Decentralized social network Mastodon has updated its official app for Android to make it easier for users to share their profiles via QR code. This could be useful for exchanging profiles in noisy places such as events or hotel lobbies, the company said in a blog post.
To share a QR code, users go to their profile tab and tap the QR icon next to their name to get a code related to their profile that other users can scan.
The organization also strives to make Fediverse easy to understand for users. To that end, we've added a domain name description to the Mastodon handle. When you tap the handle, the app displays a dialog explaining why the username and server name are different. Also, tapping the description will highlight the username or server name in the handle.
Image credits: mastodon.org
Mastodon has also updated the block and mute prompts to explain the effects of performing block and mute actions on profiles.
Image credits: mastodon.org
The new Android also has some small updates, including a new link card preview that shows the author and date of a post. Clear drop-down menu on your profile.
Mastodon now faces stiff competition in the decentralized social network space, as Bluesky went public earlier this month and also started working on federation. Users trying Mastodon complain about the complicated nature of having different servers on the ActivityPub network. The company needs to work on making it easier for users to understand and navigate the decentralized social world.