cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/518117

I'm creating this community as a place for discussion around the upcoming Olympus for Lemmy iOS app. The TestFlight build is awaiting approval and should be available in the next 24 hours. In the meantime, here's a bit about the app and what to expect.

Motivation

I think a lot of us have an alien shaped hole in our chest that needs filling. I, like many of you, was not satisfied with the quality of many of the apps available for browsing lemmy. I got spoiled with Apollo and couldn't stand to settle, so I set out to build a similar experience for the Fediverse. While I've taken a lot of inspiration from Apollo, Olympus is by no means meant to be a direct clone.

Goal

I want to create a browsing experience that can be customized in every conceivable way. From visual personalization to content filtering, you will be able to change as much as is feasible about the app. A lot of the groundwork for this customization has been laid, but the settings are not yet user-accessible. In other words, the backed work is done but the frontend work is not(:

Where you come in

As early adopters and alpha testers, you all will play a pivotal role in the development of the app. Whatever you want, I'll do it. Just ask. I have an issue tracker set up on GitHub here, please stop by and drop any issues you face in there, or just make a post here. I'd prefer if we keep feature requests in this community and out of the issue tracker, but I won't be mad if you drop some in there too.

So that about sums it up I think. I'll keep you guys posted on new releases and will engage with you all in the comments.

• Joe

How to use:

The url must be the hostname only, NO SLASHES, like this: lemmy.dbzer0.com, don't use https://, don't append a slash afterwards (lemmy.dbzer0.com/), only the hostname including the subdomain if it has it (in this case, lemmy).

If the instance has blocked the IP address from the server, or it is stuck and its API is not working correctly, it returns "Not a Lemmy instance" (I am too busy to fix this right now).

If the url is not formatted in a way it can process it, it will say Invalid URL. Better processing can come in the future. I won't be updating it now.

• URL: https://federation-checker.vercel.app/
• Source code: https://github.com/lemmygod/federation-checker

In the backend, it just scrapes https://fba.ryona.agency/?domain={url} and uses the api https://{instance}/api/v3/federated_instances

PRs welcome.

Honestly it works better when deployed locally in a development environment. I think Vercel's IP address is just blocked by cloudflare and other blacklists that stop automated stuff? Idk. Can check back in a few days.

Universal link: /c/synthpop@sh.itjust.works

!synthpop@sh.itjust.works

https://sh.itjust.works/c/synthpop

Any time I look at the lemmy.world logo I think about the ISIS flag.

I find that Hot and Active give you really old stuff, at least on my instance, that's like 3-7 days old stuff. New is just new, you know new, no community-assured quality. Top is stuff I've already seen. Where do I get a better feed? Can we have like Top 7 hours? Or a mixture of "top 16 hours" and "active"?

What do you do when browsing Lemmy? What are some of your strategies to get good shit while being here? Cuz so far if I try and use the front pages I get bored to shit.

The way I get anything barely worth interacting with from the front page is New Comments. Not the best, but better than the other options I discussed.

That or just, instead of interacting with a lot of stuff, interacting deeply with the few things I find that I like.