A team of pioneering developers led by The Iconfactory have announced an ambitious new app called Project Tapestry that aims to seamlessly combine updates from all major social media and news sources into one unified platform. This upcoming product promises a radical shift in how people consume information online.
Genesis of Project Tapestry
Project Tapestry represents the next endeavor by creators of Twitterrific – among the first and widely used third party Twitter clients for nearly 15 years since the network was founded in 2007. However, Twitterrific was forced to cease operations last year when Twitter blocked external apps from accessing its platform.
This policy change restricting Application Programming Interface access prompted the Iconfactory to utilize their rich experience in building innovative social clients towards a fresh new concept. The result is Project Tapestry – backed by former lead developers of Twitterrific, the app seeks to consolidate the fractured social media landscape into one place.
Offering a Universal Social Media Hub
As described on their website, Project Tapestry “aspires to simplify staying informed by aggregating updates from all your disparate sources into one comfortable place.” Some highlights include:
- Chronological Timeline: See recent posts from all integrated sources organized reverse chronologically in a single scrolling feed.
- Individual Post Details: Expand any post to view associated media, descriptions, metrics as well as options for liking, sharing or commenting.
- Cross-Platform Memory: Pick up reading from the last position across mobile and desktop devices.
- Diverse Sources: Integrate virtually any publicly accessible source from leading social networks, news websites to personal blogs and more.
- Accessibility: VoiceOver support for blind users and dynamic font resizing for accessibility.
- Themes & Customization: Light/dark modes and developer options for building new plugins or widgets.
- Multi-Platform Availability: Launching initially for iPhone, iPad and Mac OS.Essentially, Project Tapestry aims to serve as the command center for a user’s online life – the go-to app to discover recent updates from networks they care about without any gaps.
Utilizing An Advanced Aggregator Engine
Unlike typical news aggregators, Project Tapestry uses a more advanced aggregator capable of integrating the new decentralized and cryptographically-verified social platforms emerging across the internet. This future-proofing ensures users get updates from latest networks in addition to existing media sites.
Target Audience for Project Tapestry
Project Tapestry aims to be a publicly available app that anyone can use to simplify tracking updates from accounts they have across different social media, news and blogging platforms. So the target audience is essentially most internet users today struggling with information overload.
The hassle of constantly switching between apps and keeping track of notifications makes discovery inefficient despite existing tools like TweetDeck. For such users overloaded with following too many sources, Project Tapestry promises a life-changing experience by converging all content to one screen.
Launch Timeline Remains Unclear
While the announcement has generated huge buzz especially among former Twitterrific community members, The Iconfactory has not indicated any confirmed timeline for launch of Project Tapestry yet.
Their website simply teases it is “coming soon” for iPhone, iPad and Mac OS platforms. Tech circles are abuzz with speculation over exact venue where public debut would take place but no official confirmation yet. However, expectations are launch should happen within 2024 given the anticipation.
Legacy of Twitterrific Developers
The team behind Project Tapestry has an impeccable track record in crafting pioneering social clients spanning almost two decades.
Twitterrific was among the very first desktop apps built for Twitter experience and actually predates Twitter’s own iOS app. It shaped modern “microblogging” conventions including the use of “Tweet” as terminology. Such level of impact has few parallels among third-party developers.
Business Model Still Undetermined
Project Tapestry by design brings together content from diverse sources. So an open question exists over its business model as ads-based revenue may face hurdles due to copyright aspects.
The website does not indicate pricing plans. Sources point to possible subscription model for full access but specifics remain undisclosed by developers. Likely that data will be shared closer to launch next year.
For more refer to this blog post by Iconfactory.
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