Local timeline
@markhysted@federate.social @@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social not niche but quite common and yes, it is already supported
littleFedi works like a real app on your phone
A few people have asked me how to actually use littleFedi on mobile, so let's clear this up. I use MastoBlaster, for obvious reasons. But you don't need to build anything native - littleFedi is a Progressive Web App (PWA), and that means it behaves like a proper installed app once you set it up.
- You add littleFedi to your home screen like any other app
- It opens full screen, no browser address bar, no tabs cluttering things up
- It works offline for the shell of the app, so a dead connection doesn't just throw a blank error page at you
- You get real push notifications, even when the app isn't open
- Static assets load instantly on repeat visits because they're cached on the device
Just your browser doing what browsers are supposed to do.
Installing it
On Android (Chrome or most Chromium-based browsers): open your instance, tap the menu, and choose "Add to Home screen" or "Install app". On iOS (Safari): tap the Share button, then "Add to Home Screen". That's it - the icon lands on your home screen and from then on littleFedi launches like a native app, in its own window, with its own icon and theme color.
Notifications that actually work
This is the part people are usually most surprised by. littleFedi uses Web Push, so once you enable notifications from the settings page, you get real-time alerts for mentions, boosts, favourites, quotes, follows, follow requests, polls ending, and a few other events - each with its own icon so you can tell at a glance what happened without opening the app. Tap a notification and it takes you straight to the right place, or focuses the app if it's already open in another tab.
This works the same whether the app is in the foreground, in the background, or fully closed. The browser's service worker handles delivery even when littleFedi itself isn't running.
Why it feels fast
Static files - the JavaScript, the icons, the stylesheets - get cached on your device the first time you load the app. On every visit after that, they load instantly from local storage instead of going over the network again, and the cache quietly checks for updates in the background so you're never stuck on stale code. Your actual content - posts, notifications, everything tied to your session - always comes fresh from the server, since that's the stuff that has to be accurate and can't be cached.
If your connection drops entirely, you'll see an offline page instead of a browser error, so it's clear what's going on rather than looking broken.
No extra app needed
If you're on mobile and haven't installed littleFedi yet, this is really the way to use it day to day. It's lighter than many native apps, updates itself automatically, and you're not waiting on anyone to approve a release in an app store. Just add it to your home screen and it stays there, working like any other app on your phone.
@xenotar é o filho d. ... ? ou neste caso do pai ? 😆
And yes, WA is a royal PITA.
When I was in Indonesia, I ordered some tickets and they kept saying they had sent them to me and I kept saying I hadn't received them. All the exchanges were by mail and those [beep] sent it via WA for some reason, and obviously that stupid system doesn't even tell you the person you're trying to reach is not on wa !!!
in ID WA is everywhere, to the point that people seem to have forgotten that a phone can actually call people ?
I always wondered what will happen the day the wa system is unavailable for some reason....
@xenotar I didn't know that. Jeebus, that and their leaning into w3-shite like proton wallet and lumo have really left a disgusting taste in my mouth.
@pepdmin I left Proton when Elon Musk accused the Brazilian justice system of censorship because the Apple Store was throwing an error while downloading ProtonVPN (even though Google Play was fine). Without verifying the facts, Proton endorsed Musk's lie, demonstrating alignment with that fascist. I still have a burner email address that I use on mastodon.social; I used it here by mistake, but I’ll close it as soon as I start paying for Tuta. I don't want to abuse the system by using more than one free account. I also saw that shameful thing Proton did to the French activist—it was deplorable and disgusting.
@miniBill@mastodon.uno it's not been released, yet, so it's not a relicense. It's an agreement on how to release it.
@Nux@fosstodon.org I was in favor of the BSD-3-Clause. Some were for the MIT. But there were a few GPL components. In the end, the MIT prevailed. However, it can still be modified until the release, as to date no code has been distributed.
@epn4littlefedi
I feel your pain.
I have telegram,Signal, DeltaChat and Matrix myself, always resisted WA.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of telegram and signal (too many limitation for my use), but the inertia is just huge
We’re currently preparing #littleFedi for release under the #MIT license.
As part of that work, the GPL-licensed code previously included in the project has been removed or replaced. We’re now reviewing the repository to make sure the licensing information is clear and consistent throughout.
@xenotar I am currently in the process of moving all my data away from Proton after their recent blunder with french fascism and was already selfhosting most of my mails on a VPS. And full ack on your sentiment about WhatsApp.
@epn4littlefedi WhatsApp is a big one, unfortunately. Even with people in my circles that are already users of better alternatives, ever so often they default to this shite app.
The notion of a slop phone is actually something that I considered briefly... and might actually do in the near future.
@pepdmin I did something similar in 2024/2025, closing my accounts on X, Facebook, Instagram, and even Proton, and migrating to pCloud and Tutamail (I had already been using the Fediverse since 2019). I’ve never had WhatsApp and rarely use Signal; I still need to complete my migration from Gmail/Drive, which I hope to finish by 2027.
I also view WhatsApp as the biggest barrier preventing people from leaving US Big Tech, and I consider it the most invasive of all their systems.
@francois Trump's punitive tariffs against Brazil are partly due to the PIX payment system—which is free and universally available to individuals—as it has been gaining ground in a space previously monopolized by Visa and Mastercard. Even street vendors accept it. Trump intends to intervene in this year's presidential election to try to install a puppet who has already visited the White House and promised to reverse this situation.