Login#
Browser#
When you first launch Fedicat, you’ll be presented with an instance screen, in which you can type in the domain of an instance to login or inspect, or browse among a list of selected instances, categorized by platform.
Instances#
When viewing an instance (tap on one of the listed items or on the icon to the right of a typed-in instance), you’ll be presented with information about that instance and a login button.
If you need to register for an account first, you can tap on the domain link to the left of the login button to visit the instance website.
The various tabs display, if provided, any extra description, configured limits (e.g. maximum number of characters per post), rules of conduct, and translation languages (available on Mastodon and Akkoma, if configured).
You can long press on an instance description to see the Apple translation option.
Feeds#
Menu#
I was a proponent of going with the de-facto standard tab layout of social media apps (home on the left, profile on the right..) but Mastodon has so many feeds I gave up on that. So now the top-center pulldown menu allows you to switch among timelines (for a while I wanted to to do all navigation in the left menu so you could switch among multiple logins with a tree-like menu - maybe I’ll try that again sometime).
Home#
Every platform has a home feed updated with your posts and posts of accounts you follow (notice that by default alt-text is displayed in the feed).
Local and Global#
Every platform also has a local and global (federated) feed of posts on this instance and posts known to this instance, respectively.
Most, but not all, platforms also feature a timeline for your favorited posts and bookmarked posts.
Bubble#
Fedicat supports the Bubble (local and associated instances) timeline available on Akkoma.
Direct#
Fedicat supports the Direct (direct mentions only) timeline available on Mitra, Pleroma, and Akkoma.
Lists#
List feeds are available in the list submenu.
Following#
Besides the standard timelines, you can also select feeds from your followed accounts and tags.
Filter#
Posts that match any filter you have created are initially hidden.
Discover#
Also in the same menu are some discovery options.
Search#
Search will return some combination of accounts, posts, and hashtags (depending on the platform).
Trends#
Trending posts/accounts/hashtags
Directory#
Listings of accounts known to this instance.
Accounts#
Profiles#
Tapping on an avatar will bring up the profile view for that account.
Menu#
Long press on the header area to bring up the context menu for operations on that account.
Posts#
Menu#
Long-press on a post to bring up its context menu.
Translate#
Post translation is available on Mastodon instances that are configured to support it (and it requires that the post has the correct source language specified).
Post Composer#
The compose post options is at the bottom of the timeline menu.
Confirmation for any action you might regret, including posting and replying. Blocking and muting should be easy, though (you can always change your mind, no biggie).
Mutuals Only (GotoSocial)#
Fedicat supports mutuals only (accounts you follow and who follow you) post visibility.
Account Menu#
Menu#
The left top menu features account management options.
If you have more than one account, you can switch among multiple sessions (you can even log into the same account more than once).
Announcements#
View announcements from the instance admins (not often displayed, but when they are, they tend to be important).
Notifications#
On platforms that support notification types, notifications are split into categories/
But a merged view is available (and also the only option on platforms that don’t support notification categories)
You can react (or unreact) to announcements by tapping on an emoji.
Profile#
You can both view and edit your profile.
Preferences#
Some preferences to customize the look (e.g. I’m a fan of round avatar icons, makes it instantly visually distinct from other graphics, but hey, if you like square…)
Sessions#
The sessions menu displays the current session username, and the menu item to view the current session instance displays the instance name and an icon indicating the platform (Mastodon, Pleroma…)
Accessibility#
AltText#
Support and encourage alt text, e.g. immediately display when browsing posts, immediately present alt text entry when attaching media (MetaText does this), provide alt text tools like text detection on images (again, MetaText does this, and so does the Mastodon web UI, although that requires a sometimes lengthy upload to a server).
Light and Dark Modes#
I don’t know about themes (a requested feature), but at the least an app should accomodate the light/dark mode setting in Settings.
Fonts#
Text responds to the font customizations in Settings
Profiles#
Experimental#
An atom icon serves as a reminder that you switched on experimental mode which activates…experimental features. A bug icon indicates you have debugging mode on.
