I’ve got access to the beta of the Surf app. Some thoughts:
some stuff I really liked:
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rss works (though no custom URLs yet, just what they already scraped)
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you get lemmy, mastodon, bluesky, threads all together
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you can make your own feeds and check what other people made (like a custom timeline, or topic-specific like “NBA”, “woodworking”, “retro gaming stuff”)
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has different modes: you can switch between videos, articles, podcasts depending on the feed
but also…
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can’t add your own RSS feeds (huge miss)
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some feeds break and show no posts even when they’re active (ok, it’s still a beta)
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YouTube videos have ads (not into that—I support creators through patreon, affiliate links, whatever. not ads)
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feeds you create are public by default unless you manually change it
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not open source. built on open protocols, sure. but the app is locked up. (HUGE MISS)
all that said, I really believe: better feeds = better experience = better shot at the fediverse going mainstream.
anyone else tried it?
do you know anyone building an open source version of this? is that even realistic?
I’d love to hear what do you think :)
I just went to download it and realized I needed an invite code because the beta is closed.
When I went to sign up for the wait-list, it turns out I’m already on it, since last DECEMBER!
So they either need to let more folks in real quick, or they cannot gain traction by word of mouth.
I got in several months ago but they require a fucking Google account to activate it. I don’t understand how they can pretend to make an entire app “built for the open web” that has big tech dependencies. It’s a fuckin’ joke, as far as I’m concerned.
Perhaps the point is to fix it up a little before getting more folks to join?
I just find it weird I’ve been on the wait-list for 7 months. Long enough for me to have completely forgotten I even signed up in the first place.
They’re certainly taking plenty of time.
Soooo…
I’ve been working on something for a while now. It has RSS feeds and partial support for ActivityPub, and it’s also got federated web search.
I’m considering adding AT proto for bsky support soon but it’s not a top priority.
It’s been in friends-and-family testing for about a year now. The intent is to release under AGPL, but development is closed until I feel the code quality can withstand scrutiny from this brutal community 😅
Right now I have a to-do list full of things that are stopping me from letting more people access it. My hope is to get them knocked out this summer, though. I’ll definitely post something here when that happens.
I heard about Surf well after I’d already been working on this, and signed up for the beta but have been on the waiting list since last year. I’d really love to see their approach.
I find tapestry to be way better than surf. I use both but surf just feels confusing while tapestry do everything in a cleaner way.
Do you have a link? When I search tapestry I find a proprietary app for a learning program
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tapestry-by-iconfactory/id6448078074
First review was interesting.
thanks! I’m keep an eye out for an android APK.
Oh, is it iOS only?
That is one janky app icon for a developer group calling itself “Icon Factory”.
Same. I’m also interested
you get lemmy, mastodon, bluesky, threads all together
Wait, I’ve been waiting for an app like this. How does it support threaded link aggregation like Lemmy? Can you browse communities and feeds as you would any other Lemmy app, or does it display all scuffed like if you try to follow Lemmy communities on Mastodon/Misskey?
There is also Fedilab.
Wanted to try it, signed up for the beta, still waiting on my invite code.
On the surface, bluesky integration makes sense if they’re trying to onboard people onto “the social web”. Still, I’m disappointed they seem to want to be a curated view on what they determine is a feed, and not some kind of plug’n’play feed viewer beyond RSS.
Fuck flipboard and their stupid ass non disable-able default action on old samsung devices. I’ll hold that grudge till I die
You hit one button on your phone and it opened flipboard, an app I’ve never once wanted to open. Insanity.
Sounds like a Samsung issue. Maybe hold the grudge against them.
Pretty sure Samsung didn’t install it because they thought their customers would just love it so much!
