Since the official Android app is lacking so many features, I used #Tusky for quite some time. Recently I switched to #Megalodon because it feels smoother (I miss the clear notifications option though).
The web client was fine so far, but now I am playing around with #Elk, wich looks very promising. It handles threads much better. But it does look like Twitter.
What are you using?
(And are you also struggling with hashtags being autoformated?)
After the disruption from the nightly build on Monday, I began experimenting with both @phanpy and @elk, alternate Web interfaces for Mastodon.
While #Elk is quite nice with always-available mouse-based back navigation, it doesn't seem to support either multi-column views or auto-refreshing timelines.
So, #Phanpy is a much better fit for my use case. However, it suffers the same limitation sorting notifications as the current unfixed nightly build, i.e. no quick-access filter bar.
[1/7] Mit dem Standard-Web-UI von Mastodon hab ichs einfach nicht so, und nutze es üblicherweise über alternative Web-Clients. Auch den bekanntesten davon, #Elk, habe ich schon verwendet. Lange Zeit jedoch am ehesten den Web-Client von #Soapbox. Jetzt aber steige ich gerade auf #Phanpy um, das unter https://phanpy.social/ erreichbar ist.
Wie bei anderen alternativen Web-Clients für Mastodon muss man auch dort erst mal seine Heimatinstanz eingeben, also troet.cafe, social.tchncs.de oder wie eben heißt. Dann muss man noch die Erlaubnis erteilen, dass der Client die im Browser aktive Anmeldung bei der Heimatinstanz nutzen darf. Somit kann der Client die API der Heimatinstanz genauso nutzen wie der Web-Client der Heimatinstanz selber.
Obwohl sie auf die gleichen Daten via API zugreifen, können alternative Web-Clients diese Daten durchaus anders aufbereiten. Phanpy strengt sich dabei besonders an. Nachfolgend ein paar Beispiele:
I imagine it'll work best once hosted by your own instance. Sharing links to posts is wonky when using #Elk through their elk.zone domain. I'm sure this is out of necessity, otherwise you'd constantly be breaking out of the Elk UI and back on your instance's web UI (which for most is probably vanilla Mastodon).
The layout was a little dense and busy for me. Probs needed more time to adjust. The inline quote posts and superior threading UI were nice.
For all new (and "new" users), if you don't like the default Mastodon user interface, you don't need an app, there are web-based alternatives, here are a few I've been using…
Gibt es eigentlich einen guten (!) Grund, warum https://elk.zone/ nicht schon das standard-Design von #mastodon geworden ist? Das atmet so angenehm dieses - Zukunft. #elk
I have to admit that #Elk (@elk) is a pretty neat #Mastodon client if you're looking for a Twitter-like experience.
Feels very snappy and has all the feature I need. A few glitches with regards to auto-completion of tags and accounts, but I'm confident that the developers will fix those before the first non-alpha release.
Maybe #GoToSocial (@gotosocial) are a good combination for self-hosting. 🤔
An #Arizona#wildlife center is receiving up to 120 animals a day suffering from the relentless #heat
"The relentless sun -- it hurts"
By Macie Goldfarb
Published Jul 27, 2023 12:32 PM EDT
"Mosby and her team aren’t the only ones working to protect Arizona’s vulnerable wildlife as the unwavering heat continues to torment animals and humans alike.
"To help the state’s animals survive the #ExtremeWeather, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has been bringing water to the wild to help keep animals hydrated.
"The agency deploys water shipments on trucks and helicopters to man-made catchments across Arizona – some capable of holding up to 10,000 gallons of water, according to habitat planning program manager Joseph Currie.
"Currie estimates there are about 3,000 of these man-made watering holes around the state where #deer, #elk, #BighornSheep and other animals now drink and cool themselves off in the extreme heat.
"When Arizona hit 110 degrees 27 days ago, water gauges showed that usage exploded, Currie said.
"The watering holes were originally created for #quail and #doves to increase hunting population numbers, but newer catchments grew in size over the years as the agency found that more animals needed a drink.
"#Droughts and #HeatWaves are occurring more often and becoming more intense across the nation – particularly in the West and Southwest – creating dangerous conditions and affecting water supplies for wildlife, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
"The program is currently funded by a combination of federal funds and fund-raising efforts. But 'if it keeps heating up and keeps drying out, then of course costs are going to increase,' Currie said."
@phanpy is particularly great on mobile. I'd say push notifications are the only thing that is missing, otherwise it would be one of the best clients on mobile (including fully native apps).
@elk is the best way to experience Mastodon on the Web on desktop, especially if you come from Twitter. It works great on mobile as well, but Phanpy has better navigation transitions (e.g. when swiping to go back) that make it feel more native.