As many of you know, the third party iPhone/iPad app Metatext is no longer being maintained as the lead developer had health issues. However, there is now a community-maintained version of the app called Feditext. You can follow the latest news about it at:
The Feditext iOS client for Mastodon, GotoSocial, Firefish, etc. now has its own account on fedi.software! Please follow us here for official Feditext updates and announcements.
short version: we have a small set of bugs to fix and chores to do before an App Store release, and quote post UI will come after that, in version 1.8.
Feditext beta users: today's build 79 includes the new "Siren" HTML parser, which is 3-6× faster than the current WebKit parser for the text formatting used in Fediverse posts. this should result in smoother scrolling for many users.
Siren is experimental, even more so than Feditext betas in general, so by default, it's off. to opt into Siren, open Feditext's preferences, scroll all the way to the end, select Siren from the "HTML parser" dropdown (instead of WebKit), and press the "Apply new HTML parser" button below it.
notes:
do not switch parsers while writing a post: you will lose the post.
the HTML parser is an app-wide setting, and can't be configured on a per-account basis.
if you have issues with Siren, you can revert to WebKit from the same menu.
known issues that you don't need to report:
blockquote lower vertical margins may be too big, causing the end of a blockquote's background rectangle to appear under the next normal paragraph. (however, the indents are still correct, so non-quoted text will not be indented.) this is related to https://github.com/feditext/feditext/issues/48 and https://github.com/feditext/feditext/issues/164 but is (currently) worse in Siren.
Feditext beta users: today's version 1.7.2 build 97 includes experimental support for Pixelfed instances, and is recommended for anyone with a Pixelfed account.
some bugs are expected. there's one currently known: deleting a status will succeed but result in an error, so deleting and redrafting is not currently possible. please file any other issues on our GitHub issue tracker.
Feditext beta users: we're aware of the performance regression under the release version of iOS 17 and are tracking it in https://github.com/feditext/feditext/issues/253. we don't know the cause yet. if you're a heavy Fedi user and don't have a pressing need for iOS 17 features, it might be a good idea to stay on iOS 16 for a few more days.
Feditext beta users: our current error report system involves copying and pasting JSON to GitHub, rather than a collection API, to give you the option of removing any personal info from them before submitting.
we do generally need to know the file, line, and function of the error, what kind of server you're talking to, what the server and Feditext versions are, and what API was being called, if applicable, or we're not going to be able to do much with it. we may also need to know your OS version and device type, since some app behavior is different between iPhones and iPads and between iOS 15 and 16 (and probably 17).
we don't capture HTTP request or response bodies in the error data, so the actual contents of your post shouldn't show up in them, and please feel free to replace instance names, post IDs, hashtags, etc. with XXX or whatever if they're sensitive. (just don't change the data structure.) we do not need to know what porn you're looking at or which government you're planning to overthrow, although we wish you good luck with either.
Feditext beta users, today's TestFlight build 69 includes various fixes and workarounds for Firefish and Hajkey.
we will be working with server devs to get some of those fixed on the server side (for Hajkey's case, in Iceshrimp), so that future clients won't have to special-case anything.
known not to work in this release:
Hajkey's suggested accounts to follow: displays an error message
intermittent foreign key constraint error when browsing Firefish or Hajkey timelines: you don't need to report this one, we're already investigating
Feditext beta users, here's what's new in today's TestFlight build 66:
full support for displaying, adding and removing emoji reactions when your instance is Firefish, Akkoma, or running the Glitch PR #2221 patch (including catcatnya.com and wetdry.world).
updated instance announcement reactions to the new reaction style.
fixes issue #110: the missing follow/unfollow button has been restored to the upper right corner when viewing hashtag timelines.
fixes issue #112: migrated accounts now have a prominent profile button to go to the new account, and are labeled in search results and other account lists.
Feditext beta users: today's version 1.7.2 build 109 fixes a navigation regression https://github.com/feditext/feditext/issues/405 as well as an App Store issue that was preventing us from submitting new builds, even to TestFlight. it also contains some minor prep for the App Store release.
Feditext beta users: GotoSocial announced their first 0.15 prerelease today, which includes filter support contributed by our very own Vyr.
Feditext version 1.7.2 build 101 improves filter UI by hiding the "Drop instead of hide" filter option when using a GtS instance, where it is not yet supported and won't work.
if you aren't using a GtS instance, you don't need to upgrade Feditext today.
if you are not using Siren, this will not affect you; however, we recommend switching to Siren as the HTML parser in app preferences instead of WebKit, as it's much faster, especially on iOS 17. Siren will completely replace WebKit soon.
Feditext beta users: today's 1.7.2 build 89 fixes a bug inherited from Metatext that would rapidly repeat searches when the end of search results was reached, usually resulting in the client being rate-limited by the instance within seconds.
Feditext beta users: today's build 75 includes the first of several performance fixes resulting from our perf investigation. there's a lot still to do; we'll be alternating perf fixes and bug fixes for the next few beta builds, so non-perf problems don't sit for too long.
Feditext beta users: today's version 1.7.2 build 106 fixes a regression with trailing hashtag de-emphasis introduced in the previous build. trailing hashtags should be smaller and dimmer again (if you have that feature on).
Vyr has been busy with other tasks for the past few weeks, but is returning to Fedi stuff, including Feditext.
Feditext is currently stalled on App Store submission by admin issues on Apple's end, so she'll be working on fixes for minor bugs while we wait for them to sort that out.
Anyone have an invite to beta test #FediText? I’m still using Metatext (which I love) but which isn’t being updated anymore. Would love to try out the new iOS app if anyone can assist. #beta
Sharkey users: Sharkey didn't exist when we went into winter vacation hiatus, so we haven't tested Feditext against it yet, and it may not enable Firefish-specific features. please check the bug tracker for Sharkey bugs, and file new ones if you don't see a bug matching behavior you're seeing.
I need #Fedihelp please.
I’m using #Feditext to browse Mastodon and I have a locked account so people must send a request to follow me.
I get a notification when someone has requested, but I can’t seem to find how to accept or deny access.
Is this a bug or am I just missing something?