A brand new app referred to as Tapestry, which launched Tuesday, aggregates and organizes data from throughout the online and social networks in a single place. It’s, in some methods, like this technology’s FriendFeed, for these sufficiently old to recollect the sooner try from the Internet 2.0 period to combination feeds and social media updates in a single vacation spot for discovery and dialogue.
However whereas FriendFeed inspired discussions on-site, constructing a social community of its personal — and in the end attracting an acquisition by Fb — Tapestry works higher as a reader.
The issue the app addresses is one which’s turning into extra frequent because the open social internet grows: As a way to sustain, individuals have to make use of tons of companies and accomplish that a lot app-switching.
Amid a flurry of improvement that features the rising social networks Bluesky and Mastodon, designed to rival the tech giants with open supply software program and decentralized energy buildings, there’s additionally the problem of maintaining with mates and followers who’ve now scattered throughout quite a few locations after leaving X’s and Meta’s platforms.
Addressing this downside is Tapestry’s essential draw however this might, in the meanwhile, additionally restrict the app’s enchantment past the early-adopter crowd.
A unified app
At this time, most individuals have already got processes, workflows, and most well-liked apps they use to maintain up with information websites, blogs, podcasts, and YouTube movies from favourite creators. Tapestry proposes to alter that. It affords a single place to examine for these updates alongside these from different social networks it’s possible you’ll use, like Bluesky, Mastodon, Tumblr, and others.
Constructed by the group that designed one of many authentic third-party Twitter shoppers, Twitterrific, Tapestry proposes to introduce a brand new sort of timeline, very like Twitter’s, the place all updates scroll by. There are additionally extra, extra superior instruments you should use to configure that timeline — like choosing which content material to mute and which to “muffle,” or collapse — so you’ll be able to decide to view it if desired whereas limiting display screen area.
The latter can be utilized to enhance each the aesthetics and the vibe of your timeline. For example, it’s possible you’ll need to muffle political subjects in order that they don’t overwhelm your display screen as you scroll or muffle spoilers of your favourite TV exhibits.
After including the social accounts, RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts, and extra that you just need to view inside Tapestry, you’ll be able to then arrange your timeline, in addition to extra timelines, providing a customized view of this data. For example, you possibly can have a timeline targeted solely on Apple information, blogs, and podcasts, or one on your social networks, like Bluesky and Mastodon.
To get one of the best use out of Tapestry, you’ll have to provide a variety of thought to the kind of data and updates you need to observe and the way you’d prefer to see them organized. Viewing every little thing in a single feed might be noisy due to all of the social app updates. Your timelines are primarily Tapestry’s model of customized feeds (just like Bluesky’s feeds, however with the flexibility to tug from a number of companies, not only one). Which means you’ll be within the job of feed creator, not simply client — not less than till a extra strong developer ecosystem arrives.
Feeds and Connectors
Whereas it looks like Tapestry is attempting to scratch an itch that open social internet early adopters could now have, its aggregation of all of your content material into timelines can really feel overcomplicated at instances, and a few of its consumer interface decisions want extra polish.
For example, Tapestry defaults to opening feeds in-app while you select the choice to “open authentic” from the “extra” (three-dot) menu on particular person posts.
Additionally, tucking away the flexibility to interact with the unique content material with an additional faucet doesn’t make this one of the best app for individuals who prefer to rapidly take part in social conversations as they scroll. When you open objects in-app, you’ll have to log in to the social community to interact. You’ll possible need to set this to open feeds in “Safari” so Tapestry opens the related iOS app straight (like Bluesky) the place you’ll be able to like, reply, or repost.
Sadly, which means Tapestry isn’t actually fixing the necessity to preserve a number of accounts throughout a number of apps.
One other design selection that may very well be complicated includes the app’s two sections the place you’ll be able to add sources. One is named “Feeds” and one other is named “Connectors.” The previous permits you to add “content material that seems in your timeline,” and the latter is supposed to “create feeds that populate your timeline.” (When you’re scratching your head at these descriptions, you’re not alone. The app wants to supply extra of a proof.)
Because it seems, Connectors are supposed to work extra like plug-ins or add-ons. They run in a JavaScript sandbox and shall be constructed by a group of third-party developers who need to lengthen the Tapestry ecosystem with new feeds of their very own. Sadly, these Connectors can’t embody sources like Fb, Instagram, X, or others that don’t provide open feeds.
An extensible app is a intelligent concept however one that might have been pushed additional down the venture’s roadmap. Initially, the group ought to deal with testing the premise that customers need to view data from throughout the online, not simply the social internet, as “timelines” within the first place. Do customers need RSS, podcasts, social media, and different companies blended, as a substitute of utilizing separate apps?
A transitional step or the longer term?
Tapestry isn’t the one one which’s desirous about placing customers accountable for their feeds and sources for information and knowledge.
Newer social apps like Bluesky and even Meta’s Threads launched the idea of customized feeds, whereas startups like Graze offer advanced feed-building tools, and Flipboard introduced a new app called Surf for constructing customized feeds from throughout companies. In contrast to Tapestry’s, Surf’s consumer interface permits you to view feeds that may be filtered to be seen in several codecs — watch, learn, or hear — or you’ll be able to decide to see every little thing mixed into one, relying on which tab you choose.
Different apps like Feeeed and Reeder have additionally emerged to handle related points round feed consumption.
One downside these options purpose to handle is that at this time’s open social networks work on completely different protocols. Mastodon, Pixelfed, and others use ActivityPub, and Bluesky and a growing number of clients are constructing on its underlying protocol, AT Protocol. In the meantime, older information websites, blogs, and podcasts distribute their updates throughout the open protocol RSS.
Presently, bridges are being built to attach networks like Bluesky and Mastodon, social apps like Threads are integrating with ActivityPub, whereas WordPress blogs and newsletter platforms like Ghost are working to affix the open social internet referred to as the fediverse, via ActivityPub.
That leaves us in a transitional interval the place you’ll be able to’t simply choose your most well-liked app and count on to see all of it.
As a substitute, we’re being given instruments to mix feeds and sources nevertheless we see match. However a few of these efforts really feel like short-term measures as a brand new, extra open web — the place every little thing finally connects — continues to be being constructed.
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