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Universal Twitter alternatives: Mastodon & co apps
- Thread starter pacorob
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2,000 more beta slots opening tomorrow.
tapbots.social
Ivory by Tapbots :emoji_wink: (@ivory@tapbots.social)
We plan to open up 2000 more TestFlight spots Tomorrow, Thursday, January 5th. The time with the most votes will be the time we open up access to them. The times are based on CST (GMT-6). We will post the TestFlight link before the winning time. [ ] 9am (09:00) CST [ ] 2pm (14:00) CST [ ] 9pm...
I've seen it as well. I will try to get in this time (this afternoon Thursday 5 January 16.00CET). I've set a phone notification.2,000 more beta slots opening tomorrow.
Ivory by Tapbots :emoji_wink: (@ivory@tapbots.social)
We plan to open up 2000 more TestFlight spots Tomorrow, Thursday, January 5th. The time with the most votes will be the time we open up access to them. The times are based on CST (GMT-6). We will post the TestFlight link before the winning time. [ ] 9am (09:00) CST [ ] 2pm (14:00) CST [ ] 9pm...
Do you happen to know if the TestFlight link always remains the same I suppose? Not that there are different TestFlight URLs per group of slots.
Don't quote me on this but I vaguely remember reading one of the devs say there were different pools. I do know that TestFlight does give you the ability to have different testing groups and in those groups you can create a public link to share with potential testers.
2,000 more beta slots opening tomorrow.
Ivory by Tapbots :emoji_wink: (@ivory@tapbots.social)
We plan to open up 2000 more TestFlight spots Tomorrow, Thursday, January 5th. The time with the most votes will be the time we open up access to them. The times are based on CST (GMT-6). We will post the TestFlight link before the winning time. [ ] 9am (09:00) CST [ ] 2pm (14:00) CST [ ] 9pm...
I managed to get a beta!
Nice! They've already added a lot since I got in just before Christmas.I managed to get a beta!
I only played with it for a short while, but it already looks quite complete. And the nice thing is it is very similar to Tweetbot.
Some parts are very thought out, probably because they could use a lot of code from Tweetbot. For example images: most of the apps I tried handle these half-hearted: not sharp when in a timeline (getting sharp when image is selected), when you tab on an image it does not fit nicely on the screen etc... Ivory already does this much better.
And it has time-line sync
If you look in the support section there's mention of Tweets and Twitter.
I also got in yesterday (finally) to Ivory and immediately added it to the comparison sheet. It has a slick UI. I hope they do add some features I often use in an update soon: save hashtags, see saved hashtags and click them to see timelines with these hashtags. edit post. Also some other features (see (verified) links in profile, edit profile, see edit post history) other apps have I'm not yet seeing in Ivory. I also tried to set a filter / to not see books and replies to posts in my timeline (as in e.g. Tooot) but I wasn't able to do that or am I missing something.I only played with it for a short while, but it already looks quite complete. And the nice thing is it is very similar to Tweetbot.
Some parts are very thought out, probably because they could use a lot of code from Tweetbot. For example images: most of the apps I tried handle these half-hearted: not sharp when in a timeline (getting sharp when image is selected), when you tab on an image it does not fit nicely on the screen etc... Ivory already does this much better.
And it has time-line sync
You can follow hashtags so that's been sufficient for me. I wish that you could configure it to show you local timelines from other instances that you specify.
I'm lately using Tooot as my daily driver but in the rate IceCubes app is adding features (reading other instances, push notifications) I might switch to that soon since it has a really great implementation of lists, saved hashtags. It just needs some fixes in the search and iPad login that I can get working. Both I've already shared with the developer. It could also need some further nice features (audio and video support) and things like polls, GIF to post, thread support but overall pretty great.
Ivory is slick UI but some crucial features are missing for me.
I noticed btw that the search feature in quite a few TestFlight apps is still terrible. No results whatsover (Ivory, Woolly, Tootoise) while in fact there are (recent) posts with this hashtag. Mammoth only find other tags.
When apps find results I also find the behavior odd with a quite a few (IceCubes, Tooot, Mastoot, Toot!, Metatext, Mastodon official app, Mercury, Twidere X).
To name an example:
I search for #iOS or #ios for that matter
It returns everything which includes #iOS in a list so also #iOS16 #iOSMastodon and such. Is this a Mastodon behavior?
sidenote: IceCubes has a great option to quickly access saved hashtag.
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Have had the same experience. I've been doing my searches from the web version because doing it from apps gets a whole lot of nothing.
TapBots published a web page with a short roadmap for Ivory:
I noticed the news and read it and have it installed and love the UI, however feature wise it's still lacking a lot. I've switched from Tooot to my new daily driver: Ice Cubes (see account on Mastodon) since a week or so and loving it. Some reasons why:TapBots published a web page with a short roadmap for Ivory:
- full list support (and at hand really easily above your timeline)
- full hashtag support (and at hand really easily above your timeline)
- follow other instances and have them at hand really easily above your timeline
- timeline scroll position
- push notifications
- edit posts
- edit profile
- quote post
- great customizable icons and colors
There are still TestFlight slots and developer (Thomas Ricouard / Github) is working on getting the app also in the App Store very soon (if Apple doesn't come up with odd things to reject the app which they did until now).
Is it perfect? No but it comes close and features are added almost on a daily basis.
There are still two bugs (tagging multiple accounts, special character use) that I came across (and mentioned to the developer, but earlier bugs I mentioned were fixed quickly) and some features I hope to see soon (use system light/darkmode, full iPad support, polls to post, audio/video to post support, emoticons support, GIF to post support, thread support, toggle excl. boosts + replies in timeline, content filter, mute/block/report user, schedule post, see and edit private note, create a drawing and add to post, date person joined, timeline sync iCloud)
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Agreed Ice Cubes is looking great.
Another contender to also watch is Elk.
m.webtoo.ls
Another contender to also watch is Elk.
Nuxt (@nuxt@webtoo.ls)
Attached: 1 image Elk is out ✨ A beautiful client for Mastodon built with #Nuxt 3 and now open source ❤️ **Website**: https://elk.zone **GitHub**: https://github.com/elk-zone/elk **Mastodon**: @elk
So is this a web app only via https://elk.zone/ right? So not available in TestFlight or App Store. Any idea if they are planning that? Not a big fan of web apps that aren't in the App Store or TestFlight.Agreed Ice Cubes is looking great.
Another contender to also watch is Elk.
Nuxt (@nuxt@webtoo.ls)
Attached: 1 image Elk is out ✨ A beautiful client for Mastodon built with #Nuxt 3 and now open source ❤️ **Website**: https://elk.zone **GitHub**: https://github.com/elk-zone/elk **Mastodon**: @elk
I've given it a try (just logged in) just now but can't find e.g. my lists, followed hashtags and such and posting is a bit hidden. Is this not there yet?
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Sorry, should have mentioned it looks like it's a web app.
What really interested me was this large compose window. I had how when you're on a computer the default web client has such a small compose window.
I've officially joined Mastodon. The Twitter 3rd party API is broken, and Tweetbot hasn't been working for 24 hours. There's been no communication from Twitter about what the hell is going on. This is the last straw.
Looks like the Tweetbot guys are fast tracking the Ivory release date because of it.
And now, news is coming out that the third party suspensions were intentional. Twitter is dead to me. In a way, I'm thankful. I've wanted to leave Twitter for the longest time, and this is just the push I've needed.
Ice Cubes is a nice app, however it also has its shortcomings (at least for me).
Positive:
- lots of functionality, like full hashtag and list support, see pacorob's post #41 above
- quick updates
- great color customization
Negative:
- display of images is most of the time good, but it also crops them often (I prefer smaller but full size shown as Ivory and the website do);
- scrolling has improved, but there's stil some lag and/or jumping (of the apps I tried, Ivory is the smoothest followed by Toot!)
- when leaving the app and then opening it again, the timeline often has shifted; this is annoying
I guess these things will be solved in future versions. It's good there's some competition.
Positive:
- lots of functionality, like full hashtag and list support, see pacorob's post #41 above
- quick updates
- great color customization
Negative:
- display of images is most of the time good, but it also crops them often (I prefer smaller but full size shown as Ivory and the website do);
- scrolling has improved, but there's stil some lag and/or jumping (of the apps I tried, Ivory is the smoothest followed by Toot!)
- when leaving the app and then opening it again, the timeline often has shifted; this is annoying
I guess these things will be solved in future versions. It's good there's some competition.
FYI the Ice Cubes app is now available for macOS as well.
I have been testing it on iOS since yesterday as my main Mastodon app, I like it so far except for the way the timeline refresh, i.e. post by post or all at once. I would prefer streaming like Metatext or Tweetbot. But I think the dev is working on it.
![Screenshot 2023-01-17 at 9.00.21.png]( "Screenshot 2023-01-17 at 9.00.21.png")
Can't wait to be able to use Ivory tbh, I have been using Tweetbot daily since 2013 and I miss it.
I have been testing it on iOS since yesterday as my main Mastodon app, I like it so far except for the way the timeline refresh, i.e. post by post or all at once. I would prefer streaming like Metatext or Tweetbot. But I think the dev is working on it.
Can't wait to be able to use Ivory tbh, I have been using Tweetbot daily since 2013 and I miss it.
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