r/Mastodon • • 7h ago

Apps I’m building Xenon, a customizable iOS client for Mastodon & Misskey — looking for beta testers!

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone!
I’m an indie developer from South Korea,
and I’ve been working on Xenon, a native iOS client for both Mastodon and Misskey.
One of the main things I’m focusing on is customization through themes.

I wanted to go beyond simply changing colors. In Xenon, themes can change the overall look and feel of the app, including card styles, shadows, button shapes, and other UI elements.

Whether you prefer a clean, minimal interface or something more distinctive like Neumorphism, I’d like Xenon to offer different ways to experience the Fediverse.

Some other features:
Mastodon & Misskey support — Use accounts from both platforms in one app.
Customizable timelines — Switch between 1, 2, or 3-column layouts.
Emoji reactions & MFM — Including animated custom emoji.
Image editing — Crop, apply filters, blur, and add custom emoji stickers.
Push notifications — End-to-end encrypted notification delivery.

Xenon is currently in beta, and I’m looking for testers!

TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/RhkPtYu1
Website: https://app.xenon.social

Supports iPhone and iPad running iOS 17.4 or later.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially about the themes and customization options. What kind of UI styles would you like to see in a Fediverse client?
Any feedback or bug reports would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


r/Mastodon • • 1d ago

Question Mastodon instances

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14 Upvotes

r/Mastodon • • 1d ago

is fediverse really fedarated

4 Upvotes

im new to fedi, well i tried it couples time before but didnt understand much

now that im trying to actually explore it, im facing some issues that didnt add up

what i always told that fediverse is fedarated, no matter where you open your account, you can join everyone from everywere

but then i get to know their are different projects, services, with not just different ui, but also different set of features

but i can still do basic interaction right, from anywhere to everywhere

so i go looking for different servers, and especially small ones

and some posts from one instance, dont show on other intances, i thought my instance is very small, so it might have some custom rules or like that

so i started digging so many big, small and medium instances that let me join them, mainly mastodon, pixelfed, misskey & sharkey

and it doesnt matter the server or userbase, i cant find some users some post on other intances, some user even shows banned or not even available on other instances

same hastag returns different set of post for different instances, it doesnt matter even if im searching from mastodon to misskey, or mastodon to mastodon

i initally thought i can join any instance yet access everything on every corner of fedi, at least thats what almost every fedi server promotes during signup

but now it feels to connect the majority i need to be in server that used by majority, and there promise of fedaration just, idk

and maybe there are some ways for the ones who selfhost, but im not interested on that

again, even though i tried fedi couple times before, i never gone deep, so im still new to this, maybe i misunderstood the fedaration statement, or maybe it is what it is, or maybe im a fool and doing something wrong on my end

just be kind, and help me understand or what you can, no hate speech pls


r/Mastodon • • 2d ago

Question I run a LAMP (apache, not nginx) and have Mastodon on it

5 Upvotes

I can share my apache config for anyone who is interested? It's also behind a cloudflare tunnel (self-hosted).


r/Mastodon • • 4d ago

Question Favorite Android app for Mastodon?

17 Upvotes

I'm new to the Mastodon ecosystem, having just joined the genart server. I'm looking for a drop-in replacement app for Facebook to convince my friends to migrate with me. What is your favorite app for accessing the network?


r/Mastodon • • 4d ago

Question Moving Facebook users to Mastodon?

29 Upvotes

I'm going to join a server on Mastodon, specifically I've put in an invitation request for genart, but I'm wondering if there's a server that has an open invitation for my friends from Facebook to easily transition away from Meta properties?


r/Mastodon • • 4d ago

Servers I don't like the new https://mastodon.social/home web site's redesign.

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0 Upvotes

The older design was better. :(


r/Mastodon • • 5d ago

Support Is Mastodon impacted by the PHP CVE

14 Upvotes

I'm just wanting to know if Mastodon is impacted by the PHP CVE


r/Mastodon • • 6d ago

Mastodon 5.0 Light Cyan Mode

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47 Upvotes

I actually really like this. Has a bit of a classic twitter vibe to it. The cyan blue is a lot kinder on the eyes than the dark purple colour.

I remember back when Reddit changed its UI last; so many people were bitching about it. We got used to it and we'll get used to Mastodon's new look.


r/Mastodon • • 7d ago

Mastodon 5 dark mode

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42 Upvotes

So Mastodon 5.0 landed on mastodon social today, and while some stuff looks nicer, I really struggle to understand how the developers think "dark blue" (deep violet?) is appropriate as dark mode.

To be frank, it hurts my eyes. Why not stick to a dark mode color scheme like the rest of the web?

Edit: Mainly comparing it to the older 4.x dark mode, though a real black-ish dark mode would be great.


r/Mastodon • • 7d ago

Question help with code

3 Upvotes

hello wonderful people! i'm building a social service for fans of my favorite artist (conan gray) based on a original one that shut down after 3 months. i'm using mastodon as the base for the code (as i am a beginner) and am using github to code. i'm trying to figure out:

a. how to see a preview of what i'm working on

b. what files i need to use

c. what to use (in terms of code)

and some bonus ones if you'd like to answer

d. do i have to buy a domain

e. is coding easy?

f. how does mastodon really work?

alrighty, awesome and thank yall so much.


r/Mastodon • • 8d ago

Art servers

22 Upvotes

Hello!

I'm new to the fediverse and I'm an artist.

I'm looking for art servers with a lot of movement but that do not have harsh moderation, meaning it is ok with +18 art, not 18+ focused servers, just servers that are ok with it.

What art servers do you guys like and why?


r/Mastodon • • 11d ago

Apps Introducing Skyscraper Social for Apple devices, which now has Mastodon support

25 Upvotes

Hi all,

My name is Cameron and I'm an indie app developer. I've been working on Skyscraper Social for about a year now. It started as a Bluesky app, has gained a bit of a following. This week, I released a major new release which includes full Mastodon support.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skyscraper-social/id6754198379

It's available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Macs, Vision Pro, and even Apple TV. Yes, it's literally everywhere. It includes iCloud sync for your timeline and a ton of features. If anyone has any questions, let me know! But wanted to share a new way to browse Mastodon on your phone!


r/Mastodon • • 12d ago

OUT NOW: 2026 Social Web Operations & Needs Assessment Report

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15 Upvotes

This year’s report reflects responses representing over 400 ActivityPub nodes (collectively hosting about a third of all known ActivityPub accounts), as well as responses from ATProto operators and legacy social platforms. 29% of participating communities are Mastodon services, 58 distinct platforms reporting in all.

While operator domain expertise is higher than ever, the overall network continues to grow while volunteer capacity is stretched thin and confronting rapidly-escalating agentic spam, state-sponsored influence operations, and fast-moving global Internet regulations.


r/Mastodon • • 13d ago

new followers can't see older "followers only" posts?

11 Upvotes

do I have that correct? if you make posts marked as "followers only", people that later follow you are only able to see the "followers only" posts that have been made since they've followed you? Let's say you have a "private" account by defaulting your posts to followers-only. There is no way to make those posts viewable to new approved followers?


r/Mastodon • • 18d ago

Question Some questions about Mastodon

31 Upvotes

I have long left Twitter (X) but I do miss it. I'm hence looking for an alternative. Three alternatives seem to be mentioned very frequently: BlueSky, Mastodon, and to lesser extent diaspora*. But for some reason it seems to be mostly BlueSky and Mastodon that attract a lot of "X refugees". I have some questions about Mastodon, mainly comparing Mastodon and BlueSky to see which platform meets my requirements most (without excluding using both eventually).

1) Can you, on Mastodon, set an account to private (temporarily or permanently) or hide certain posts (temporarily or private) so that those posts can only be seen by those who follow you or those who follow you and vice-versa?

2) what type of 2FA does Mastodon have? The most trustworthy 2FA is a physical device that you have to plug into the USB gate of your computer to generate the one-time passcode (such as Yubikey) and there are some pretty decent authenticator apps too (although I'm a bit wary of Authy and Google Authenticator).

3) Is it possible to download your posts (thus your entire timeline) to your hard drive as a back-up of your posting history?

4) Are links to YouTube videos, articles and other websites allowed?

5) Can I add 1 or more photos or a short (eg 1 to 2 minutes maximum) video to a post on Mastodon?

6) Is Mastodon likely to survive the hands of time financially? I must say that if I see how long a server like mastodon.social (isn't that the "main" server within the fediverse?) has been around, it does give confidence that the platform has proven stable. mastodon.online seems to be around also for already quite a while. But do you expect te platform to stay around for many more years, is there financial stability for that?

Thanks again for your replies! :)


r/Mastodon • • 20d ago

Template letter to MPs

22 Upvotes

Hi all

The UK Government is again looking at bringing in mandatory ID checks for social media accounts. The privacy and data security nightmares aside, this model assumes that social media operators are big corporations and is an existential threat to small federated servers.

If you're in the UK, it would be a good time to email your local MP and ask them to be aware of this as the legislation develops. See the email I've sent below - feel free to swap in your own local or preferred instance address in place of glasgow.social!

Remember the email needs to include your home address and postcode as MPs will not respond to emails coming from non-constituents. https://www.writetothem.com/ makes it easy to identify your MP and contact them.

--

Dear Firstname Lastname MP

I am writing to you as a constituent regarding the government's proposal to require official ID, such as a passport, for registering social media accounts. While I understand the desire to improve the online environment, I am highly concerned about the practicalities of this approach.

Beyond the clear privacy and data security risks of creating massive new databases of highly sensitive personal information, my primary concern is that this policy assumes all social platforms are run by massive tech companies. Because of this, it is completely unworkable for federated network models like Mastodon.

To give you a local example, the Mastodon instance glasgow.social is maintained by a single volunteer on their own time, serving just a few hundred users. It would be entirely impossible for a community volunteer to securely process, verify, and store official government ID documents.

We must protect people-owned, community-driven media. Regulating the internet in a way that only giant, heavily funded corporations have the resources to comply with would be a huge step backwards, effectively pushing social media solely into the domain of big tech.

I would be very grateful if you could raise these concerns regarding community-led platforms with your colleagues in government as this legislation develops. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Kind regards


r/Mastodon • • 22d ago

mastodon.online new web interface

15 Upvotes

maybe it's part of v4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-05

two column on the web. some stuff rearranged. a "floating" bar if using the web on mobile, or shrinking your desktop browser. was hoping to see an account switcher when I opened it on my phone and saw the floating bar. it's similar to when telegram was redesigned, and a lot of people called it an apple/iphone look.


r/Mastodon • • 27d ago

Question New here

30 Upvotes

I just joined after deleting twitter. Horrible platform. How do I build a timeline and find followers? For example I really like anime. I just wanna see if this platform is worth my time and suits me!

Kinda an annoying question but just want advice for how to search and stuff


r/Mastodon • • 27d ago

FediForum Fall 2026 is next week

11 Upvotes

If you are interested in meeting fellow Fediverse enthusiasts, developers, users, advocates, policy people, and more, consider joining us next week, online, for the fall 2026 FediForum.

There will be a keynote, speed demos directly by the developers, and lots and lots of time for discussions. That's because FediForum is primarily an unconference, where attendees determine what's happening in sessions. So bring your topics, session ideas, and questions!

(If you have never been to an unconference, don't worry, it's far less chaotic than it seems, and most people consider it more fun than a traditional conference.)

More details: https://fediforum.org/2026-10/

(Disclaimer: I'm one of the organizers)


r/Mastodon • • Sep 21 '26

Question Can my account be available in each server?

8 Upvotes

Or I just need to create a new one for different server? Just feel a little confused.


r/Mastodon • • Sep 18 '26

Trouble uploading photos in a post

2 Upvotes

I am posting a post with 4 photos in it, and the progress bar is at a standstill when trying to upload the photos. What's the story with that, and how do I make it work?


r/Mastodon • • Sep 18 '26

PHOTOFRI.DAY #3

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2 Upvotes

This week's posting window is open! Prompt is NUMBERS. Hashtag to post to your feed with is #phofrinumbers

Next week's prompt is REFLECTION. Hope to see your entries. :)


r/Mastodon • • Sep 16 '26

Question Anyone else getting lots of 503 HTTP errors on mastodon.social's web site right now?

12 Upvotes

I couldn't boost and like. https://status.mastodon.social/ shows no issues. Is it my side? :(