#107

drafts/The State of Mastodon Clients on iOS.md

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ Toot! is extremely beautiful (despite its unfortunate name,) and I am quite supe
 
 In my [cacophonous attempt](https://mastodon.social/@DavidBlue/106302686196643266) to compare the notifications of all available Mastodon apps simultaneously, it's worth noting that Toot!'s always came first. Its [charming custom audio alerts](https://whyp.it/t/toot-ios-app-custom-sounds-92997) also make them my favorite by far.
 
-They're not just cute: in reflection informed by a newly-considered function of these apps - serving as representing M, it occurred to me that **Toot! audio alerts playing from my iPhone have prompted more first-time conversations about Mastodon in the wild than I can count**. (Seriously: they should be considered an onboarding mechanism.)
+They're not just cute: in reflection informed by a newly-considered function of these apps - serving as representing the network as a whole - it occurred to me that **Toot! audio alerts playing from my iPhone have prompted more first-time conversations about Mastodon in the wild than I can count**. (Seriously: they should be considered an onboarding mechanism.)
 
 ![Toot! Settings](https://i.snap.as/30YJR456.png)
 
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ Metatext is perhaps the buzziest of all these apps - well-praised in every space
 
 ### [Tootle](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tootle-for-mastodon/id1236013466)
 
-I'm not entirely positive which Mastodon app was *actually* the first on my iPhone, back in 2017, but I know for sure it was either Amaroq or the dearest, infinitely-colorful Tootle. Its [App Store Page](https://mastodon.cloud/@tootleapp) Version History suggests it has not been updated in 14 months, yet the app - which was apparently "designed for iPad" - appears to be working just fine. There are some overlapping UI elements, but they're barely noticeable. Were it not for the new dev-facing store search tool mentioned above, I would have assumed this app long gone, to be honest, but using it again has somehow managed to genuinely twinge my nostalgia nerve.
+I'm not entirely positive which Mastodon app was *actually* the first on my iPhone, back in 2017, but I know for sure it was either Amaroq or the dearest, infinitely-colorful Tootle. Its [App Store Page](https://mastodon.cloud/@tootleapp) Version History suggests it has not been updated in 14 months, yet the app - which was apparently "Designed for iPad" - appears to be working just fine. There are some overlapping UI elements, but they're barely noticeable. Were it not for the new dev-facing store search tool mentioned above, I would have assumed this app long gone, to be honest, but using it again has somehow managed to genuinely twinge my nostalgia nerve.
 
 In my search for any extra-App Store representation other than [Tootle's Mastodon Account](https://mastodon.cloud/@tootleapp) (which last posted the day after my birthday, last year,) I discovered [Tootle... for Linux](https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2020/11/tootle-l-gtk3-mastodon-client-linux/). Since I am a dedicated and thorough person, these days, I spent several hours messing around with Linux Virtual Machining until Lubuntu finally functioned *just* so I could show you what it looks like. Below is a screen capture of Tootle bordered by the most Macish LXQ desktop bars included in Lubuntu and *even* wearing the new official Apple System Font, SF Pro. Still, I think you'll agree... Tootle for Linux is not related to Tootle.
 
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ Yet another "Designed for iPad" entry, Naoki Kuwata's [Tootoise](https://apps.ap
 
 ### [Stella](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stella/id921372048)
 
-Yet another entirely one-of-a-kind experience, the slightly-mysterious Stella is listed as a "Mastodon, Twitter & News Client," and is notably the *only* app in this list which does indeed support Twitter! More than that, it is the first app I've seen in a very long time that allows one to *simultaneously* post to two separate social services (Twitter and Mastodon, in this case.) Without documentation, it's a bit clunky, but its customizable timelines feature also allows one to combine multiple "sources" (social accounts) into a single timeline.
+Yet another entirely one-of-a-kind experience, the slightly-mysterious Stella is listed as a "Mastodon, Twitter & News Client," and is notably one of the two apps on this list which do indeed support Twitter! More than that, it is the first app I've seen in a very long time that allows one to *simultaneously* post to two separate social services (Twitter and Mastodon, in this case.) Without documentation, it's a bit clunky, but its customizable timelines feature also allows one to combine multiple "sources" (social accounts) into a single timeline.
 
 ![B4X for Pleroma & Mastodon for iOS](https://i.snap.as/aSYoZ8t2.png)
 
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ I would imagine those _real_ iOS developers among you should find [StarPterano
 
 ### [Ore2](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ore2-for-twitter-mastodon/id1107176601)
 
-Ore2 is another (apparently) non-English-native Mastodon client focused on consolidating Mastodon and Twitter within a single space. Notably, it’s the first app I’ve come across in a very long time which allows one to post to both services simultaneously. Considerable work was obviously done on making its timeline-based tabs switchable with touch. Personally, I very much prefer my current crossposting configuration via [this (generously-public) web tool](https://crossposter.masto.donte.com.br), but I am all but certain those users exist who will find Ore2’s setup preferable. 
+Ore2 is another (apparently) non-English-native Mastodon client focused on consolidating Mastodon and Twitter within a single space. Alongside Stella, it's the second of the first two apps I've come across in a very long time which allows one to post to both services simultaneously. Considerable work was obviously done on making its timeline-based tabs switchable with touch. Personally, I very much prefer my current crossposting configuration via [this (generously-public) web tool](https://crossposter.masto.donte.com.br), but I am all but certain those users exist who will find Ore2’s setup preferable. 
 
 
 ![tooot for iOS](https://i.snap.as/b0GaeasV.png)
@@ -229,20 +229,21 @@ Inadvertently, I have saved the best story of the lot for last. Developer and re
 
 > The core consists of 3 needs: 1) what I can read; 2) what I can write; 3) what I have done.
 
-Obviously, I very much appreciate Zhiyuan writing publicly about his thoughts on decentralized social and sharing specific considerations in his app’s design. I very much look forward to continued updates.
+Obviously, I very much appreciate Zhiyuan writing publicly about his thoughts on decentralized social and sharing specific considerations in his app’s design and look forward to continued updates.
 
 ## Get Bent, Big Social
 
-A few universal truths among these apps stand out as obligatory mentions. First - in comparison with their Proprietary, Big Social counterparts - they are all _ridiculously_ **frugal**. Not a one weighs over 40mb, while minor (unexplained) updates to the official Twitter app [often exceed 100mb](https://twitter.com/NeoYokel/status/1393294957352468494). They are all astonishingly **robust** - I did not experience a single crash in the course of normal testing these "alt" social apps- even from the beta builds - while I distinctly remember the official Twitter app crashing several times over this period, even after I deleted and reinstalled it (an accepted maintenance requirement for anyone using it heavily for its entire history.) Also, on the topic of the platform, itself, they are also made absurdly **interoperable** by the ActivityPub standard.
+A few universal truths among these apps stand out as obligatory mentions. First - in comparison with their Proprietary, Big Social counterparts - they are all _ridiculously_ **frugal**. Not a one weighs over 40mb, while minor (unexplained) updates to the official Twitter app [often exceed 100mb](https://twitter.com/NeoYokel/status/1393294957352468494). They are all astonishingly **robust** - I did not experience a single crash in the course of normal testing these "alt" social apps- even from the beta builds - while I distinctly remember the official Twitter app crashing several times over this period, even after I deleted and reinstalled it (an accepted maintenance requirement for anyone using it heavily for its entire history.) Also, on the topic of the platform, itself, they are also made absurdly **interoperable** by the ActivityPub standard. My [PixelFed](https://pixelfed.social/DavidBlue) posts show up seamlessly on their timelines among content from [Diaspora](https://diasp.org/), [Pleroma](https://pleroma.social/), and Mastodon, itself. 
 
 https://twitter.com/NeoYokel/status/1393294957352468494
 
+The overwhelming impression I was left with after testing these apps was one of unwavering competence, cleverness, and true innovation. 
+
 ## Continuing to Explore Social Ownership
 ![Mastodon Account Wordcloud](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/43663476/122717470-43f08a00-d231-11eb-890f-dfa3ff33b65d.png)
-This couldn't be "just" an app guide - I think I have thoroughly accepted this, by now, just in time for some conclusionary remarks. Somehow, the subject I originally tackled specifically because I thought it would be quick, rudimentary, and straightforward has become yet another personal journey. It'd feel a bit preposterous to declare any one of these apps to be *life-changing*, but - in every sense of the term, in contemporary, inevitably social media-informed life, they do indeed constitute a form of radical, ideological wellness. Each of them managed to remind me of a different minute delight found within a developer-user dynamic made up of thoughtful and effective minds working to contribute original and valuable experiences, first. Most noteworthy of these little freedoms: the realization that the upcoming "official" Mastodon app along with any future new options are exclusively a positive thing *for the user*... None of these apps were conceived to gobble up market share because the market is fundamentally, inevitably, uncompromisingly *infinitely shared*. I don't know anything about business, but I *do* know that relief from the burden of considering proprietary multivectored development intentions has been personally breathtaking. I can only hope the reciprocal compensation is happening at even a fraction of what it "should" be. 
-
-From another essential direction, I hope I have communicated that they're far from curious, "niche" or vanity side projects, now. When I used the term "mature" in introducing this little arena, I very much meant it - these "alt" social clients developed almost exclusively within single-person-led projects now make the Twitter for iOS app look ugly *and* fucking broken. "Giving social networking back to you" has never been more resonant. Yes, it really is Toot!'s "take a break" blue screen, Amaroq's mysterious Awoo mode toggle, iMast's music app integration, Mercury's configurable timelines, Metatext's native solidity, Tootle's custom colors, Tusker's Digital Wellness controls, Dudu's elemental readability, Roma's quiet resurrection of Mast's UI bravado, Stella's utterly bizarre visual departures, Fedi's odd animated UI behaviors, Tootoise's consideration of *pace*, B4X's unfathomable elements, and Oyakodon's adorable rough edges that have made my online life *measurably*... *immensely* better, these past weeks. At the forefront of this perception is undoubtedly the comparatively extensive *control* over my social experience as a user offered by the diversity of mobile experiences these applications offer.
 
+This couldn't be "just" an app guide - I think I have thoroughly accepted this, by now, just in time for some conclusionary remarks. Somehow, the subject I originally tackled specifically because I thought it would be quick, rudimentary, and straightforward has become yet another personal journey. It'd feel a bit preposterous to declare any one of these apps to be *life-changing*, but - in every sense of the term, in contemporary, inevitably social media-informed life, they do indeed constitute a form of radical, ideological wellness. Each of them managed to remind me of a different minute delight found within a developer-user dynamic made up of thoughtful and effective minds working to contribute original and valuable experiences, first. Most noteworthy of these little freedoms: the realization that the upcoming "official" Mastodon app along with any future new options are exclusively a positive thing *for the user*... None of these apps were conceived to gobble up market share because the market is fundamentally, inevitably, uncompromisingly *infinitely shared*. I don't know anything about business, but I *do* know that relief from the burden of considering proprietary multivectored development intentions has been personally breathtaking. I can only hope the reciprocal compensation is happening at even a fraction of what it "should" be. 
 
+From another essential direction, I hope I have communicated that they're far from curious, "niche" or vanity side projects, now. When I used the term "mature" in introducing this little arena, I very much meant it - these "alt" social clients developed almost exclusively within single-person-led projects now make the Twitter for iOS app look ugly *and* fucking broken. "Giving social networking back to you" has never been more resonant. Yes, it really is Toot!'s "take a break" blue screen, Amaroq's mysterious Awoo mode toggle, iMast's music app integration, Mercury's configurable timelines, Metatext's native solidity, Tootle's custom colors, Tusker's Digital Wellness controls, Dudu's elemental readability, Roma's quiet resurrection of Mast's UI bravado, Stella's utterly bizarre visual departures, Fedi's odd animated UI behaviors, Tootoise's consideration of *pace*, B4X's unfathomable elements, Ore2's parallel timelines, tooot's development story, and Oyakodon's adorable rough edges that have made my online life *measurably*... *immensely* better, these past weeks. At the forefront of this perception is undoubtedly the comparatively extensive *control* over my social experience as a user offered by the diversity of mobile experiences these applications offer.
 
-Those of you who haven't yet signed up for Mastodon: you are missing out. I am being *actually* pampered, now, in World Wide Web terms. You are *so* welcome whenever you're ready - the water is nice and warm, as they say.
+Those of you who haven't yet signed up for Mastodon: you are missing out. I am being *actually* pampered, now, in World Wide Web terms. You are [*so* welcome](https://bit.ly/dbmastodon) whenever you're ready - the water is nice and warm, as they say.