10 ms·

Now Available: Ivory for Mastodon by Tapbots

171 points by CameronBanga 4y ago

mattl 4y ago
> Subscribing to either the Yearly or Monthly option will give you access to all of Ivory’s features. If you cancel within the 7-day trial period, you will not be charged by Apple. If you cancel anytime after that you will be able to continue using Ivory until your subscription expires. > If you choose not to subscribe, Ivory will still work but will function in a read-only mode where you won’t be able to Post, Follow, Fave, etc. Interesting.
- rsynnott 4y ago
  This is exactly how Tweetbot worked in later years, iirc.
  - mattl 4y ago
    I always used the web UI for Twitter or the official app (rarely)
- TylerE 4y ago
  That’s how every App Store subscription works.
  - mattl 4y ago
    It's interesting that you have to pay to reply to people instead of just paying to use the app at all.
    - gammarator 4y ago
      I appreciate the semi-functional trial so I can get a sense of the look and feel before paying.
      - mattl 4y ago
        Yeah, it's not something I've seen before, but others say they've done it with their Twitter app too.
- codazoda 4y ago
  Yeah, I hoped I could try it out. I went through about 10 minutes of setup before I got to pricing. As a newbie to Mastadon, I have no idea if I want in. I’m also interested in contributing as much of just lurking. I’m not ready for another subscription before I know but I understand they need to make money on this.
- nocoiner 4y ago
  I wish they had a one-time purchase option, even if it’s only for one or a set number of major versions. Oh well.
98codes 4y ago
EDIT: oops, nvm
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
sneak 4y ago
[flagged]
- alexhsamuel 4y ago
  Many (not all) free software ecosystems welcome non-free participants, as long as these honor certain values. I do think the app store labeling “Free. Offers in-app purchases” is dishonest. It should read, “Demoware. Requires in-app subscription.”
- junipertea 4y ago
  What's wrong with wanting to get paid for a product you develop?
  - sneak 4y ago
    Well, mostly because it's incompatible with the idea of free software: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html Proprietary software like this violates all four of the essential freedoms. Mastodon, for example, is AGPL; it's as much an ideology as it is a license, otherwise CC-0 or MIT would be fine. It is surprising that people take issue with software in this space that doesn't align with the ideology of the people contributing to the space?
- rsynnott 4y ago
  Well, you're not _supposed to_, but _you can if you want_. Personally, I used the Testflight version for the last month or so, and am happy to pay for this. YMMV.
- nickthegreek 4y ago
  If you find the feature set worthwhile, then yes. For people who need this type of app in their work it can save tons of time and the price doesn't seem predatory either. Or use a different app. Here is a free and Open source one called Ice Cubes. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ice-cubes-for-mastodon/id6444915884 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ice-cubes-for-mastodon/id64449...
- lowbloodsugar 4y ago
lowbloodsugar 4y ago
I'd say calling it Ivory is tone deaf, since Ivory comes from the poaching and killing of these wonderful creatures and continues to this day. Hm. People trying to make money off free things... Ivory is literally illegal to own.
- wakamoleguy 4y ago
  Mastodons in particular are extinct. Although your comment is true regarding other sources of ivory.
  - yowzadave 4y ago
    Maybe the elephants are still alive and in possession of the ivory in question?
- TylerE 4y ago
  Edit: At least in the US, elephant ivory is NOT illegal to own, or even sell domestically, as long as it was either aquired legally or predates the ban, so your entire premise is incorrect, see https://www.fws.gov/guidance/sites/guidance/files/documents/What%20Can%20I%20Do%20With%20My%20Ivory.pdf https://www.fws.gov/guidance/sites/guidance/files/documents/... Other sources from long extinct sources like as a sibling noted, mammoths, are not. It’s not even THAT expensive. For instance, a guitar nut in mammoth ivory is about $30 vs $5 for “bone” or $10 for synthetic/graphite
  - gammarator 4y ago
    I didn't know mammoth ivory was becoming more common (due to thawing permafrost). There are still some ethical considerations at play, it seems--this article is decent overview: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/why-woolly-mammoth-ivory-could-spell-trouble-for-elephants.html https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/why-woolly-mammoth-ivory-coul...
    - TylerE 4y ago
      Isn't chinese traditional "medicine" such a wonderful blend of exploitation and woo?
hprotagonist 4y ago
"The developer does not collect any data from this app." very good.
rpgbr 4y ago
Great app. My review: https://notes.ghed.in/posts/2023/ivory-mastodon-app-review/ https://notes.ghed.in/posts/2023/ivory-mastodon-app-review/
- newman314 4y ago
  Downloaded but could not log in because I have cookies disabled on iPhone. Would be nice to have a cookieless login option (unclear if it is possible, API key?).
  - winterqt 4y ago
    The cookie is merely needed by the web interface -- Ivory gets passed an API key. You can enable cookies temporarily, log in, and then clear them just fine.
  - kstrauser 4y ago
    How do other oauth logins work on your phone?
    - Terretta 4y ago
      Fine. This one may be third party? Haven't debugged yet. // Update: Works if allow cross site tracking and turn off hide from trackers. Re-enable after getting token.
apozem 4y ago
Instant subscribe. I loved the interface for Tweetbot before Musk rudely killed it. Using Ivory feels like coming home. It makes me want to use Mastodon even more.
prvc 4y ago
[flagged]
- number6 4y ago
  Human tooth are also Ivory
CameronBanga 4y ago
If anyone is jumping onto Mastodon (or taking a deeper dive) today with the app's release, posting my handle here if anyone wants to follow. Will follow back here today and presume all are HNers. :) CameronBanga@mastodon.social for me! Feel free to reply your handle as well!
fishtoaster 4y ago
I'll admit, I was mostly excited about Ivory so I could have a paired set of mac and iphone apps that would keep track of where I've read to in my timeline. That was always the killer feature for me of Tweetbot. Unfortunately, it looks like the mac app is not yet out. I subscribed anyway, though, since it's a nice iphone app and hopefully I can help support the development of the mac app.
- kstrauser 4y ago
  Check out Ice Cubes, another fantastic (and free!) app that supports Mac, iOS, and iPadOS today.
  - riley_dog 4y ago
    To OP's point, Ice Cubes doesn't seem to remember my place in the timeline. When I open the app, it just opens to the newest message.
    - rwbt 4y ago
      +1. I like Ice Cubes but I can't seem to find a way to load new posts without jumping to the top of the timeline.
      - mrehler 4y ago
        For the curious: There’s an API built into Mastodon to save timeline location on your account. Ivory is planning to support it, doesn’t currently, however it does save timeline location to iCloud, readable by Ivory on your other devices. No idea if Ice Cubes is planning to implement the native API, or if it’s currently trying to and running into issues.
  - CharlesW 4y ago
    > Check out Ice Cubes, another fantastic (and free!) app that supports Mac, iOS, and iPadOS today. FYI, Ice Cubes is an iOS app. It does run on macOS by virtue of macOS supporting iOS apps, but its App Store listing notes that it's "Not verified for macOS".
xxdiamondxx 4y ago
Doesn't seem to work with pleroma yet (elixir implementation)
- Cyberdog 4y ago
  That's a deal-breaker for me, sadly, but at least it means that "Mastodon" actually means "Mastodon" in this case.
- zimpenfish 4y ago
  I'm guessing they've got something like Go's `DisallowUnknownFields()` turned on and the Pleroma extension block is causing an error. FWIW GotoSocial seems to work (although Ivory is showing that timeline under the wrong user for some reason - all the GtS timeline posts are shown as the user I logged into the Akkoma instance with.) In summary, if you're not using a Mastodon instance, probably give it a month or two. EDIT: Having said that, it's showing every timeline item on the GtS instance as the same one - I suspect they might be using integers for IDs (which is what Mastodon - but no-one else - does) and coincidentally this timeline has IDs that all start with `01`. Which would also explain the Akkoma problem since all those IDs are currently starting with `AR` and thus unparseable as integers.
- _cenw 4y ago
  That seems to be deliberate, and I hate it. There are very few reasons any client implementing MastoAPI shouldn't also support Akkoma/Pleroma. None of the iOS Mastodon apps (except one that is proprietary and seemingly not published on the german appstore) properly support Akkoma notifications, but a somewhat broken Ivory would still be better than a halfway broken Metatext.
  - zimpenfish 4y ago
    > There are very few reasons any client implementing MastoAPI shouldn't also support Akkoma/Pleroma. Depends how you implement it. e.g. If you use `int64` for your IDs, Akkoma and GotoSocial won't work. Or if you send your POST parameters in the URL, Akkoma won't work. There's other subtle stuff too - toot codes unset optional fields as `null` in the JSON it sends (rather than leaving them out) which breaks both Akkoma and GotoSocial. In summary, someone needs to write a decent MastoAPI spec and get everyone to agree on that rather than this ad-hoc balkanisation.
rglullis 4y ago
Two questions for those willing to pay $1.99/month for the client: 1) do you also contribute for the development of the server software? If yes, how much? 2) is there any type of feature/functionality that would you be willing to pay to have at your instance?
- nerdjon 4y ago
  I am thinking about subscribing once I see how well it performs, I have not been super enthused about the existing Mastodon apps. To answer your questions: 1) I don't support Mastodon directly, but I do support the server I am using monthly. 2) Personally I am a bit worried about instances gaining unique features and I hope we don't see too much deviation on that front.
  - rglullis 4y ago
    Follow-up questions, if I may: > I have not been super enthused about the existing Mastodon apps. Have you considered donating to the existing/contributing to the development of the existing open source clients? > I do support the server I am using monthly. If I may ask: how much? And what if I told you there is a commercial instance where accounts are priced at $10/year that for all intents and purposes is managed to your satisfaction, would you consider it? > instances gaining unique features I am not thinking of protocol level differences, but some type of improvement that could help people be more at ease when migrating to AP servers. E.g; a better search system, or a server level bridge that can let you (or other users of the same instance) follow people on twitter/instagram/youtube "transparently"
    - nerdjon 4y ago
      Regarding the first, I have been considering it but I just have not yet. My use of Mastodon is still somewhat low so I kinda see it as... there is a monthly infrastructure cost associated with running servers but less so for the apps. So the last thing I want to see is a server shut down and to need to scramble. I have been doing $8 a month right now, it doesn't get me any benefits on the server and it is through Patreon. I have been wondering if that is too much but I can afford it and I know this can be expensive to run. Search system I am not really sure about how I would feel, I would not want to feel like I need to switch instances. Just like I wouldn't want certain instances to have different media support. Sill not fully sure how I feel about that really. Edit: Regarding the commercial instance option. I don't really see the point? Since all (most) of the instances are connected there isn't any value in an exclusive club... and tbh I am not really sure the other servers would not just block it. My server seems to be moderated just fine, I think its better that those that can support while most can use it for free.
jdlyga 4y ago
Mastodon is really, really promising. But there needs to be a go-to server to point everyone to. Kind of like with flatpak -> flathub, git -> github. Of course there's options, but there should be an unofficial default. It feels like the early days of email where everyone was at odd domains.
- teekert 4y ago
  Mastodon.social?
  - tradertef 4y ago
    I think I have checked that site ~1 month ago. At that time, they did not allow new accounts. Just checked now again and can not create new accounts. So..
    - not2b 4y ago
      I think it works better to be on a well-run regional server if one exists, so that the Local feed actually mostly means "local". For folks in the SF Bay Area I recommend sfba.social .
- system16 4y ago
  For the average user does it even matter what server/instance you join? From what I can tell, once you sign up you can search for, follow, find, post, re-post etc. anything from anyone regardless of which server you sign up with.
  - ChrisArchitect 4y ago
    No, not if content is coming from a blocked/blacklisted server -- which is all up to each server's mods --- and also if you want to move, your content does not go with you. Mastodon isn't perfect or even 'it'.
    - klaustopher 4y ago
dakial1 4y ago
What would be the incentive to maintain a Mastodon server? Monetary or else? Is it feasible in scale?
- Cyberdog 4y ago
  For the same reasons someone would maintain a forum or some other sort of what we call today "social networking service;" to allow people to come together and communicate, sometimes focused around a certain topic. Few people will make a living from running a fediverse server but if you have enough of a dedicated audience, you can probably at least fundraise enough to help cover costs.
- rsynnott 4y ago
  Most of them are pretty small, and often take donations. Think community forums back in the day.
_han 4y ago
I was never online when the TestFlight invites were shared, but am very happy to try the app now! Like it a lot so far. Familiar with the interface as I come from Tweetbot. I am glad to be able to support the developers who've unfortunately have to retire their bird app. If you're still looking to follow some folks on Mastodon, you can find me at @hankruiger@mastodon.nl.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
menshiki 4y ago
So far I don't feel like I get enough value from Mastodon but once I do, I will definitely subscribe. I wish there was a Pro version (without fancy features) like something Apollo for Reddit has.
Hamuko 4y ago
Steep price for something that is not really any better than the official Mastodon app. I expected more functionality with how many TestFlight people were claiming that this fixes Mastodon's UX. It feels like just a skin on top of what you already had available for free.
- foogazi 4y ago
  > Steep price for something that is not really any better than the official Mastodon app For me the unified timeline is the key feature when switching between devices
  - Hamuko 4y ago
    The two problems I have with the unified timeline is that there's no macOS app to sync the timeline position to, and there's anyways so few toots on Mastodon that it's almost pointless to even have it.

171 points by CameronBanga 4y ago

> Subscribing to either the Yearly or Monthly option will give you access to all of Ivory’s features. If you cancel within the 7-day trial period, you will not be charged by Apple. If you cancel anytime after that you will be able to continue using Ivory until your subscription expires. > If you choose not to subscribe, Ivory will still work but will function in a read-only mode where you won’t be able to Post, Follow, Fave, etc. Interesting.

rsynnott 4y ago
This is exactly how Tweetbot worked in later years, iirc.
- mattl 4y ago
  I always used the web UI for Twitter or the official app (rarely)
TylerE 4y ago
That’s how every App Store subscription works.
- mattl 4y ago
  It's interesting that you have to pay to reply to people instead of just paying to use the app at all.
  - gammarator 4y ago
    I appreciate the semi-functional trial so I can get a sense of the look and feel before paying.
    - mattl 4y ago
      Yeah, it's not something I've seen before, but others say they've done it with their Twitter app too.
codazoda 4y ago
Yeah, I hoped I could try it out. I went through about 10 minutes of setup before I got to pricing. As a newbie to Mastadon, I have no idea if I want in. I’m also interested in contributing as much of just lurking. I’m not ready for another subscription before I know but I understand they need to make money on this.
nocoiner 4y ago
I wish they had a one-time purchase option, even if it’s only for one or a set number of major versions. Oh well.

98codes 4y ago

EDIT: oops, nvm

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

sneak 4y ago

[flagged]

alexhsamuel 4y ago
Many (not all) free software ecosystems welcome non-free participants, as long as these honor certain values. I do think the app store labeling “Free. Offers in-app purchases” is dishonest. It should read, “Demoware. Requires in-app subscription.”
junipertea 4y ago
What's wrong with wanting to get paid for a product you develop?
- sneak 4y ago
  Well, mostly because it's incompatible with the idea of free software: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html Proprietary software like this violates all four of the essential freedoms. Mastodon, for example, is AGPL; it's as much an ideology as it is a license, otherwise CC-0 or MIT would be fine. It is surprising that people take issue with software in this space that doesn't align with the ideology of the people contributing to the space?
rsynnott 4y ago
Well, you're not _supposed to_, but _you can if you want_. Personally, I used the Testflight version for the last month or so, and am happy to pay for this. YMMV.
nickthegreek 4y ago
If you find the feature set worthwhile, then yes. For people who need this type of app in their work it can save tons of time and the price doesn't seem predatory either. Or use a different app. Here is a free and Open source one called Ice Cubes. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ice-cubes-for-mastodon/id6444915884 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ice-cubes-for-mastodon/id64449...
lowbloodsugar 4y ago

lowbloodsugar 4y ago

I'd say calling it Ivory is tone deaf, since Ivory comes from the poaching and killing of these wonderful creatures and continues to this day. Hm. People trying to make money off free things... Ivory is literally illegal to own.

wakamoleguy 4y ago
Mastodons in particular are extinct. Although your comment is true regarding other sources of ivory.
- yowzadave 4y ago
  Maybe the elephants are still alive and in possession of the ivory in question?
TylerE 4y ago
Edit: At least in the US, elephant ivory is NOT illegal to own, or even sell domestically, as long as it was either aquired legally or predates the ban, so your entire premise is incorrect, see https://www.fws.gov/guidance/sites/guidance/files/documents/What%20Can%20I%20Do%20With%20My%20Ivory.pdf https://www.fws.gov/guidance/sites/guidance/files/documents/... Other sources from long extinct sources like as a sibling noted, mammoths, are not. It’s not even THAT expensive. For instance, a guitar nut in mammoth ivory is about $30 vs $5 for “bone” or $10 for synthetic/graphite
- gammarator 4y ago
  I didn't know mammoth ivory was becoming more common (due to thawing permafrost). There are still some ethical considerations at play, it seems--this article is decent overview: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/why-woolly-mammoth-ivory-could-spell-trouble-for-elephants.html https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/why-woolly-mammoth-ivory-coul...
  - TylerE 4y ago
    Isn't chinese traditional "medicine" such a wonderful blend of exploitation and woo?

hprotagonist 4y ago

"The developer does not collect any data from this app." very good.

rpgbr 4y ago

Great app. My review: https://notes.ghed.in/posts/2023/ivory-mastodon-app-review/ https://notes.ghed.in/posts/2023/ivory-mastodon-app-review/

newman314 4y ago
Downloaded but could not log in because I have cookies disabled on iPhone. Would be nice to have a cookieless login option (unclear if it is possible, API key?).
- winterqt 4y ago
  The cookie is merely needed by the web interface -- Ivory gets passed an API key. You can enable cookies temporarily, log in, and then clear them just fine.
- kstrauser 4y ago
  How do other oauth logins work on your phone?
  - Terretta 4y ago
    Fine. This one may be third party? Haven't debugged yet. // Update: Works if allow cross site tracking and turn off hide from trackers. Re-enable after getting token.

apozem 4y ago

Instant subscribe. I loved the interface for Tweetbot before Musk rudely killed it. Using Ivory feels like coming home. It makes me want to use Mastodon even more.

prvc 4y ago

[flagged]

number6 4y ago
Human tooth are also Ivory

CameronBanga 4y ago

If anyone is jumping onto Mastodon (or taking a deeper dive) today with the app's release, posting my handle here if anyone wants to follow. Will follow back here today and presume all are HNers. :) CameronBanga@mastodon.social for me! Feel free to reply your handle as well!

fishtoaster 4y ago

I'll admit, I was mostly excited about Ivory so I could have a paired set of mac and iphone apps that would keep track of where I've read to in my timeline. That was always the killer feature for me of Tweetbot. Unfortunately, it looks like the mac app is not yet out. I subscribed anyway, though, since it's a nice iphone app and hopefully I can help support the development of the mac app.

kstrauser 4y ago
Check out Ice Cubes, another fantastic (and free!) app that supports Mac, iOS, and iPadOS today.
- riley_dog 4y ago
  To OP's point, Ice Cubes doesn't seem to remember my place in the timeline. When I open the app, it just opens to the newest message.
  - rwbt 4y ago
    +1. I like Ice Cubes but I can't seem to find a way to load new posts without jumping to the top of the timeline.
    - mrehler 4y ago
      For the curious: There’s an API built into Mastodon to save timeline location on your account. Ivory is planning to support it, doesn’t currently, however it does save timeline location to iCloud, readable by Ivory on your other devices. No idea if Ice Cubes is planning to implement the native API, or if it’s currently trying to and running into issues.
- CharlesW 4y ago
  > Check out Ice Cubes, another fantastic (and free!) app that supports Mac, iOS, and iPadOS today. FYI, Ice Cubes is an iOS app. It does run on macOS by virtue of macOS supporting iOS apps, but its App Store listing notes that it's "Not verified for macOS".

xxdiamondxx 4y ago

Doesn't seem to work with pleroma yet (elixir implementation)

Cyberdog 4y ago
That's a deal-breaker for me, sadly, but at least it means that "Mastodon" actually means "Mastodon" in this case.
zimpenfish 4y ago
I'm guessing they've got something like Go's `DisallowUnknownFields()` turned on and the Pleroma extension block is causing an error. FWIW GotoSocial seems to work (although Ivory is showing that timeline under the wrong user for some reason - all the GtS timeline posts are shown as the user I logged into the Akkoma instance with.) In summary, if you're not using a Mastodon instance, probably give it a month or two. EDIT: Having said that, it's showing every timeline item on the GtS instance as the same one - I suspect they might be using integers for IDs (which is what Mastodon - but no-one else - does) and coincidentally this timeline has IDs that all start with `01`. Which would also explain the Akkoma problem since all those IDs are currently starting with `AR` and thus unparseable as integers.
_cenw 4y ago
That seems to be deliberate, and I hate it. There are very few reasons any client implementing MastoAPI shouldn't also support Akkoma/Pleroma. None of the iOS Mastodon apps (except one that is proprietary and seemingly not published on the german appstore) properly support Akkoma notifications, but a somewhat broken Ivory would still be better than a halfway broken Metatext.
- zimpenfish 4y ago
  > There are very few reasons any client implementing MastoAPI shouldn't also support Akkoma/Pleroma. Depends how you implement it. e.g. If you use `int64` for your IDs, Akkoma and GotoSocial won't work. Or if you send your POST parameters in the URL, Akkoma won't work. There's other subtle stuff too - toot codes unset optional fields as `null` in the JSON it sends (rather than leaving them out) which breaks both Akkoma and GotoSocial. In summary, someone needs to write a decent MastoAPI spec and get everyone to agree on that rather than this ad-hoc balkanisation.

rglullis 4y ago

Two questions for those willing to pay $1.99/month for the client: 1) do you also contribute for the development of the server software? If yes, how much? 2) is there any type of feature/functionality that would you be willing to pay to have at your instance?

nerdjon 4y ago
I am thinking about subscribing once I see how well it performs, I have not been super enthused about the existing Mastodon apps. To answer your questions: 1) I don't support Mastodon directly, but I do support the server I am using monthly. 2) Personally I am a bit worried about instances gaining unique features and I hope we don't see too much deviation on that front.
- rglullis 4y ago
  Follow-up questions, if I may: > I have not been super enthused about the existing Mastodon apps. Have you considered donating to the existing/contributing to the development of the existing open source clients? > I do support the server I am using monthly. If I may ask: how much? And what if I told you there is a commercial instance where accounts are priced at $10/year that for all intents and purposes is managed to your satisfaction, would you consider it? > instances gaining unique features I am not thinking of protocol level differences, but some type of improvement that could help people be more at ease when migrating to AP servers. E.g; a better search system, or a server level bridge that can let you (or other users of the same instance) follow people on twitter/instagram/youtube "transparently"
  - nerdjon 4y ago
    Regarding the first, I have been considering it but I just have not yet. My use of Mastodon is still somewhat low so I kinda see it as... there is a monthly infrastructure cost associated with running servers but less so for the apps. So the last thing I want to see is a server shut down and to need to scramble. I have been doing $8 a month right now, it doesn't get me any benefits on the server and it is through Patreon. I have been wondering if that is too much but I can afford it and I know this can be expensive to run. Search system I am not really sure about how I would feel, I would not want to feel like I need to switch instances. Just like I wouldn't want certain instances to have different media support. Sill not fully sure how I feel about that really. Edit: Regarding the commercial instance option. I don't really see the point? Since all (most) of the instances are connected there isn't any value in an exclusive club... and tbh I am not really sure the other servers would not just block it. My server seems to be moderated just fine, I think its better that those that can support while most can use it for free.

jdlyga 4y ago

Mastodon is really, really promising. But there needs to be a go-to server to point everyone to. Kind of like with flatpak -> flathub, git -> github. Of course there's options, but there should be an unofficial default. It feels like the early days of email where everyone was at odd domains.

teekert 4y ago
Mastodon.social?
- tradertef 4y ago
  I think I have checked that site ~1 month ago. At that time, they did not allow new accounts. Just checked now again and can not create new accounts. So..
  - not2b 4y ago
    I think it works better to be on a well-run regional server if one exists, so that the Local feed actually mostly means "local". For folks in the SF Bay Area I recommend sfba.social .
system16 4y ago
For the average user does it even matter what server/instance you join? From what I can tell, once you sign up you can search for, follow, find, post, re-post etc. anything from anyone regardless of which server you sign up with.
- ChrisArchitect 4y ago
  No, not if content is coming from a blocked/blacklisted server -- which is all up to each server's mods --- and also if you want to move, your content does not go with you. Mastodon isn't perfect or even 'it'.
  - klaustopher 4y ago

dakial1 4y ago

What would be the incentive to maintain a Mastodon server? Monetary or else? Is it feasible in scale?

Cyberdog 4y ago
For the same reasons someone would maintain a forum or some other sort of what we call today "social networking service;" to allow people to come together and communicate, sometimes focused around a certain topic. Few people will make a living from running a fediverse server but if you have enough of a dedicated audience, you can probably at least fundraise enough to help cover costs.
rsynnott 4y ago
Most of them are pretty small, and often take donations. Think community forums back in the day.

_han 4y ago

I was never online when the TestFlight invites were shared, but am very happy to try the app now! Like it a lot so far. Familiar with the interface as I come from Tweetbot. I am glad to be able to support the developers who've unfortunately have to retire their bird app. If you're still looking to follow some folks on Mastodon, you can find me at @hankruiger@mastodon.nl.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

menshiki 4y ago

So far I don't feel like I get enough value from Mastodon but once I do, I will definitely subscribe. I wish there was a Pro version (without fancy features) like something Apollo for Reddit has.

Hamuko 4y ago

Steep price for something that is not really any better than the official Mastodon app. I expected more functionality with how many TestFlight people were claiming that this fixes Mastodon's UX. It feels like just a skin on top of what you already had available for free.

foogazi 4y ago
> Steep price for something that is not really any better than the official Mastodon app For me the unified timeline is the key feature when switching between devices
- Hamuko 4y ago
  The two problems I have with the unified timeline is that there's no macOS app to sync the timeline position to, and there's anyways so few toots on Mastodon that it's almost pointless to even have it.