A review of Tapestry, an app powered by the growing open web

A new app has been called TapestryWhich Launched on TuesdayCombines and organizes data across web and social networks in a single place. It’s in some ways, like this generation FriendfidFor those who are old, web 2.0 is enough to commemorate the collective feed and social media updates at a single destination to discover and discuss the previous attempt from the ERA.

But when the FriendFid encouraged the discussion on the site, he created a social network of its own — and at last an attraction Acquisition By Facebook – works better as a tapestry reader.

The problem that the app has addressed is becoming more common as the Open Social Web is growing: To hold, people need to use lots of services and so many applications.

A flurry of development in the development of increasing social networks Blusky And MastDesigned to compete with tech giants with open source software and decentralized energy structures, after leaving X’s and meta platforms, there are also challenges to keep pace with friends and followers spread across numerous places.

This problem is the original drawing of the tapestry addressed, but it can also limit the app’s application beyond the primary receiving crowd.

A unified app

Today, most people already have processes, work flows and desired applications that they use to retain news sites, blogs, podcasts and YouTube videos from favorite creators. Tapestry offers to change it. It provides a single place to check these updates as well as other social networks you can use like blusky, mastodon, tumbler and others.

Built by a designed team on the original third party Twitter clients, Twitterfic, tapestry has suggested to introduce a new type of timeline, which is very much like Twitter, where all the updates scroll. Also additional, more advanced tools you can use to configure that timeline – such as what materials need to be muted and what to “mall” or collapse – so that you can choose it if you want to limit the space of the screen.

The latter can be used to improve your timeline aesthetics and both. For example, you may want to confuse political issues so you do not overwhelm your screen as a scroll or muble spayler of your favorite TV shows.

After adding social accounts, RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts and many more that you want to see in the tapestry, you can set up your timeline, as well as additional timels by providing a custom view of this information. For example, you can only have a timeline such as Apple News, Blogs and Podcasts or for your social networks like Bluiceki and Maston.

To get the best use from the tapestry, you need to think a lot about the kind of information and updates you want to track and how you want to organize them. All social applications can be noisy to see everything in a single feed because of updates. Your timeline is basically a version of the custom feeds of the tapestry (similar to the blusky feed, but not just one, with the ability to pull from multiple services). This means that you are not just a consumer – the feed creator will be in the job – at least until the at least the more powerful developer is ecosystem.

Feed and connector

Although it seems that tapestry is trying to scratch an itching that can be Open Social Web starters now, all your content -time integration may sometimes feel extra completed, and some users need more polish for interface preferences.

For example, when you choose the “Open Original” option from the “more” (tri-dot) menu in individual posts, the tapstry feeds are default in opening in-app.

Also, for people who have the ability to be involved in the original content with extra taps do not create the best app who prefer to take part in social conversation as well as scrolling. If you open the application in-app, you need to log in to the social network to involve. You will probably want to set it to open the “Safari” feed so the iOS app related to the tapestry will open directly (like bluesky) where you can choose, answer or re -post it.

Unfortunately, this means that tapestry is not solving the need to maintain multiple accounts across multiple applications.

Another design that may be confusing is associated with the two categories of the application where you can add the source. One is called “feeds” and the other is called “connector”. The former lets you add “the content displayed on your timeline” and the next one is “creating feed that makes your timeline popular”. (If you tease your head on these details you need to explain further explanation of the non -pack app alone))

It turns out that connectors are meant to do more work like plug-ins or add-on. They ran a JavaScript Sandbox And will be built by a community Third party developer People who want to extend the tapestry ecosystem with their own new feed. Unfortunately, these connectors cannot include sources like Facebook, Instagram, X or others that do not provide open feeds.

An extensible app is a cute idea but it is one that the project’s roadmap can be further down. Initially, the foundation of the team’s users that should be concentrated toward examining Desire In the first place “timeline” is not just the social web, but the information from across the web. Do users Desire RSS, Podcast, Social Media and other services mixed without using separate applications?

A transitional step or future?

Tapestry is just “users’ feeds and sources of sources that are under control that for news and information.

Blusky and even new social applications Metter threads The idea of ​​the custom feed was introduced, when the startups preferred Grage offers advanced feed-built-in equipmentAnd Flipboard has launched a new app called Surf To create custom feeds across the services. Unlike the tapestry, the surf user interface allows you to see feeds that can be filtered for viewing in different formats – read, read or listen – or depend on what tabs you choose, you may choose to see everything combined with one.

Likes to other applications Feeeed And Reader Similar problems have been raised in the vicinity of the feed intake.

One of the problems to solve these solutions is that one of the problems is that today’s open social networks work in different protocols. Mastodon, Pixelfad and others use ActivationAnd blusky and a Clients growing number The underlying protocol is creating, At the protocolThe Meanwhile, old news sites, blogs and podcasts distribute their updates across open protocols RSSThe

Currently, The bridge is being built To connect networks such as blusky and mastodons, like social applications Threads are integrated with activitiesWhile WordPress blog And Ghost Open Social Web is working to join Federation, through activitiesThe

It gives us a tropical time where you can’t just choose your favorite app and expect to see all of it.

Instead, our feeds and sources are being provided to equip the equipment but we look appropriate. However, some of these attempts feel like temporary arrangements as a new, more open internet – where everything is finally connected – is still being built.