A new app called Tapestry promising to unify social media, news and RSS feeds in one place, is nearing completion. Designed by Icon Factorythe same team that created the third-party Twitter client Twitterific At the time, Tapestry was revealed at the start of the year as a tool that can better organize today’s fragmented online media, allowing users to follow their favorite blogs, news sites and social networks from a single application. This week, the company announced an update on Tapestry’s progress, saying it plans to officially launch the app to the public “in early 2025.”

“Obviously the sooner the better, but there is still significant work to be done and bugs to be fixed,” the project update said. Patreon page note.

Instead of soliciting outside investors, Iconfactory funded the development of Tapestry. To date, more than 3360 contributors promised north of $177,800 to bring the app to life.

The app will appeal to people who are tired of trying to keep up with multiple sites, blogs, and social media services by constantly opening new browser tabs and switching apps. It also capitalizes on user frustration with too many Twitter clones.

Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now called X, there has been an explosion of interest in new Twitter-like services, including apps like Mastodon And Blue skybuilt on open protocols, and Meta discussionswhich is working to integrate with ActivityPub, the same protocol that powers Mastodon. (Other smaller apps like T2/Pebble, JobAnd Cohosthave since closed.)

According to app developers, these experiences in a more open social web offer potential for new user experiences designed to navigate these different services.

Just this week, Flipboard launched its own vision of what a browser for the open web should look like, with the launching an app called Surf which allows you to follow RSS, Bluesky and Mastodon content in one app.

It’s not the only company thinking about this.

Besides Iconfactory, the developer behind the popular Mac and iOS news reader ReederSilvio Rizzi, reinvented its application to expand beyond RSS to include support for other social services, like Mastodon, Bluesky, YouTube, Reddit and others. Another independent application called Costs Also expanded this year to allow users to follow RSS, newsletters, Mastodon, Tumblr, Reddit and others. And this week, Feeed also added support for Bluesky. Additionally, an app called Openvibe lets you browse Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads in one place.

Despite their similar premises, each app offers a different user interface and experience. While Reeder still feels very much like an RSS reader, others are more like social experiments of their own.

Tapestry is interesting because it attempts to straddle both worlds, allowing users to follow their favorite websites and blogs, or even import RSS feeds in bulk via an OPML file, while connecting to various social sources. Today, the beta version of the app supports Mastodon and Bluesky, as well as webcomics, social apps like Reddit, Tumblr and YouTube as well as weather and earthquake alert sources – X events are still often used pursue.

However, Tapestry isn’t just about cramming everything into one interface. Its real strength lies in allowing users to create their own personalized feeds (or “timelines”) in which they can choose which sources – like social sites, websites, blogs, podcasts and more – are included. You can also use tools like “mute” and “muffle,” borrowed from Twitterific, to configure whether posts containing certain keywords are blocked entirely or minimized (muted) when displayed.

There are a number of other customization tools that will also appeal to power users who like to create feeds.

However, one point of confusion with the current version is that Tapestry separates sources (like RSS feeds or social apps) into two sections called “feeds” and “connectors” – the first for filling your timeline with content and the second to create other flows. to fill out your timeline. Some services, like Mastodon and Bluesky, may appear in both sections if you add them. We would prefer a combined section simply called “sources”.

Still, it’s easy to see how you can use Tapestry to track multiple social services as well as the latest news and new posts from your favorite sources, as an alternative to browsing X.

Iconfactory has not yet shared an exact launch date for Tapestry, but the app will generate revenue through monthly and annual subscriptions.