Elk (Mastodon App)★★★★☆Alternate web front-end for Mastodon and compatible servers. Slightly more user-friendly, if a bit buggy, especially on non-Mastodon servers like GoToSocial.
Enafore★★★★☆Minimalist web front-end for Mastodon and compatible servers. Not as capable as Elk, but more stable.
Fedilab★★★★½A full-featured app for connecting to Mastodon and other Fediverse servers. Includes specific capabilities for Akkoma, Pixelfed, PeerTube and more, without getting too cluttered.
Fread★★★★☆Another Bluesky/Mastodon/RSS Combo app like OpenVibe, a bit less polished but considerably more useful. Handles multiple accounts per type, plus custom feeds.
GoToSocial★★★★☆A lightweight Fediverse server, with a clean web interface for viewing public posts. Compatible with Mastodon apps and interacts with other ActivityPub platforms.
Husky (Social Media App)★★★½☆A fork based on an older version of Tusky, with added support for Pleroma and Akkoma extensions.
Instagram★★☆☆☆Like checking out your friends’ vacation photos, but every other photo is an ad, and half of your friends’ pics are full of product placement.
Manyverse★★★★☆Takes the pain out of setting up and running SSB. Unfortunately it doesn’t overcome SSB’s inherent challenges of discovery, data size or multiple devices. (So far?)
Mastodon (Mobile App)★★★½☆Good for someone new to Mastodon, but lacks advanced features found in other apps like Tusky.
Mastodon – Simplified Federation★★★★★A Firefox add-on that automatically opens remote Mastodon users or posts in your home server when you interact with them.
Moshidon (Mastodon app)★★★★☆A modified version of the Mastodon app for Android that adds a bit more functionality. Helpful if you use lists or bookmarks a lot, or your instance supports formatted posting.
OpenVibe★★★½☆A cool idea, and it looks great, but the combined feed is too much of a firehose unless you’re only following a small number of people on each account.
Pachli (Mastodon App)★★★★☆A Mastodon app forked from (and still similar to) Tusky. Capable without being cluttered. Faster, smaller updates, some minor differences, and some cool anti-harassment features I’d like to see adopted more widely.
Phanpy (Mastodon App)★★★★★An app for Mastodon (and other Fediverse sites) that cuts through the clutter. Runs anywhere in a web browser, or can be installed to your device’s home page as a PWA.
PixelDroid★★★★★Optimized for photo sharing and viewing, works smoothly and integrates well with the system. FOSS, won’t vacuum up your personal data.
Snac★★★★☆Extremely bare-bones social networking server that runs on low-resource machines, works on the web without cookies or JavaScript, and still interacts through ActivityPub with Mastodon, GoToSocial and other Fediverse software.
Subway Tooter★★★½☆Extremely customizable, capable, cluttered and complex. Also extremely frustrating to use, especially on a phone. Better on a tablet where there’s room for more columns at a time.
Tusky for Mastodon★★★★★I’ve checked out some alternatives after several years using Tusky, and it’s still my preferred Mastodon/Fediverse app. It really runs smoothly, even with multiple accounts.
Under the Influence★★★★☆
Trey Ratcliff Trey Ratcliff details a fascinating look at a side of Instagram that I’ve mostly ignored.
Whalebird (Mastodon client)A simple desktop app for Mastodon and (most) compatible Fediverse servers. Fast, runs on multiple platforms.
Share to the Fediverse with ShareOpenlyA share button that connects to Mastodon, Bluesky, Micro.blog, Threads and more. Here’s how I’ve hooked it up to Eleventy.
What Can You Build With the Google+ API So Far? (Obsolete)
Google Plus has released the beginnings of its API for third-party apps. All you can do so far is read a user’s public activity. What can you do with that?
What’s in Your Social Media Archive?I checked out what you get when you export your content from Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, WordPress, LiveJournal, Tumblr, and Mastodon, with an eye for both private archives and migrating to your own site.
Why Google Buzz Won’t Run on Your Android Phone (Yet) (Obsolete)
Buzz relies on several HTML5 features which were added to the browser with Android 2.0. Older versions support Gears instead, which may be the way to solve it.
WordPress + ActivityPub in a SubdirectoryThis rewrite rule lets other Fediverse sites find your blog through the ActivityPub plugin, without breaking Let’s Encrypt renewals.
Wrapping Your Head Around MastodonI’ve been on Mastodon for several years now, and it’s completely replaced Twitter for me. It is a shift in perspective on how social media works, so here are a few tips to help wrap your head around it.