RaccoonForFriendica

This is a client for the Friendica federated social platform powered by Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) and Compose Multiplatform (CMP). The reference platform is currently Android.

The project is heavily inspired by the RaccoonForLemmy app for Lemmy, which demonstrated something like this can be achieved with this tech stack. This is why it retains part of its name, making clear that the two projects are related and share a lot of common heritage and are maintained by the same people.

Want to try it?

Here are some options to install the application on your device. The best way to install testing APKs is Obtainium, please insert this repository's URL as a source.

https://github.com/LiveFastEatTrashRaccoon/RaccoonForFriendica

Tip

Make sure to check the "Include pre-releases" option (in order to receive all alpha and beta builds):

Screenshots

Why was the project started and why is it called like that?

Because raccoons are so adorable, aren't they? 🦝🦝🦝

Joking apart, one of the main goals was to experiment with Kotlin multiplatform (KMP) and Compose Multiplatform (CMP). This project has a fair degree of complexity and allows to put under stress the existing solutions and evaluate what they behave like with common tasks (image loading, HTML rendering, file system and gallery access, networking, local database management, shared preferences, navigation, access to resources like fonts/drawables/localization, etc.).

Secondly, the Android ecosystem for Friendica was a little lacking, especially with few native apps (except Dica, whereas Friendiqa is a very cute example of Qt on Android, although not a traditional mobile app at all). I ❤️ Kotlin, I ❤️ Free and Open Source Software and I ❤️ native app development, so there was a niche that could be filled.

In the third place, we were wondering whether the adoption of a platform like Friendica could be improved with a user-friendly and easy to use mobile app that abstracts away some of the complications of the current web UI. This is why this app looks a lot like a plain Mastodon client (and technically speaking it is a Mastodon client) – adding on top of it some Friendica specific features such as media gallery, circle management, direct messages and support for ActivityPub groups.

With this respect, it takes a different approach compared to other existing solutions like the feature-complete Relatica app, in trying to look familiar to users with a UI they are already accustomed to, adding a thin layer on top of it to support the additional features.

This project is all about experimenting and learning, so please be patient if you find some bugs or missing features.

Development roadmap

The app is under ongoing development, here is a list of the features that are being implemented:

• timeline view (Public/Local/Subscriptions) with ability to switch feed type
• post detail, i.e. opening a conversation or reply in its context
• user detail with ability to see posts/post and replies/pinned/media posts
• login/logout to one's own instance
• view notifications and check for unread items
• view one's own profile
• see trending posts/hashtags/news
• see following recommendations
• view all the posts containing a given hashtag
• view followers and following of a given user
• follow/unfollow other users
• post actions (re-share, favorite, bookmark)
• follow/unfollow hashtags
• view list of one's own favorites
• view list of one's own bookmarks
• view list of one's own followed hashtags
• view people who added as favorite/re-shared a given post
• enable/disable notifications for other users
• create a post/reply with image attachments and alt text
• global search
• open groups in "forum mode" (Friendica-specific)
• delete one's own posts
• edit one's own posts
• mute/unmute user and see list of muted users
• block/unblock user and see list of blocked users
• OAuth and HTTP basic authentication modes
• pin/unpin status to profile
• manage one's own circles/following lists
• polls (read-only, voting is not supported yet by the back-end)
• manage follow requests
• support for post addons (spoilers and titles)
• multi-account
• edit one's own profile (custom fields and images not supported yet by the back-end)
• direct messages (Friendica-specific)
• photo gallery (Friendica-specific)
• advanced media visualization (videos, GIFs, multiple images)
• scheduled posts and local drafts
• create reports for posts and users
• custom emojis
• calendar (Friendica-specific + read-only, creating events is not supported yet by the back-end)

Technologies used

• Compose Multiplatform for UI
• Room for local persistence
• Koin for dependency injection
• Voyager for navigation
• Ktor and Ktorfit for networking
• Lyricist for l10n
• Multiplatform settings for encrypted preferences
• MaterialKolor for custom theme generation
• Ksoup for HTML parsing
• Colorpicker-compose for custom color selection
• Sentry for crash reporting and user feedback collection

Want to leave your feedback or report a bug?

• use the "Report an issue" in-app form you can find in the "App information" dialog;
• follow the Friendica group to receive updates about the new releases and participate in public discussions;
• join our Matrix room to reach out to the developers or other users;
• use the GitHub issue tracker to report bugs or request features;
• finally, if none of the above methods fits your needs you can write an email.

Disclaimer

Warning

This is an experimental project and some technologies it is build upon are still in pre-production stage, moreover this is a side-project developed by volunteers in their spare time, so use at your own risk.

You shouldn't expect a full-fledged and fully functional app; you should be prepared to occasional failures, yet-to-implement features and areas where (a lot of) polish is needed. Contributions are welcome and new feature requests (outside the agreed roadmap) will be evaluated depending on the available time.