I've been testing <a href="/tags/snac2/" rel="tag">#snac2</a> for a few days now, more specificly I want to see if it can replace my <a href="/tags/friendica/" rel="tag">#friendica</a> installation that I have been using since 2019. This will be a somewhat longer piece that is also meant to see how Snac copes with longer Markdown formatted text.<br><br><p><a href="https://friendi.ca" rel="nofollow">Friendica</a></p>First things first. Friendica is awesome. It is the everything and the kitchen sink of the Fediverse and does a lot of things right. The only downside I see is the reason why I am looking for an alterantive though. Over time it has become harder and harder to host Friendica on my vserver with 8GB of RAM. I could of course opt for a bigger server, but honestly I am only using a fraction of Friendica's features and would prefer something less demanding.<br><br><p><a href="https://codeberg.org/grunfink/snac2" rel="nofollow">Snac</a></p>Snac is lightweight, easiy to install, uses no database and does not even require coockies or Javascript in its Web-UI. I mean, how cool ist that!<br><br>Compared to Friendica, its featureset is basic at best. But compared to other Fediverse tools like <a href="/tags/mastodon/" rel="tag">#mastodon</a> it does not fare so bad. But how usable is it as an alternative to my peronal Friendica use.<br><br><p>The good stuff</p><p>Setup is really easy for anyone who has self-hosted any services before. The documentation in manpage format might be old school but it is very complete - read it. If you're on Debian you can even use the package from trixie-backports which is kept very current!</p><p>It shows the timeline chronologically but with nested threads. This is the only way that makes sense to me and is exactly what I use in Friendica (where different settings are available). This means every new activity on a thread brings it up again (partly collapsed) so you always see the necessary context to follow conversations. For me this is the most important feature, I would not even have continued testing without it. Snac just does it right!</p><p>It has the looks! Well at least after applying some stylesheets. Calling the vanilla install basic would already be an overstatement. But have a look at the styles that are linked from snac's Reaedme. I chose the next.css style and have attached an image of how it looks below. The screenshot is from an Android phone and this works remarkably well, even on mobile (some caveats below)!</p><p>It's compatible with Mastodon apps. I have only tested <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> because I use it for other stuff too. Everything just works as expected. Although I have to admit, I like the native Web-UI (next.css) even more.</p><p>Long Text with Markdown formatting. 500 character per Toot - No thank you, I am not chatting here!</p><p>What is missing (or is it?)</p><p>There is only the timeline and you can follow Hashtags, that's it. No Channels, no groups, no theme-specific timelines. But honestly, I did not use any of that on Friendica, mainly for performance reasons. So this is a non-issue for me personally.</p><p>Following RSS feeds. This feature I will really miss. In Friendica I could direclty follow Feeds and interact with them from my timeline exactly like with ActivityPub Notes or Articles. I will have to use an external translation service or write my own for that (having written an ActivityPub related tool with <a href="https://github.com/oe4dns/tootgroup.py" rel="nofollow">tootgroup.py</a> before.)</p><p>Message formatting is somewhat less flexible but this post shows what is possible still. Sometimes I like to put images in between paragraphs but not having that is also not a big deal.</p><p>Event Calendar. This is not a feature I expect Snac to support but I do use it on Friendica and will have to think about how to replace it.</p><p>What could be improved</p>I love that snac works without Javascript and cookies - that's exactly how I still build my webpages. But there is one usecase where a bit of one or the other would make life much easier - when using the Web-UI on mobile platforms.<br><br>I have already stated how great the mobile experience is when using the next.css stylesheet. The only downside is that I have to login with username/password again and again, every time the mobile browser is sent to sleep by Android.<br><br>Optionally enabling the use of a login cookie would make life much easier. Even better would be enabling Snac to be installed as a Progressive Web App, but I have to admit, I'm not sure how hard or feasible this would be.<br><br>Overall, I do not see many shortcomings with Snac. Obviously it offers less features than Friendica, but what it does, it does very well and at least in my view, the important stuff is exactly where it needs to be.<br><br><p>Conclusion</p>I am pretty impressed with snac. I'll be running my test server for a little bit longer but I do expect replace my Friendica install in the not too distant future.<br><br>Adding [email protected] because maybe you're interested. Please don't treat this as a feature-request or even critizism. It's mostly meant as info for people who have not tried snac yet.<br><br>
fedilab
<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> 3.36.0-beta-4 is available. We need feedback from beta testers using <a href="/tags/misskey/" rel="tag">#Misskey</a>. Full release notes: <a href="https://codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.0-beta-4" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.0-beta-4"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/rel</span><span class="invisible">eases/tag/3.36.0-beta-4</span></a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> 3.37.2 has been published. It should be the last fixes with the "reverse" timeline.</p><p>Release notes: <a href="https://codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.37.2" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.37.2"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/rel</span><span class="invisible">eases/tag/3.37.2</span></a></p>
<p>If we only have minor fixes with the last beta, we should be able to publish <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> 3.36.0 in production this weekend.<br>There are a lot of changes and fixes (see all beta release notes at <a href="https://codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/rel</span><span class="invisible">eases</span></a>)<br>Also, Fedilab now supports <a href="/tags/misskey/" rel="tag">#Misskey</a>, so don't hesitate to share so we can get more feedback. Thank you!</p>
<p>The translation service has been restarted. Sorry for the outage.<br>As a reminder, you can use <a href="/tags/deepl/" rel="tag">#DeepL</a> in <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> with a free API key.</p>
<p><a href="/tags/holos/" rel="tag">#Holos</a> differs fundamentally from <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a>. As the server runs on your phone, using Holos across multiple devices is currently not possible. The relay caches pending activities and clears them once retrieved (multi-device sync not yet implemented). Traditional apps rely on a server API and are limited to what that server knows. Holos fetches data directly via ActivityPub, giving you access to the full Fediverse.</p><p>We've started a FAQ based on your feedback: <a href="https://holos.social/faq" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>holos.social/faq</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> not playing some custom emojis or worse not displaying them at all will be fixed in the next release. Also, the issue with long messages being truncated at the top should be fixed too, along with some other older issues. We keep fixing them for 3.36.1</p>
Edited 59d ago
<p>We put a lot of work into both <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> and <a href="/tags/holossocial/" rel="tag">#HolosSocial</a>. We will never neglect one for the other, both deserve attention. Holos allowed us to push boundaries like E2EE DMs over ActivityPub and portable identity, but Fedilab is the app we've been working on since 2017 and will keep integrating new features. This is your app, not ours. Alongside all this, we are volunteers, so if you can help us financially, that would really help. Thank you.</p>
<p><span class="h-card"><a href="https://toot.fedilab.app/@apps" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>apps</span></a></span> & <span class="h-card"><a href="https://troet.cafe/@krille" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>krille</span></a></span> look here: <a href="https://f-droid.org/2026/01/08/unifiedpush-5-years.html" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="f-droid.org/2026/01/08/unifiedpush-5-years.html"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">f-droid.org/2026/01/08/unified</span><span class="invisible">push-5-years.html</span></a><br>You have been mentioned as the 2 essential apps to support <a href="/tags/unifiedpush/" rel="tag">#UnifiedPush</a> in the beginning. 💪️</p><p>RE: <a href="https://floss.social/@fdroidorg/115904357839472383" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="floss.social/@fdroidorg/115904357839472383"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">floss.social/@fdroidorg/115904</span><span class="invisible">357839472383</span></a><br><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> <a href="/tags/fluffychat/" rel="tag">#FluffyChat</a></p>
<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> 3.36.0 is out! Lots of changes. Release notes: <a href="https://codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.0" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.0"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/rel</span><span class="invisible">eases/tag/3.36.0</span></a></p><p>For <a href="/tags/fdroid/" rel="tag">#FDroid</a> users who don't use our repo, please expect a few days.</p>
<p>For people that have used <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> with <a href="/tags/mastodon/" rel="tag">#Mastodon</a> 4.5+<br>What do you think about the quote feature?</p>
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<h3 style="display: none;">Options: <small>(choose one)</small></h3>
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<input style="display:none" name="vote-options" type="radio" value="0">
<span class="poll-number" title="44 votes">66%</span>
<span class="poll-option-text">It works well</span>
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<input style="display:none" name="vote-options" type="radio" value="0">
<span class="poll-number" title="13 votes">19%</span>
<span class="poll-option-text">I got some issues but mostly OK</span>
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<input style="display:none" name="vote-options" type="radio" value="0">
<span class="poll-number" title="10 votes">15%</span>
<span class="poll-option-text">I got several issues</span>
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<span class="vote-total">67 votes</span>
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<span class="vote-end">Ended 150d ago</span>
<span class="todo">Polls are currently display only</span>
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<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> is now 9 years old. Thank you to all the people who contributed and keep contributing to the project. Old users know it was called Mastalab. Thank you so much for your trust and support.</p>
<p>RE: <a href="https://toot.fedilab.app/@apps/115470588370601893" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="toot.fedilab.app/@apps/115470588370601893"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">toot.fedilab.app/@apps/1154705</span><span class="invisible">88370601893</span></a></p><p>Now you can quote us with <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a></p>
<p>Now that <a href="/tags/mastodon/" rel="tag">#Mastodon</a> supports quotes, there are three important points to know with <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> </p><p>- You can change the default privacy for quoting your messages in Settings>Profile (default anyone can quote you)</p><p>- You can customize this privacy for each message (when composing)</p><p>- If you don't see the merged Boost/Quote button, make sure that you didn't disable it in Settings > Timelines</p>
<p>In the next release of <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a>, I will work on adding a warning popup displayed once when starting the app.</p><p>"Android will become a locked-down platform"<br><a href="https://keepandroidopen.org/" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>keepandroidopen.org/</a></p><p>It would be great if more developers maintaining a project on both Google Play and <a href="/tags/fdroid/" rel="tag">#FDroid</a> did the same.</p>
<p>This message can seem weird, until you tap on the sigma symbol at the bottom <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a></p><p>\[ \int_0^1 x^2 + y^2 \ dx \]</p><p>\[ a_1^2 + a_2^2 = a_3^2 \]</p><p>\[ (a^n)^{r+s} = a^{nr+ns} \]</p>
<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> 3.36.0-beta-1 is available. Full releases notes at <a href="https://codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.0-beta-1" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.0-beta-1"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/rel</span><span class="invisible">eases/tag/3.36.0-beta-1</span></a></p>
<p>Connecting your <a href="/tags/misskey/" rel="tag">#Misskey</a> account, displaying timelines and composing a message with <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> works. We will keep working on Misskey integration.</p>
<p>As reactions are important for <a href="/tags/misskey/" rel="tag">#Misskey</a>, we have improved this part in <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a>. Now, there will be only one button with two tabs and the ability to filter. Otherwise, most important features common with the app UI have been implemented.</p>
<p>Some of you might already be using <br><a href="/tags/misskey/" rel="tag">#Misskey</a> forks (like Iceshrimp, Firefish, or Sharkey) that already work with <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a>. This is because their devs implemented the Mastodon API for broader compatibility.</p><p>Our first step was to achieve similar behavior but by fully using the dedicated Misskey API.</p><p>Now, we'll be able to add features that are specific to Misskey.</p>
<p>Big thanks to <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.world/@HurricaneWeasel" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>HurricaneWeasel</span></a></span> for the amazing work on <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> issues on our <a href="/tags/codeberg/" rel="tag">#Codeberg</a> repo! <br>Your help is invaluable! 🙏</p>
<p><a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> 3.36.1 has been published. Full release notes at <a href="https://codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.1" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/releases/tag/3.36.1"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">codeberg.org/tom79/Fedilab/rel</span><span class="invisible">eases/tag/3.36.1</span></a></p><p>For <a href="/tags/fdroid/" rel="tag">#FDroid</a> users, please wait a few days if you don't use our custom repo.</p>
<p><a href="/tags/holos/" rel="tag">#Holos</a> will be available on <a href="/tags/fdroid/" rel="tag">#FDroid</a> soon, and we hope to get more feedback to improve the project. While <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a> uses server APIs, here we can do much more to improve your <a href="/tags/fediverse/" rel="tag">#Fediverse</a> experience with an <a href="/tags/activitypub/" rel="tag">#ActivityPub</a> server running directly on your device. We already introduced E2EE DMs and personal identity. We will go further with automatic deletion, even at posting level. You decide the availability of a message. We will also work on interaction controls from <a href="/tags/gotosocial/" rel="tag">#GoToSocial</a>.</p><p><a href="/tags/holossocial/" rel="tag">#HolosSocial</a></p>
<p>In the next release of <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a>, the video player will be improved. You will be able to adjust the volume and playback speed.</p>
<p>This is how <a href="/tags/holos/" rel="tag">#Holos</a> currently handles <a href="/tags/e2ee/" rel="tag">#E2EE</a> DMs over <a href="/tags/activitypub/" rel="tag">#ActivityPub</a>. Holos is a project we develop alongside <a href="/tags/fedilab/" rel="tag">#Fedilab</a>.</p><p><a href="https://holos.social/e2ee" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>holos.social/e2ee</a></p><p><a href="/tags/holossocial/" rel="tag">#HolosSocial</a></p>