Open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp raise funds on Kickstarter | TechCrunch
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The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development.
The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The latter saw increased signups and use after the company formerly known as Twitter sold to Elon Musk in October 2022 and during the X exodus that followed the U.S. presidential election.
In the months and years following that sale, open source and decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky (which uses the newer AT Protocol), have continued to grow their user bases, as people sought alternatives to centralized social media apps controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Edit: Link to the kickstarter
Okay so
BlueSky = Twitter
Loops = TikTok
PixelFed = Instagram
Sup = What's App
Lemmy = Reddit -
Btw, you can also donate on Patreon, OpenCollective, and Liberapay.
I’m guessing using Kickstarter has the benefit of adding hype as a new thing. I’ve always been curious about Open Collective and Liberapay. Have you tried it? Was it a smooth process?
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Okay so
BlueSky = Twitter
Loops = TikTok
PixelFed = Instagram
Sup = What's App
Lemmy = RedditBlueSkyMastodon = Twitter
Loops = TikTok
PixelFed = Instagram
Sup = What's App
Lemmy = Reddit -
Never heard of Sup for some reason, gotta check it out.
Sup hasn't been released yet, so that's probably why you haven't heard of it. Dan says beta testing launches early 2025.
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BlueSkyMastodon = Twitter
Loops = TikTok
PixelFed = Instagram
Sup = What's App
Lemmy = RedditWhat can replace Facebook?
And how can anyone convince all their friends, family, and random people the follow, to jump platform?
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The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development.
The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The latter saw increased signups and use after the company formerly known as Twitter sold to Elon Musk in October 2022 and during the X exodus that followed the U.S. presidential election.
In the months and years following that sale, open source and decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky (which uses the newer AT Protocol), have continued to grow their user bases, as people sought alternatives to centralized social media apps controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Edit: Link to the kickstarter
WhatsApp? Just use signal already!
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Sup hasn't been released yet, so that's probably why you haven't heard of it. Dan says beta testing launches early 2025.
I'm really excited for it. I might actually be able to get my family off Whatsapp because of fuckerberg, but I can't get them to move twice. I'm debating pushing signal now, or waiting it out for sup
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WhatsApp? Just use signal already!
Signal? Just use matrix already!
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RCS could be also an option. Now mostly backed by google but it can be unplugged whenever we want
I'm not going to use a proprietary protocol to chat through Google's (Jibe) servers running proprietary software. Even if the messages are e2ee, Google can still collect metadata. Google never provides anything for free and collection of data is kinda their thing.
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Sup hasn't been released yet, so that's probably why you haven't heard of it. Dan says beta testing launches early 2025.
Is it really just one guy writing three different platforms?
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RCS could be also an option. Now mostly backed by google but it can be unplugged whenever we want
afaik not really, only cell phone companies can apply to join the rcs federation and all of them just outsourced it to google and apple so it under control of just 2 companies.
so no, rcs is not an open standard.
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WhatsApp? Just use signal already!
Not on FDroid. Not open source
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What can replace Facebook?
And how can anyone convince all their friends, family, and random people the follow, to jump platform?
Friendica
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Not on FDroid. Not open source
But it is open source. And there's a fork of Signal available on F-Droid called Molly.
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Is it really just one guy writing three different platforms?
There's hundreds of other contributers, but he started them all and did the bulk of the work. The plan is to have more regular developers if they get enough donations.
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The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development.
The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The latter saw increased signups and use after the company formerly known as Twitter sold to Elon Musk in October 2022 and during the X exodus that followed the U.S. presidential election.
In the months and years following that sale, open source and decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky (which uses the newer AT Protocol), have continued to grow their user bases, as people sought alternatives to centralized social media apps controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Edit: Link to the kickstarter
I'm all for fediverse.
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There's hundreds of other contributers, but he started them all and did the bulk of the work. The plan is to have more regular developers if they get enough donations.
Ah ok that makes sense. In my head this guy was maintaining four codebases which did seem impossible
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But it is open source. And there's a fork of Signal available on F-Droid called Molly.
It is not open source. That's why its not allowed on fdroid. It has parts that are open source, like most apps. But the app itself is closed source and a risk
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Signal? Just use matrix already!
Simplex is a much closer alternative
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afaik not really, only cell phone companies can apply to join the rcs federation and all of them just outsourced it to google and apple so it under control of just 2 companies.
so no, rcs is not an open standard.
The number of cell phone companies is so high nowadays that it could be compared to the number of fediverse instances.
They would just need a prepackaged docker to set it all up and they would just do it.
No need for eternal history of messages and media, they could manage it a la WhatsApp.
