Most people know about messages, photos and videos on the #Fediverse.

Most people know about messages, photos and videos on the #Fediverse. But the #ActivityPub protocol actually defines several object types, each one distinct and more or less compatible across apps:

- Note: short post (Mastodon)
- Article / Page: long text or shared link (WriteFreely, Lemmy)
- Image (Pixelfed)
- Video (PeerTube)
- Audio (Funkwhale)
- Event with date and place (Mobilizon)

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#Fedilab #HolosSocial

Each type has its own apps and its own logic. They all federate together, but each app shows at best what it was built for and simplifies the rest. A Mobilizon event seen from Mastodon shows up as a regular post: the details are there, but no way to interact with it directly. A PeerTube video shows up as a link, not a real player. To get the full experience, one account per network is still the usual path.

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HolosSocial brings them together in a single app. It understands different ActivityPub object types and presents each one in its own way: a real video player, a calendar entry for events, a reader for articles. You can easily attach your own cloud to host your media, with videos compressed on the device before upload.

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Fedilab supports several APIs (Mastodon, PeerTube, Misskey...), but each one carries the limits of its own server: what the server knows how to do, what it federates, what it exposes. Holos works directly with ActivityPub object types, opening filters that go beyond attachments, from a single account.

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@apps Are you aware of the ActivityPub API Task Force at the W3C? You might find it interesting.

GitHub - swicg/activitypub-api: ActivityPub API Task Force repository.

ActivityPub API Task Force repository. Contribute to swicg/activitypub-api development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub (github.com)

@evan
Yes, I know it. And I'm already thinking about bringing it to Fedilab. My main difficulty right now is being alone with a lot of work already. But I do think it's also my role as a developer to bring things forward. Especially when I believe in it.