people switched to Mastodon yet.

 

[MisterSavage]

In addition not sure if I would be able in time since the slots filled up so quickly.

It's possible. I did it!

 

[pacorob]

It's possible. I did it!