16 October, 2024
Openvibe combines Mastodon, Bluesky and Nostr into one social app
Mastodon, Bluesky, Nostr, Threads: Since Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition of X, the app formerly known as Twitter, usage of X alternatives has continued to grow as people embrace decentralized social networking. Unfortunately, keeping up with all the new networks has not been easy, as they currently rely on different protocols that don’t interoperate. That’s a problem a new app called Openvibe aims to address. From a single interface, Openvibe allows you to stay connected with friends and followers across Mastodon, Nostr, Bluesky and soon Threads, in a combined timeline. It also offers the ability to cross-post to multiple networks at once.
The company’s mission is to offer a friendly, “easy-to-use gateway” to the open social web for new users, according to CEO Matej Svancer.
The Czech Republic-based team had originally begun work on a Twitter client called Tweetoshi in 2022, but after Elon Musk bought Twitter, they shifted their focus to the open social web, as many of the app’s earlier adopters had made the switch. Earlier efforts involved work on a Nostr-powered app called Plebstr, which has now merged into Openvibe.
However, the company’s users complained about the multiple open social protocols to choose from and how they could not communicate with one another across networks.
“We also experienced this problem ourselves, and Openvibe is an answer to that,” Svancer says. “Although there are some existing bridges, they require additional servers, mirror accounts, opt-in, etc. We don’t think this is the ideal way forward. With Openvibe there is none of that — and you can connect your already existing accounts. Openvibe’s goal is to lower the barrier for new users coming to this space. I believe the open social space can challenge legacy social media, but only if it’s united.”
The product addresses a growing need among users for tools that will help them keep up with the increasingly fractured social web, where numerous startups and projects are taking on the tech giants. In addition to the open source project Mastodon, a decentralized open social network powered by the ActivityPub protocol, there are also startups like Bluesky, now with 6 million users and built on the modern AT Protocol, as well as the decentralized social protocol Nostr, currently favored by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Smaller startups have also tried to take on Twitter/X, including Spoutible and Spill, though some earlier efforts like Post and T2/Pebble have already failed. Still, the space continues to heat up, most recently with the launch of a Twitter and MySpace mashup known as noplace, aimed at Gen Z.
Meanwhile, seeing the direction the social web was heading, Meta embraced ActivityPub for its newest social network Threads.
The overabundance of choice, however, has also led to the emergence of new aggregation tools that combine social feeds with news sources, like RSS feeds. The former developer of Twitter client Twitterrific, the Iconfactory, is now working on an app called Tapestry to help people keep up with the fray, while newsreader app Reeder’s developer, Silvio Rizzi, is working on something of a Reeder replacement that will include social sources.
Ahead of these potential competitors comes Openvibe, a simple aggregator for the open social web.
To use the app, you’ll log in to your existing accounts on the supported networks. Afterward, you’ll instantly be following all your friends in a combined timeline. The app also features a combined trending section and cross-posting support.
You can follow federated Threads profiles through the app’s Mastodon integration, but now that the Threads API has been made available, Svancer plans to add broader support for Threads in the future, starting with cross-posting.
While a version of Openvibe had been in development before now, the latest release added Bluesky support, which is why Svancer waited until now to promote the launch.
The team of four includes Svancer, two developers and one designer. The pre-seed stage startup is backed by angel investors and NYC accelerator Wolf, which Openvibe attended last year.
Openvibe is available as a free app on iOS and Android, but plans to experiment with a desktop version. The app will later introduce a subscription plan to generate revenue.
Openvibe combines Mastodon, Bluesky and Nostr into one social app
Mastodon, Bluesky, Nostr, Threads: Since Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition of X, the app formerly known as Twitter, usage of X alternatives has continued to grow as people embrace decentralized social networking. Unfortunately, keeping up with all the new networks has not been easy, as they currently rely on different protocols that don’t interoperate. That’s a problem a new app called Openvibe aims to address. From a single interface, Openvibe allows you to stay connected with friends and followers across Mastodon, Nostr, Bluesky and soon Threads, in a combined timeline. It also offers the ability to cross-post to multiple networks at once.
The company’s mission is to offer a friendly, “easy-to-use gateway” to the open social web for new users, according to CEO Matej Svancer.
The Czech Republic-based team had originally begun work on a Twitter client called Tweetoshi in 2022, but after Elon Musk bought Twitter, they shifted their focus to the open social web, as many of the app’s earlier adopters had made the switch. Earlier efforts involved work on a Nostr-powered app called Plebstr, which has now merged into Openvibe.
However, the company’s users complained about the multiple open social protocols to choose from and how they could not communicate with one another across networks.
“We also experienced this problem ourselves, and Openvibe is an answer to that,” Svancer says. “Although there are some existing bridges, they require additional servers, mirror accounts, opt-in, etc. We don’t think this is the ideal way forward. With Openvibe there is none of that — and you can connect your already existing accounts. Openvibe’s goal is to lower the barrier for new users coming to this space. I believe the open social space can challenge legacy social media, but only if it’s united.”
The product addresses a growing need among users for tools that will help them keep up with the increasingly fractured social web, where numerous startups and projects are taking on the tech giants. In addition to the open source project Mastodon, a decentralized open social network powered by the ActivityPub protocol, there are also startups like Bluesky, now with 6 million users and built on the modern AT Protocol, as well as the decentralized social protocol Nostr, currently favored by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Smaller startups have also tried to take on Twitter/X, including Spoutible and Spill, though some earlier efforts like Post and T2/Pebble have already failed. Still, the space continues to heat up, most recently with the launch of a Twitter and MySpace mashup known as noplace, aimed at Gen Z.
Meanwhile, seeing the direction the social web was heading, Meta embraced ActivityPub for its newest social network Threads.
The overabundance of choice, however, has also led to the emergence of new aggregation tools that combine social feeds with news sources, like RSS feeds. The former developer of Twitter client Twitterrific, the Iconfactory, is now working on an app called Tapestry to help people keep up with the fray, while newsreader app Reeder’s developer, Silvio Rizzi, is working on something of a Reeder replacement that will include social sources.
Ahead of these potential competitors comes Openvibe, a simple aggregator for the open social web.
To use the app, you’ll log in to your existing accounts on the supported networks. Afterward, you’ll instantly be following all your friends in a combined timeline. The app also features a combined trending section and cross-posting support.
You can follow federated Threads profiles through the app’s Mastodon integration, but now that the Threads API has been made available, Svancer plans to add broader support for Threads in the future, starting with cross-posting.
While a version of Openvibe had been in development before now, the latest release added Bluesky support, which is why Svancer waited until now to promote the launch.
The team of four includes Svancer, two developers and one designer. The pre-seed stage startup is backed by angel investors and NYC accelerator Wolf, which Openvibe attended last year.
Openvibe is available as a free app on iOS and Android, but plans to experiment with a desktop version. The app will later introduce a subscription plan to generate revenue.
Openvibe combines Mastodon, Bluesky and Nostr into one social app
Mastodon, Bluesky, Nostr, Threads: Since Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition of X, the app formerly known as Twitter, usage of X alternatives has continued to grow as people embrace decentralized social networking. Unfortunately, keeping up with all the new networks has not been easy, as they currently rely on different protocols that don’t interoperate. That’s a problem a new app called Openvibe aims to address. From a single interface, Openvibe allows you to stay connected with friends and followers across Mastodon, Nostr, Bluesky and soon Threads, in a combined timeline. It also offers the ability to cross-post to multiple networks at once.
The company’s mission is to offer a friendly, “easy-to-use gateway” to the open social web for new users, according to CEO Matej Svancer.
The Czech Republic-based team had originally begun work on a Twitter client called Tweetoshi in 2022, but after Elon Musk bought Twitter, they shifted their focus to the open social web, as many of the app’s earlier adopters had made the switch. Earlier efforts involved work on a Nostr-powered app called Plebstr, which has now merged into Openvibe.
However, the company’s users complained about the multiple open social protocols to choose from and how they could not communicate with one another across networks.
“We also experienced this problem ourselves, and Openvibe is an answer to that,” Svancer says. “Although there are some existing bridges, they require additional servers, mirror accounts, opt-in, etc. We don’t think this is the ideal way forward. With Openvibe there is none of that — and you can connect your already existing accounts. Openvibe’s goal is to lower the barrier for new users coming to this space. I believe the open social space can challenge legacy social media, but only if it’s united.”
The product addresses a growing need among users for tools that will help them keep up with the increasingly fractured social web, where numerous startups and projects are taking on the tech giants. In addition to the open source project Mastodon, a decentralized open social network powered by the ActivityPub protocol, there are also startups like Bluesky, now with 6 million users and built on the modern AT Protocol, as well as the decentralized social protocol Nostr, currently favored by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Smaller startups have also tried to take on Twitter/X, including Spoutible and Spill, though some earlier efforts like Post and T2/Pebble have already failed. Still, the space continues to heat up, most recently with the launch of a Twitter and MySpace mashup known as noplace, aimed at Gen Z.
Meanwhile, seeing the direction the social web was heading, Meta embraced ActivityPub for its newest social network Threads.
The overabundance of choice, however, has also led to the emergence of new aggregation tools that combine social feeds with news sources, like RSS feeds. The former developer of Twitter client Twitterrific, the Iconfactory, is now working on an app called Tapestry to help people keep up with the fray, while newsreader app Reeder’s developer, Silvio Rizzi, is working on something of a Reeder replacement that will include social sources.
Ahead of these potential competitors comes Openvibe, a simple aggregator for the open social web.
To use the app, you’ll log in to your existing accounts on the supported networks. Afterward, you’ll instantly be following all your friends in a combined timeline. The app also features a combined trending section and cross-posting support.
You can follow federated Threads profiles through the app’s Mastodon integration, but now that the Threads API has been made available, Svancer plans to add broader support for Threads in the future, starting with cross-posting.
While a version of Openvibe had been in development before now, the latest release added Bluesky support, which is why Svancer waited until now to promote the launch.
The team of four includes Svancer, two developers and one designer. The pre-seed stage startup is backed by angel investors and NYC accelerator Wolf, which Openvibe attended last year.
Openvibe is available as a free app on iOS and Android, but plans to experiment with a desktop version. The app will later introduce a subscription plan to generate revenue.
Can't decide between Bluesky, Mastodon and Nostr? Nootti's new app lets you post to all three.
Managing a social presence these days can be tough. It’s even tougher for those who are experimenting with the new wave of Twitter-like services, like Mastodon, Nostr and Bluesky, where staying active means a lot of duplicate posts to different networks. Thankfully, developers are starting to address our needs for cross-posting tools. In addition to scheduling services like Fedica and Postpone, there’s now a new app, Nootti, that allows you to post to Mastodon, Nostr and Bluesky from one interface.
While we’re still awaiting the launch of multi-service social networking and news trackers, like Tapestry, Nootti’s iOS app can at least save you some effort when you want to share a post with your followers across three of the more popular Twitter/X alternatives. Plus, using Apple’s native “Share via…” option, you can cross-post that same message to any other apps you choose, like X or Meta’s Threads. (A clever workaround given Threads’ API is not yet open and X’s is too expensive for indie developers to use.)
Nootti, whose name is Finnish for “note,” is fairly bare-bones. It won’t offer all the bells and whistles that come with posting directly on the platforms themselves, like the ability to add polls and alt text on images, or get hashtag suggestions, as on Mastodon. However, if you have a simple text (or text-plus-media) post, Nootti is capable. As you type into the text entry box, Nootti counts how many characters you have left. You can also upload media from your Camera Roll, if you choose, then tap the envelope icon to send the post on its way.
To use Nootti, you’ll first have to configure your accounts in the settings. (Note that you can use an app password for Bluesky, instead of your main password, even though that option isn’t spelled out in the app.)
What makes Nootti compelling is that you can easily customize each post slightly for the different platforms. To do so, you first type your post in the “Main” tab, then switch over to the tabs for the other social networks. The post will be automatically filled in on each tab, but you can edit the message for the individual networks. For instance, you might take a more playful air with your posts on Bluesky, while adding hashtags to your posts on Mastodon. When you hit the envelope icon, the customized set of messages is published to all three networks at once.
Developer Petri Kajander says he built Nootti for himself.
“The current state of social media is defragmentation and, if you just wait, it will not change the status quo. You need to be active to be part of the change,” he says. “A lot of people have stopped posting altogether or they are only in one place. This means that you have to extend your presence to multiple places but it takes too much time. Since none of the networks is a clear winner, the best strategy is to post to multiple places, but keep the engagement local to that network and also to customize each post to each platform,” Kajander adds.
He explains that he doesn’t believe in auto-posting either, which is why he wanted an app that requires you to write your own posts.
Nootti is a free download on the App Store, but Kajander is now developing the paid version, he says, although he hasn’t yet landed on what revenue model it will use.
Kajander said he also hasn’t made a decision about supporting other networks, like Threads, or even if that will be required, once it becomes a federated app using the ActivityPub protocol. In the meantime, you can cross-post to any other app with the share button within Nootti instead.
Bluesky backs a project that would let Mastodon apps, like Ivory, work with its network
Social networks Bluesky and Mastodon may soon be accessible from within a single app — at least, that’s what Bluesky hopes. The new decentralized social network, originally incubated inside Jack Dorsey-run Twitter, is backing a project that would connect — or “bridge” — Mastodon requests into Bluesky requests so that consumer apps, like Ivory, would be compatible with Bluesky, too.
The project, dubbed SkyBridge, was among the recipients of a small distribution of $4,800 in grant funding from Bluesky, distributed across projects. SkyBridge was the second-largest recipient in this current cohort, with $800 of the total.
Bluesky had announced last month that it would use some portion of its funds to fuel efforts in the developer ecosystem via the AT Protocol Grant program. From a financial standpoint, the program is fairly insignificant, as it’s only doling out $10,000 in grants, with $4,800 already distributed. That’s not enough to found a new company in this space, but it represents a way to encourage developers who may have wanted to dig into the new AT Protocol anyway. It also serves as an early signal of the kind of development work Bluesky supports — something that could help drive adoption among developers who have been previously (and repeatedly) burned by Twitter and its changing priorities.
Other program recipients are doing valuable work as well.
For example, Blacksky Algorithms is building a suite of services to provide custom moderation services for Bluesky’s Black users. Others are building Bluesky consumer apps, developer tools, analytics resources and more.
But SkyBridge is particularly interesting because it could potentially open the small startup to a wider audience.
Twitter’s restrictive API may leave researchers out in the cold
Unlike Mastodon and other decentralized apps powered by the older ActivityPub protocol, Bluesky is developing a new, decentralized social networking protocol. Unfortunately, for end users who have begun exploring the open source social networks broadly known as the “fediverse,” Bluesky’s decision to build on a different protocol means users have to switch apps to access Bluesky’s network. They can’t use their preferred Mastodon app to browse Bluesky content, that is.
If successful, SkyBridge could change that, as it would be able to translate Mastodon API calls to Bluesky API calls. The bridge is currently being tested on Ivory on iOS and Mac; it’s the Mastodon app from the company that previously developed a popular third-party Twitter app called Tweetbot. Notes SkyBridge’s developer @videah.net on Bluesky, the project is currently undergoing a significant rewrite from Dart to Rust, which is why its GitHub repo hasn’t seen much activity lately.
Still, he thinks the work is promising.
“It’s already proving to be much more stable, hoping to show it off soon,” videah posted on Bluesky when sharing the news of the grant.
Today, Bluesky has nearly 5.6 million users, while the wider ActivityPub-backed fediverse has over 10 million users. Instagram Threads (which is integrating with ActivityPub) now has more than 150 million monthly active users, Meta announced this week during earnings.
The move to bridge Bluesky and Mastodon has been the subject of some debate as of late. People have disagreed on how bridging should be done, or whether a bridge should be built at all. Another software developer, Ryan Barrett, was the recipient of some backlash on GitHub when building another bridge called Bridgy Fed, which would be opt-out by default — meaning Mastodon posts would show up on Bluesky even if the post’s author hadn’t opted into this. He readjusted his plans to build a discoverable opt-in instead, which would allow users to request to follow accounts on the different networks.
With its backing of SkyBridge, Bluesky is signaling a desire to blur the lines between Mastodon and Bluesky.
Eventually, people may not need to think about what protocol an app runs on, just like no one thinks about their email client using SMTP, POP3 or IMAP. And in an ideal outcome, people could connect to friends on any social network, regardless of its underpinning, and see their friends’ replies in return, too.
Bluesky and Mastodon users are having a fight that could shape the next generation of social media