Threads now has a better connection with the fediverse, PeerTube launches their mobile apps, and more.
Threads enables 2-way fediverse integration
The main news this week is regarding Threads enabling a (limited) two-way connection with the fediverse. I wrote an article to reflect on the question of why this integration exists.
PeerTube apps
PeerTube has launched their mobile apps for Android and iOS. A major new feature of the apps is that it allows people to create a local account on their phone. A major barrier for PeerTube adoption is that it is hard to get a PeerTube account: with a PeerTube account you can upload videos, and most server admins only give out accounts sparingly due to costs and moderation concerns. Now this issue can be sidestepped by having a PeerTube account that is not tied to a specific PeerTube server at all. For people who want to use PeerTube just to browse and view videos this makes the platform more accessible.
PeerTube also talks about the struggles of launching their app on the stores: both Google and Apple have been very relunctant to allow such apps. Apple’s stringent policy on payment links means that they do not allow any PeerTube server to appear in the PeerTube iOS app if the PeerTube server has donation link on their server.
As a result, both the Android app and iOS app have very limited whitelisted servers that the app can actually connect to. PeerTube’s connections to the entire fediverse is limited to just a few servers, because of how Apple and Google control access. Framasoft says that due to the efforts of getting the apps on the stores, the feature selection is currently limited and will be worked on in 2025.
In Other News.
A third-party version for Starter Packs has launched by fedidevs.com, allowing anyone to build and share Starter Packs for Mastodon. You log in with your Mastodon account to the website, and you can add anyone you follow. You can also see which Starter Packs you are included on. It takes an opt-out approach, although it is not particularly clear how to opt-out of a Starter Pack. One of the main reasons no major version of Starter Packs have been build yet in the fediverse is that a significant part of the network values an opt-in approach instead, where people have to actively consent to their data being processed (such as being included in a Starter Pack)
The W3C is moving towards a new Working Group for ActivityPub, which would allow for improvements and additions to the protocol. This organisational aspect of building such a Working Group is fairly complicated, and the Social Web Foundation wrote a blog post to explain the situation.
Turn your Mastodon post archive into a static site with your posts with the new tool Posty.
The Links
- Creating a generic “Log-in with Mastodon” service
- The Focus On Linux Podcast interviews Castopod creator Benjamin Bellamy.
- The Open Business Plan for Weird, a new ‘social network for websites’.
- FediAlgo, the customisable timeline algorithm for Mastodon, has gotten new features.
- Lemmy bi-weekly development update.
- This week’s fediverse software updates.
- Ghost’s weekly update is about notifications.
- Another step towards Nomadic Identity on the fediverse with Mitra and Streams now connecting.
- An interview with Framasoft’s co-director Pouhiou about PeerTube.
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!