Ivory for Mastodon by Tapbots 17+

Having been a long-time user of Tweetbot, I was not surprised to find a highly polished app that reduces the native UI friction and I’m looking forward to the Mac version. When it comes to Mastodon, it’s tempting to think of it as a Twitter alternative but it’s more like an endless number of independent Twitters called instances (i.e. servers) that are topical (e.g. Techhub) but can interact with each other. So instead of one Twitter with nearly a half billion users making a cacophony of noise, Mastodon currently has over 11,000 instances with millions of users spread across all those instances. It allows for a more focused and less frenetic experience although you still have a ‘Federated’ menu option to view all the toots (tweets) from all the instances in one feed. Understanding these distinctions can make your Mastodon experience more pleasant.

When I did interact with Twitter it was only ever through Tweetbot (RIP) and so I was very excited to learn the team behind that was going to work on a Mastodon app. I’ve been in the beta for a few weeks prior to release and their 10yrs of experience really shows. It’s already the most stable fluid of the iOS apps I’ve tried, which are most of them, and really makes the experience of Mastodon a lot more enjoyable. At the time of writing the app is missing some features like the ability to edit posts and a few other things. But they’re coming and a public roadmap can be found on their website. I’m really happy with the app and glad Tapbots here. I can’t wait to see the future of Ivory!

I was a years-long Tweetbot for user. To me, it delivered the best Twitter experience on iOS for its design, easy navigation, and reliably fast performance. I’ve been using Ivory since its alpha, and I can confidently say that it brings the best of Tweetbot to Mastodon.

While still in early preview, Ivory comes packed with features and a roadmap for more. The new set of open-ended interface icons play off the mastodon’s trunk, providing whimsy and a handcrafted luxury feel. It’s hard to explain, but the icons add a feel to Ivory that’s really pleasant.

Tapbots hit a home run with Ivory, and I believe it will be the standard bearer for Mastodon apps on iOS. Ivory will certainly attract more users to Mastodon with its awesome user experience.