The Iconfactory, the maker of a preferred third-party Twitter consumer, Twitterrific, that was amongst these killed off by Twitter beneath Elon Musk’s administration, is hoping to get well from its losses with a brand new app that mixes your social media, information feeds, and alerts into one expertise. The app, dubbed “Challenge Tapestry” because it launches on Kickstarter, will help Twitter/X alternate options like Bluesky, Mastodon, and Tumblr, and presumably Instagram Threads when its developer API turns into out there. Nonetheless, it received’t help X itself because of the firm’s ban on third-party apps.

A working prototype of Challenge Tapestry has already been developed and if The Iconfactory is ready to elevate $100,000 in funding via Kickstarter it’ll additional develop the app to be launched to the general public.

As described, Challenge Tapestry is supposed to arrange at this time’s fragmented on-line media into one interface, by permitting customers to observe quite a lot of sources in a single place. For example, you would observe your favourite blogs, information websites, social networks, and webcomics, in addition to important updates that used to return through Twitter, like climate alerts or earthquake warnings.

This might contain working with any web site that gives an RSS feed, which most blogs and information websites (with no paywall) already do. It could additionally combine with the startups which can be providing Twitter alternate options, like Bluesky, powered by the brand new AT Protocol, and Mastodon, which will probably be powered by one other rising net customary, ActivityPub. (The corporate isn’t planning on Threads help at launch, however would contemplate including it, as properly, if an API was made out there, we’re informed).

Different deliberate sources embody Tumblr, Micro.weblog, USGS Earthquakes, NOAA Satellite tv for pc, and GO Comics. Fb and Instagram is not going to be out there, although.

After setup, Tapestry would set up all of your updates into one feed, displayed in chronological order. Plus, the app might take away duplicates to chop down on the muddle — like when somebody posts a hyperlink to a number of social networks directly. Within the new app, these mentions might be mixed, so that you solely see the submit one time.

Picture Credit: The Iconfactory

The staff envisions making Challenge Tapestry’s timeline one thing that anybody might combine with by writing plug-ins utilizing JavaScript that can translate between the online and the native iOS app. For instance, builders tinkering round with Raspberry Pi might ship customized alerts to their timeline through this interface.

Different notable options embody the flexibility to mark objects as learn, bear in mind your studying place within the timeline, help for mild and darkish themes, and a pair extra copied over from the corporate’s Twitterrific days — like muting and “muffling.” The latter was a preferred choice for many who wished to know what was being stated by minimizing the tweets, and offering a brief description of what was hidden as a substitute.

If the corporate’s stretch objective of $150K is reached on Kickstarter, the staff can even work on a extra superior search function that might let you search throughout the sources and social networking posts you already observe as a substitute of the broader net. That facet sounds significantly promising at a time when Google Search’s high quality is diminishing on account of search engine optimization spam and AI-written pages. 

This isn’t the primary time Iconfactory has turned to Kickstarter. It additionally used the location to fund the event of Twitterrific for Mac in 2017, which was funded in 20 days.

Although Iconfactory at this time makes a number of apps for creativity, leisure, and gaming, the shutdown of Twitterrific had been tough for the corporate and its staff.

Laments The Iconfactory’s Principal/Designer Gedeon Maheux, the brand new mission happened as a result of the staff “had invested a lot time and power into Twitter,” however then Twitter “wall[ed] up their backyard and other people like us had been compelled to go away,” he says. “Now you might have buddies which can be on completely different providers, completely different locations, and it’s exhausting to maintain observe of them.”

The necessity for crowdsourced funds was additionally essential due to the lack of Twitterrific.

“The demise of Twitterrific actually harm…Killing third-party Twitter apps actually put a dent in [our revenue] as a result of Twitterrific was one in all our bread-and-butter apps. It actually fueled improvement and allowed us to do these items that we liked,” notes Maheux. Since Twitterrific’s shutdown, he says, the comapny has not but been capable of “shut the hole.”

“Hopefully, Tapestry will assist with that,” he provides.

Twitterrific is probably not a family title like Twitter as soon as was, however the app had a sizable affect on Twitter tradition.

The Twitter consumer was one of many earliest available on the market and started utilizing a chicken brand, which different purchasers then adopted, too. Later, Twitter began utilizing a chicken as its official brand in 2010. The Iconfactory additionally contributed the phrase “tweet” to the vocabulary round utilizing Twitter, and created a workaround for Twitter’s lack of an “Edit” button in 2014 by making a function that might delete and repost a tweet, giving the looks of edits.

With its understanding of faucet into the market of social apps, Tapestry has the potential to now resolve new ache factors for customers who’re leaving Twitter/X — a solution to observe the information, folks, and data that matter to them, regardless of the place they go.

The $100K Kickstarter objective will permit The Iconfactory to get the preliminary app completed and made public through the App Retailer. Since launching the crowdsourced funding plea this morning, they’ve raised over $46,000.

The corporate has traditionally been averse to the concept of taking enterprise capital, because it needs to stay impartial, but when Tapestry takes off after going public, Maheux admits it’s “by no means say by no means” relating to elevating outdoors funds. Within the meantime, nonetheless, if you wish to use an app like Tapestry, you’ll must donate in the direction of its creation.