Tag Archives: iOS Apps

Ice Cubes for iPhone/iPad

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Third party Mastodon app, free open source software, available from Apple App Store (free) ⧉

Screenshot of a profile page within the Ice Cubes app with a violet/purple colour scheme.
Screenshot of the post creation screen in Ice Cubes, with the custom emoji menu open showing lots of emoji in a grid.
The post creation screen with the visibility menu open, showing options Everyone, Unlisted, Followers and Private.
Post creation screen showing options for correcting text, shortening text, emphasising text, adding hashtags in place or adding hashtags after text.
Screenshot of post creation page, the original post "This is a test message" has been automatically expanded to emphasise its contents and is ridiculously enthusiastic. "Ready set funtastic! Testing one two three! Get ready to be amazed by this mind-blowing message, filled with awesomeness and pure excitement! Brace yourself for the most captivating and electrifying test message you've ever encountered! Get your party hats on because we're about to have a blast! Lets rock the test message like never before!". The post also has lots of party emoji sprinkled within it.
Screenshot of the display settings colour palette selector screen including all colours, shades, sliders, spectrum and transparencies.
Screenshot of the display settings page showing lots of options for the differenet graphical elements.
Screenshot of the top of the general settings page with options like display, haptic, remote timelines, content etc.
Screenshot of the Explore page showing trending tags, suggested users etc.
Screenshot of home timeline showing the followed hashtag menu open.
Screenshot of the Local timeline showing the Local timelines menu open, including a selection of other servers whose local timelines can be followed from within the app.
Screenshot of the swipe interface customisation settings screen.
Screenshot of what a quote post actually looks like in practice, it is just a normal post with a mention of the author and a URL link to their original post thread.
Screenshot of someone else's post with the options menu open. All the usual options from standard Mastodon are there, plus translation options and quote in post option.
Screenshot of a post thread with a light colour scheme. The post is Riker Googling "are holodecks sound proof".
Screenshots from Ice Cubes v1.6.16

General impressions

Slick, fast, very well thought out. Full of options and settings if you want them, but the default settings work fine too and the options don’t feel overwhelming. Feels very modern and pushing beyond what the official app offers.

Nice stuff

  • Very easy to use and intuitive by default, so it’s suitable for beginners but advanced users can dig through settings if they want a more tweaked experience.
  • Free open source software
  • Extra features not on official app such as post drafts, hiding repeated boosts, following other servers, unlisted visibility, more granular notification settings, filter editing etc
  • Includes all the timelines (Home, Local, Federated, Explore) plus option to follow timelines on other servers.
  • Includes trending posts, trending tags, hashtag following etc.
  • Lovely haptics and subtle unobtrusive sound effects, letting you know something has happened without making a song and dance about it
  • Fully customisable appearance including full range of colours for each element, transparency settings, pre-built themes, font sizes and line spacing, preview on example post etc
  • Customisable swipe settings on interface
  • Can automatically suggest hashtags based on your post, and add them either within or after the text. Same feature can also correct text.

Not sure one way or other

  • LLM-powered feature where you can ask it to rewrite your post more concisely or more enthusiastically. Some will really appreciate this, while others will be concerned about its effect on discourse.
  • Quoting posts is something many have demanded but others have been worried about. In this particular case, the quoting is actually just linking to the post and mentioning the author (the core Mastodon software does not currently include quoting as a feature, so this is possibly the nearest the app can get to it).

Potential drawbacks

  • No image focus selection
  • No separate volume control for effects, have to use system volume

Hints & Tips

  • Ice Cubes is free open source software created by volunteers. Please consider supporting its development by using the optional in-app purchases which allow you to give a one-off tip or a regular subscription. The donation buttons are in the app itself at Settings > Support The App.
  • You can add and edit filters by holding down your profile icon in the top left corner, then select your profile name to bring up settings specific to that profile. One of these will be Edit filters.
  • You can see your own server’s info and its list of rules by going to Settings > Instance Information
  • Development was paused due to lead dev’s parental leave, but there should be updates on the way again now

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