Mammoth is a free Mastodon app for iOS that makes it easy to get started

A new Mastodon app called Mammoth has already garnered 10,000 downloads in the first few days it was available on the App Store. This app was built by a team that includes the developers of his Aviary app for Twitter. The Aviary app was unceremoniously killed by Twitter earlier this year after new owner Elon Musk decided his third-party Twitter client was no longer needed in the wider app ecosystem. .

The decision put the long-standing Twitter app in a bind, but it prompted some app developers to instead turn their attention to the open-source decentralized social network Mastodon. For example, last month the makers of the popular Twitter client Tweetbot launched a new his Mastodon app called Ivory. That’s because Elon Musk’s API changes wiped out the company’s Twitter-focused predecessor app without any warning.

Now Mammoth is entering the market to give users yet another option.

Unlike Ivory, which is trying to build a business to cover its losses from Tweetbot’s shutdown, Mammoth is free with no in-app purchases, at least for the time being. However, the company says it will eventually offer a subscription version of his Mammoth and his community, moth.social, though details are yet to be finalized.

The immediate goal is to drive adoption of Mastodon, the company explains in a blog post.

Image credit: mammoth

“…we don’t believe our subscriptions will be paywalled or that free users will get a read-only version of the app or moth.social. Simply put, Mastodon has 10 million active users People, then 10 million.It’s early days and we don’t want to slow adoption,” writes Mammoth co-founder Bart Decrem. “So there may be a subscription, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the app without paying. We don’t know all the details or timing yet.”

Upon launch, the Mammoth app provides access to a wide range of baseline features, including the ability to browse and switch between Mastodon’s timelines. Post content such as text, images, GIFs, and polls. Use features such as private messages, lists, and bookmarks. Change app icons and themes. Turn on dark mode. Access multiple accounts. Like Twitter, you can also cancel posts by specifying a period. There are many gestures and customization options that allow you to personalize your Mammoth.

Image credit: mammoth

The app includes threading tools, picture-in-picture for pinning posts to the screen, tools for viewing media in AR, tools for sentiment analysis, the ability to hide replies, translation tools, and more. , which also has an extensive set of less common features. configuration, etc. As an iOS app, users can take advantage of her Siri Shortcuts, Face ID and Touch ID, Share Extensions, VoiceOver support, and more. The company says the app will soon be available for macOS as well.

Potentially more interesting than all of Mammoth’s features is its approach to user onboarding.

Server selection is often said to be one of the most difficult parts of setting up Mastodon. If you expect users to just create a username and password as they are accustomed to on other social networks, setting up her process becomes even more complicated. However, joining a server is part of what it means to join a broader group of interconnected servers known as Mastodon and Fediverse, so it cannot be bypassed.

Image credit: mammoth

To make this process easier, Mammoth provides a simplified user interface that guides users through the account setup process, including profile creation. It also provides an interface for finding recommended users from different categories to address the question of who to follow on Mastodon. This is also what Twitter used to do.

Image credit: mammoth

Mammoth only launched a few days ago, but its 10,000 installs are the highest in the Mastodon app, despite a competitive landscape that includes official Mastodon clients and many third-party apps, including the newly launched Ivory from Tapbots. indicates continued consumer demand for

Consumer interest in Mastodon may have waned since Musk acquired Twitter, but interest in the wider Fediverse continues to grow.

Before Musk’s Twitter deal closed, Fediverse, which includes Mastodon and various other social apps, had over 570,000 monthly users. There are currently about 2.57 million people in the network. Businesses are starting to take notice, too. Tumblr owners have talked about adopting the same protocol as Mastodon, and Flickr is considering doing the same. His blogging site, Medium, launched its own community last month and established its own foothold on Fediverse.

Mammoth is bullish on the potential of Fediverse and the decentralized internet in general.

The company says it will open source the code in addition to running its own instance, ultimately making Mastodon easier for the next 10 million users and even the next 100 million. We aim to This is an ambitious target given that Twitter itself reportedly had only 237.8 million monetizable active users per day last quarter, as reported as a publicly traded company. is. Whether a group of decentralized apps can carve out a big enough niche in the shadow of the tech giants remains to be seen. It’s a more promising development than Web3, which undermined the trust of many.

Mammoth is a free download for iPhone and iPad, and coming soon to Mac.