Tag Archives: Mastodon Apps

Fedilab for Android

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Third party Mastodon, PeerTube & Fediverse app, free open source software, available from Google Play (free) ⧉ & F-Droid (free) ⧉

Screenshot of a Mastodon post viewed in Fedilab, it looks pretty standard.
Screenshot of a translated post in a thread in Fedilab. The post is in German and there's a translation of it immediately below in a separate box.
Screenshot of the LibreOffice profile page viewed through Fedilab. The metadata section looks slightly messy.
Account switcher and options menu on Fedilab, there are lots of options in the menu to select from.
The settings sub-menu in Fedilab, an even wider range of categories to choose from such as interface, theming, timelines, account, compose etc.
The Extra Features settings page on Fedilab which allows additional features on Mastodon forks and non-Mastodon servers to be accessed through Fedilab's interface.
The filter editing page on Fedilab, the options are similar to those on the web interface of Mastodon.
Screenshot of a PeerTube video viewed through Fedilab, it includes the standard PeerTube options including thumbs up and thumbs down etc.
Privacy options page on Fedilab offering to open YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etc links within privacy-friendly alternative front ends.
Screenshot of a post on Mastodon with a slightly different visual theme with a greyer colour.
The theme options page on Fedilab.
Searching PeerTube through Fedilab, it brings up results for a search for Nintendo.
Browsing videos on PeerTube through Fedilab, there is a dedicated Fedilab set of buttons at the bottom of the screen which mirror the options on the Fedilab web interface.
The manage timelines page on Fedilab, allows reordering of timelines in the graphical interface.
Interactions menu on Fedilab, with various categories including bookmarks, muted users, home muted users, blocked users, favourites etc.
Recently added PeerTube videos viewed through Fedilab, with colourful thumbnails in contrast with the dark app theme.
Screenshots from Fedilab v3.24.1

General impressions

At first glance appears to be pretty standard, but once you start going through the options and settings there is so much more under the surface. Many, many useful features and good support for non-Mastodon Fediverse servers. It’s not the best-looking app, but that doesn’t matter because it does lots of things other apps cannot do.

Nice stuff

  • All the standard extras available the web interface such as post editing, pinned posts, hashtag follows, lists, filters, trending tags, trending posts etc.
  • All the timelines (Home, Local, Federated, Explore) are there, as are all the visibilities (Public, Unlisted, Followers-Only, Mentions-Only and Local-Only (for servers that support local-only posts))
  • Free open source software
  • Allows users to be muted just on home timeline while still appearing on lists, which is great for creating multiple separate timelines from the same account. (Also, you can set lists to automatically include home muted users.)
  • Scheduled posts and scheduled boosts, including boosts of own or others’ posts
  • Post drafts, automatically asks you if you close a message without posting it
  • Built-in translation, built-in dictionary and spell checker
  • Good support for non-Mastodon Fediverse server types including Pixelfed, PeerTube, Friendica etc. Also includes support for extra features on Mastodon forks such as Glitch and Hometown.
  • PeerTube interface is particularly good, allows all the options from the web interface including uploads, and Fedilab can easily be used as a dedicated PeerTube app
  • Customisable timeline and interface options, colour themes, adjustable text and icon sizes.
  • Conversation thread maps
  • Lets you fetch data from remote servers which allows conversations and profiles to be updated with information that hasn’t federated to your server yet.
  • Optional privacy features for links such as UTM stripping, and using alternative frontends for links to popular services (for example Nitter to view Twitter links, Invidious to view YouTube links etc).
  • Lots more options such as automatic cache clearance.

Potential drawbacks

  • Some of the formatting could be slicker and neater, for example metadata tables on profiles look a bit messy
  • Some English translations slightly odd, such as “trending messages” when it means trending posts
  • Occasional weird bugs, for example the Manage Timelines page brings up a “No timelines was found on this instance” error message

Hints & Tips

  • Polls can be added to posts by clicking the attachment button (the paperclip) and selecting the poll icon
  • You can jump to the top of a timeline by double-tapping the timeline’s icon

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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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Tusky for Android

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Third party Mastodon app, free open source software, available from Google Play (free) ⧉ and F-Droid (free) ⧉

Screenshot of Tusky app for Android showing the main settings screen
Screenshot of Tusky app for Android, showing the Home timeline with a couple of art posts
Screenshot of Tusky for Android, showing a post about a heron with a pretty photo of it
Screenshot of a profile page on Tusky, for the GBH News account, showing a metadata section with a small verified tick symbol
Screenshot of the Aviation Librarian's account's media section showing lots of aeroplane pictures.
Screenshot of a post being edited in Tusky, showing an attached image and the emoji menu open.
Screenshot of an image caption being edited in Tusky
Screenshot of editing the focus on an image in Tusky
Screenshot of a message being edited in Tusky with a dialogue box asking if the user wants to save it as a draft.
Screenshot of the post scheduling screen in Tusky showing a calendar.
Screenshot of the account preferences menu in Tusky showing many options including Notifications, Tabs, Followed Hashtags, Muted and Blocked Users, Hidden Domains and Filters. More options are below this out of view of the screenshot.
Screenshot of the custom tab settings page on Tusky where the main interface's tabs are chosen.
Screenshot of the Filter editing page on Tusky.
Screenshot of the trending hashtags page on Tusky showing many tags with graphs next to them showing their popularity over time.
Screenshot of the general app preferences page on Tusky.
Screenshots from Tusky v22.0

General impressions

Solid, reliable and mature with continual development and updates. Works the way you would expect it to, and matches up nicely with the website interface. This is what the official Android app should have been.

Nice stuff

  • One of the longest-supported Mastodon apps, been around longer than the official app
  • Feels very intuitive, arranged logically
  • Free open source software
  • Lots of features that are missing from the official app and/or website, such as scheduled posts, drafts, reversal of reading order, image cropping etc.
  • Other features include post editing, image focus editing, bookmarks, lists, polls, hashtag following, filters, private profile notes, all post visibilities including Unlisted, all timelines
  • Custom tabs, you can pick up to five from Home, Local, Federated, Notifications, DMs, Trending Hashtags, Lists, Hashtag Columns
  • Hashtag tabs can include multiple hashtags in one tab, and you can have multiple separate hashtag tabs, which is really useful for creating your own custom themed timelines
  • Switch between tabs very easily by swiping (swiping can be deactivated too)
  • Support for multiple accounts at once, with separate settings pages for each account
  • People sick of clout-chasing can switch off all the boost/favourite/follower numbers, which can be good for mental health
  • Warning icon to remind you to add text descriptions

Potential drawbacks

  • No option to view trending posts
  • Custom tabs are fantastic, but the five tab limit can be frustrating
  • Verification of links on profiles not very clear, the icon could be confused with fake verification icons made with custom emoji
  • Profile descriptions formatted slightly messily, especially metadata elements
  • Some people overlook the Add Poll button as it’s sort of hidden in the attachment menu

Hints & Tips

  • Tusky is a volunteer-run project providing free software, you can donate to keep it going at the Tusky Open Collective page ⧉
  • To see your own profile page, tap your profile icon twice (once to open the settings page, then again to show your profile page)
  • To make a draft, start writing a post and close it without actually posting it . You can find a complete list of drafts from the settings page.
  • To add a poll, click the attachment button 📎 and then select Add Poll

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