Decentralized social network Mastodon has updated its official Android app to allow users to easily share their profiles using QR codes. This could be useful in noisy places like event lobbies and hotels for exchanging profiles, the company said in a blog post.
To share a QR code, users can go to their profile tab and tap the QR icon next to their name to get a profile-related code that others can scan.
The organization is also trying to make Fediverse easy to understand for users. To this end, it has now added an explanation about domain names in Mastodon handles. When you click on the handle, the application shows you a dialog box explaining why the username and server names are different. The app also highlights the username or server name in the handle when you click for clarifications.
Image credits: Mastodon.org
Mastodon has also updated the prompts for blocking and muting to explain the effects of taking those actions on a profile.
Image credits: Mastodon.org
The new Android also has some smaller updates like a new link card preview that shows the author and date of the post; And easy-to-understand drop-down menus on profiles.
Mastodon is now facing stiff competition in the decentralized social network space as Bluesky opened its doors to the public earlier this month and has also begun work on federation. Users who tried Mastodon complained about the complex nature of having different servers on the ActivityPub network. The company will have to work to make it easier for users to understand and navigate the decentralized social world.
