The corporate behind the information app Flipboard , which is kind of like an RSS feed for the open social internet. The app permits customers to create feeds that pull from the open social internet, together with companies like Mastodon and Bluesky. It additionally sources content material from blogs, podcasts and YouTube movies.
Flipboard CEO Mike McCue calls it a “browser for the social web” and that description . Surf helps a complete bunch of open protocols, together with RSS, Bluesky’s AT Protocol and ActivityPub. That final one is used to energy decentralized platforms like Mastodon, Threads, Pixelfed, PeerTube and Friendica, amongst others. This follows , which allowed for full interoperability with Mastodon and different decentralized networks.
The app has been in growth for practically two years and lets customers construct customized feeds utilizing a mix of sources. If you happen to wished to comply with a distinct segment matter like, say, 3D printing, you possibly can add notable folks to a feed, together with hashtags, particular RSS feeds, most well-liked podcasts and extra. As of the preliminary beta launch, Surf comes with 30,000 predefined matters to discover. Customized feeds may discover a number of matters directly, to personalize issues.
The app’s residence web page features a broad swath of curated feeds to comply with which can be organized into sections like Featured, Trending, Communities and Professional Voices. Feeds are configurable in plenty of methods, which lets customers embrace or exclude stuff like replies, reposts or mature content material. Fortunately, the order of the feed can also be absolutely adjustable, with an possibility for a Twitter-like timeline.
This sounds fairly cool proper? One of many essential issues on this new period of the social internet, through which the , is the dearth of a centralized hub. This seems to unravel that downside to some extent.
Now a spot of dangerous information. Surf is technically out there proper now, however solely as an invite-only, closed beta. If you happen to can come up with a kind of invitations, the app is on the market for each iOS and Android, with a desktop shopper coming quickly.
