Gluon for Micro.blog

Build 37 for the Gluon Android update is slowly rolling out to the open beta. Changes include mainly items in the Discover section:

• New style Micro Monday section.
• New style MB challenge screen, when there is a challenge.
• Promoted Content supported by Sublime Ads (I made SA).
• Pinned Discover topics (Long press a topic to pin it to the main Discover screen).
• Feed changes to the "Mute List".
• And some other bugs and fixes.

Next up is to allow inline images in the content editor… Oh and I need to change the Podcast links so it opens in a native Google player — sorry about that oversight haha (just noticed when I added the screenshot) 😅

Hope to make more progress on Gluon for Android today ✌️Really motivated to get it in a good shape for both platforms over the next few months.

Those Android changes for Gluon are rolling out to the public beta on the Play Store (2021.1 Build 36). I’ll keep going during the week and nights ❤️

This morning’s achievement for Gluon on Android:

• Fix image caching on timeline (for those profile images that keep changing)
• Allow navigating back to the first screen in the tab, when selecting the tab again when nested deep in a conversation or otherwise — basically allows you to go back like on iOS.
• Re-enable push registration (hope to have that tested with MB soon)

Next up is features from iOS like Sublime Ads, new Discover section and pinning of topics.

Beta end of this week I hope ✌️

I’ve been looking at timeline syncing for Gluon. It’s going to take a bit of a rewrite… hmmmmm. So do I bite the bullet and get this into a new project (React based) or do I try and make it SwiftUI based (but loose out on Android initially)… Decisions...

Seems that "Timeline sync" is the most important feature for Gluon then. So, let’s get rid of everything else and just work on sync 😋

Planned new features for Gluon this year:

• Conversation Watch — watches a conversation and lets you know about updates. Because sometimes you just want to keep in the loop. Also useful for when you don’t get directly mentioned.
• Pin profiles — Ability to allow you to pin profiles or just have a quick access to them. Also paves the way to bookmark a profile without having to follow them. Maybe you just want to check every-now-and-then, instead of a hard follow.
• Timeline sync — yeah, we know what that is.

And many other things.

Hope to make this device only… but perhaps I have a server side option to add a bit more context around conversations, replies and other goodies.

My motivation for what I said about Gluon is basically based on all the feedback I have been getting. Most people really like it, and I am thankful for that — so why try and change it so much if it’s not broken ✌️❤️

Concerning the big SwiftUI rewrite for Gluon, I’m going to wait until WWDC this year. It’s a shame the way Apple have been treading on developers lately, so I want to make sure I don’t put my eggs into one fruit. I’d rather have something for both platforms, with ease.

Next week I start with building out Gluon for both iOS and Android. Will focus on Android first, but then make way for both platforms again. Also Apple are saying that they FULLY support PWA’s — so I will embrace that too 😂

Alright, some self promotion. Just in case you missed it… a new update to Gluon is out for iOS (version 2021.1). And if you’re wondering to see what it looks like in the wild… here you go, have a look at the Discover screen:

They say you should ship software on a Monday, and here we are... I did! Now technically it's Tuesday as I write this. ANYWAY!

I'm super happy to announce the first update to hit your fruity phones for this year, and don't worry Android is coming soon too!

This release has mainly concentrated on the Discover screen, including some bugs. There are always bugs... always will be!

So here goes:

• New challenge screen, showing a little bit more information including profiles when words were suggested. Also adds a calendar link, if it's available, for the photo challenges.
• Ability to "pin" discover emoji topics to the discover timeline. Just long press on the topic in the Discover More section and you’ll get a little star to the top left — that means it is pinned. Find them on the main discover timeline. Long press to remove.
• Native privacy focused, and friendly, promoted content in the discovery sections. These are run by me, using Sublime Ads (I made it for this purpose), for people on Micro.blog. Have a look and see what you think. There is an option to disable them in settings for 5 days. If you have supported me in the past, via a donation, let me know and I can add a little toggle to disable them forever on the Discover timeline.
• Micro Monday profile tweaks, giving you a nice overview and you can listen/subscribe to the podcast. Go to Discover -> More (top right) and then find the Micro Monday section.
• Inline images. You can now inline images in the compose window when creating a new post, if you have a hosted Micro.blog account. It's simple, but I hope you like it. Just tap the image after it uploaded and select the inline option. And nope, Gluon will never say "Uploaded by Gluon" with a link.
• Fixes an image bug when tapping on a post with multiple images — now the correct image is shown/scrolled to.
• Fixes a potential issue when you reply to someone, but the text is cut off. This is mainly because you may have a large following count.

And that's it everyone. Super excited that I got this out for you. I hope you enjoy it and hope it doesn't mess things up for you haha.

As always, thanks so much to everyone that has been following along and gave me feedback. You're the best ✌️❤️

If you want to get your podcast or other interesting thing into the Discover Promoted Content section, let me know: [email protected].

You'll need to be active on Micro.blog and preferably not a big business (because they usually ruin the world... I mean just look at Appl... I mean the EMPIRE... I mean... damn... you know what I mean!).

Gluon 2021.1 for iOS was in review for… 3 minutes! The empire works fast!

There are a few more things I want to get into Gluon this week before I send it off to the EMPIRE… I mean Apple App Review Team. Mainly a dedicated section for icons.

I’ll be renaming "Ad" to "Promoted" in Gluon. I think, after some feedback, that it’s not an ad as such and more promoted content for members of the community. I don’t want to take payments to "advertise" in Gluon — so I think this would be best.

I’ll add details on the Gluon website at a later stage where anyone can just get in touch. Of course I may just email you personally to see if you want to be part of it.