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A new app calledTapestry , whichlaunched Tuesday , total and organizes selective information from across the World Wide Web and societal meshwork in a single stead . It is , in some ways , like this generation’sFriendFeed , for those old enough to call up the earlier attempt from the Web 2.0 earned run average to combine feeds and societal media update in a exclusive destination for discovery and discussion .
But while FriendFeed encourage discussions on - website , building a societal internet of its own — and at long last attracting anacquisitionby Facebook — Tapestry influence better as a lecturer .
The job the app addresses is one that ’s becoming more vulgar as the opened social entanglement grows : In lodge to keep up , citizenry have to use long ton of divine service and do so much app - switching .
Amid a flurry of growing that include the growing social networksBlueskyandMastodon , designed to rival the technical school giants with overt reservoir software and decentralized power structures , there is also the challenge of keeping up with friend and follower who have now scattered across numerous places after depart X ’s and Meta ’s platforms .
Addressing this job is Tapestry ’s primary draw play but this could , for the prison term being , also confine the app ’s appeal beyond the early - adoptive parent crowd .
A unified app
Today , most people already have process , workflow , and favourite apps they habituate to keep up with news sites , blogs , podcasts , and YouTube video from favored Godhead . Tapestry pop the question to alter that . It offer a individual position to control for these updates alongside those from other social connection you may utilise , like Bluesky , Mastodon , Tumblr , and others .
build up by the team that contrive one of the original third - party Twitter clients , Twitterrific , Tapestry proposes to premise a fresh type of timeline , much like Twitter ’s , where all updates scroll by . There are also additional , more ripe prick you’re able to use to configure that timeline — like selecting which subject to mute and which to “ smother , ” or break down — so you’re able to prefer to catch it if desired while limiting screen space .
The latter can be used to improve both the aesthetics and the vibe of your timeline . For illustration , you may want to muffle political topics so they do n’t overwhelm your projection screen as you scroll or tone down spoilers of your favored TV show .
After adding the societal write up , RSS provender , blogs , podcasts , and more that you need to view within Tapestry , you may then mark up your timeline , as well as extra timeline , pop the question a customs sentiment of this data . For instance , you could have a timeline focus only on Apple news , blogs , and podcasts , or one for your social mesh , like Bluesky and Mastodon .
To get the best use out of Tapestry , you ’ll have to give a lot of sentiment to the type of selective information and update you require to track and how you ’d like to see them organized . Viewing everything in a individual feed can be noisy because of all the social app updates . Your timeline are essentially Tapestry ’s version of tradition feed ( similar to Bluesky ’s provender , but with the ability to take out from multiple services , not just one ) . That means you ’ll be in the job of provender Divine , not just consumer — at least until a more robust developer ecosystem get in .
Feeds and Connectors
While it finger like Tapestry is trying to rub an itch that open societal web other adopters may now have , its aggregation of all your content into timelines can feel overcomplicated at times , and some of its drug user interface choices need more burnish .
For instance , Tapestry defaults to opening feeds in - app when you choose the option to “ open original ” from the “ more ” ( three - dot ) carte on individual posts .
Also , tucking away the ability to engage with the original content with an excess tap does n’t make this the proficient app for people who like to quickly take part in societal conversations as they scroll . If you open up detail in - app , you ’ll require to lumber in to the social electronic web to employ . You ’ll likely require to adjust this to open up feeds in “ Safari ” so Tapestry afford the associated iOS app directly ( like Bluesky ) where you could like , reply , or repost .
regrettably , that mean Tapestry is n’t really solving the need to maintain multiple accounts across multiple apps .
Another design choice that could be confusing involves the app ’s two sections where you’re able to add together source . One is called “ Feeds ” and another is called “ Connectors . ” The former lets you add “ content that come out in your timeline , ” and the latter is mean to “ create provender that populate your timeline . ” ( If you ’re scratching your oral sex at those descriptions , you ’re not alone . The app want to offer more of an explanation . )
As it turns out , Connectors are meant to turn more like plug - Indiana or add - ons . They run in aJavaScript sandboxand will be built by a community ofthird - party developerswho want to offer the Tapestry ecosystem with novel feeds of their own . Unfortunately , these Connectors ca n’t let in sources like Facebook , Instagram , X , or others that do n’t offer opened feed .
An extensile app is a clever idea but one that could have been pushed further down the labor ’s roadmap . Initially , the team should focus on test the premise that userswantto aspect information from across the web , not just the social entanglement , as “ timelines ” in the first lieu . Do userswantRSS , podcasts , societal medium , and other service meld , instead of using freestanding apps ?
A transitional step or the future?
arras is n’t the only one that ’s think about set user in mastery of their feed and source for tidings and information .
Newer social apps like Bluesky and evenMeta ’s Threadsintroduced the concept of custom feeds , while startups likeGraze offer advanced feed - construction instrument , andFlipboard enclose a new app called Surffor work up customs duty give from across services . Unlike Tapestry ’s , Surf ’s user port lets you regard feeds that can be filtered to be viewed in unlike formatting — see , register , or take heed — or you could choose to see everything combined into one , depend on which tab you select .
Other apps likeFeeeedandReederhave also egress to address standardised topic around provender consumption .
One problem these resolution aim to address is that today ’s undecided societal mesh work on different protocols . Mastodon , Pixelfed , and others useActivityPub , and Bluesky and agrowing number of clientsare build on its fundamental protocol , AT Protocol . Meanwhile , honest-to-goodness news site , blogs , and podcasts broadcast their updates across the open protocolRSS .
That impart us in a transitional flow where you ca n’t just pick your prefer app and expect to see it all .
rather , we ’re being given tools to blend feed and source however we see set . But some of these movement feel like temporary measure as a new , more candid internet — where everything eventually connects — is still being built .
