I’m trying to get an idea rolling for a mobile app that could handle the most used platforms on the Fediverse.
For example, let’s assume that Mastodon, Lemmy and Peertube turned out to be the most used platforms on the Fediverse. Would people be interested in a mobile app that could properly integrate all of these?
Integration across various platforms is one of those things where I’m not sure even know whether they want it or not. We’re so used to disconnected platforms that it really is new ground for most.
It’s also probably hard and very open ended.
Which is all to say absolutely, there’d be interest, it’s just that it’ll be a bumpy ride but also worth it for showing people what is possible.
Allowing multiple accounts across multiple platforms to be merged into single timelines in customisable ways, alone, would be awesome.
As far as platforms go, I’d prioritise, on the basis of popularity and uniqueness:
Mastodon (for obvious and sad reasons)
PeerTube (video is unique on fediverse)
Lemmy (communities, link aggregation posts, no character limits, thread management etc are all unique and powerful on the fediverse … could have been 2nd but pushed out IMO because of uniqueness of video).
Pixelfed (for the instagram people, but, ASAIK, not too distinct from microblogging, but it is popular, though easily viewed from mastodon I think)
Roll those 4 into one (and maybe even just the top 3) and you would have a banger of an app. Even rolling mastodon and Lemmy into a single interface would be quite a demonstration.
Would people be interested in a mobile app that could properly integrate all of these?
I like your idea. It is important to reflect as a starting point that although the platforms are compatible via ActivityPub or other federated protocols, the whole reason why they are separate platforms is that they are for different use cases.
Examples: A peertube user would want to watch videos and only comment on the video occasionally, a Mastodon user would want person to person conversations, a Lemmy user would want topic-based discussion with less emphasis on who they are talking with, etc.
Making an app that caters to all the different use-case groups seems like a difficult task to me.
With the negative stuff said, I do think this idea has some good potential. If a Lemmy client had seamless PeerTube video or other service integration that would be very interesting and cool. If there was some hybrid kind of app that gives a unifying look to different ActivityPub-compatible platforms like Lemmy and Mastodon, that would also be cool and allow for easier cross-Fediverse access, opening up a lot of possibilities.
Personally I never liked mastodon all that much, (I’d take pleroma,misskey,friendica + variants over it )so a little dispiriting to see it dominate with Google like proportions. Not surprised though.
Fedilab exists, and AFAIK it supports a variety of Fedi platforms, including Mastodon, Pleroma and PeerTube.
Also Friendica.
Thank you.
Integration across various platforms is one of those things where I’m not sure even know whether they want it or not. We’re so used to disconnected platforms that it really is new ground for most.
It’s also probably hard and very open ended.
Which is all to say absolutely, there’d be interest, it’s just that it’ll be a bumpy ride but also worth it for showing people what is possible.
Allowing multiple accounts across multiple platforms to be merged into single timelines in customisable ways, alone, would be awesome.
As far as platforms go, I’d prioritise, on the basis of popularity and uniqueness:
Roll those 4 into one (and maybe even just the top 3) and you would have a banger of an app. Even rolling mastodon and Lemmy into a single interface would be quite a demonstration.
im personally fine with using more than one website on the internet.
Thanks for the great feedback.
I like your idea. It is important to reflect as a starting point that although the platforms are compatible via ActivityPub or other federated protocols, the whole reason why they are separate platforms is that they are for different use cases.
Examples: A peertube user would want to watch videos and only comment on the video occasionally, a Mastodon user would want person to person conversations, a Lemmy user would want topic-based discussion with less emphasis on who they are talking with, etc.
Making an app that caters to all the different use-case groups seems like a difficult task to me.
With the negative stuff said, I do think this idea has some good potential. If a Lemmy client had seamless PeerTube video or other service integration that would be very interesting and cool. If there was some hybrid kind of app that gives a unifying look to different ActivityPub-compatible platforms like Lemmy and Mastodon, that would also be cool and allow for easier cross-Fediverse access, opening up a lot of possibilities.
Thanks for those insights.
You can see statistics such as popular software by user count here: https://fedidb.org/ It’s run by the developer of Pixelfed.
Personally I never liked mastodon all that much, (I’d take pleroma,misskey,friendica + variants over it )so a little dispiriting to see it dominate with Google like proportions. Not surprised though.
The number of Mastodon users surprised me as well.
It certainly makes sense as people are looking for an alternative to a Melon Husk-led Twitter.
I do have confidence in the current Mastodon “leadership” to allow its growth to benefit all of the Fediverse including Lemmy.
That is, incredibly, helpful. Thanks so much!