New iOS app: Tapestry is designed to offer users a timeline for everything

For some, it is the continuation of the classic RSS reader, while others see it as a kind of “replacement drug” for the increasingly fragmented social media landscape: the iOS app Tapestry is now joining the new breed of so-called timeline apps. The aggregator app allows users to keep track of news from various sources on the web – including RSS feeds, podcasts, YouTube, Bluesky and Mastodon — all in one place.

Tapestry was developed by The Iconfactory. The design and app development company has been on the market for over 25 years and became known primarily through the Twitter client Twitterific, which was released in 2007. It was only with the sale of Twitter and the changes to the social network's interfaces (API) that the story of Twitterific came to an end and the app was discontinued.

Not the first timeline app

The attention that Tapestry is currently receiving in the tech media is correspondingly high. Unlike in 2007, Tapestry is not one of the first apps to implement the concept of a central timeline for reading news on the Internet. In terms of its functions, there are major parallels with the Swiss app Reeder, which has evolved from a pure RSS client into a timeline app that makes it possible to feed in news from various new sources. However, Tapestry differs from Reeder in some details and the striking, colorful design is particularly striking.

The developers also advertise the fact that their app does not display an algorithmic timeline, as is standard in many social networks. All entries are displayed in chronological order. Filters can be used to influence individual content, which is then either compressed or not displayed at all. In addition, all processing takes place on the user's device. Thanks to so-called connectors, the app should also be open for extensions to new data sources without the developers having to do anything.

Only suitable for reading

What Tapestry does not offer is the option to interact directly with displayed posts from social networks or YouTube videos. If you want to comment or like, you have to go to the pages of the respective source. The added value is that users no longer have to manually open various apps and websites, and are therefore less likely to overlook things that interest them.

The basic version of Tapestry with ads is free to use. If you want to hide the ads and get additional functions, you can either subscribe to the app or buy it for a one-off price of just under 90 euros. The subscription is available from 1.99 euros per month.

(mki)