This post is inspired by Parker Ortolani’s thought-provoking question, “Where are the BlueSky Clients?". Like Ortolani, I’m puzzled by the apparent focus on Mastodon clients over BlueSky clients by developers.

“…what I can’t wrap my head around is the business decision of developers to lean into Mastodon clients versus Bluesky ones.”

Ortolani’s observation about developers leaning towards ActivityPub despite BlueSky’s larger user base (30 million vs. Mastodon’s 9 million) raises a valid point. While the extensive tooling available for ActivityPub development might be a factor, I suspect there’s more to the story. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I believe a stronger connection between the Android, ActivityPub, and AT Protocol communities is crucial, given their shared focus on decentralized infrastructure.

My own perspective on the Fediverse and social media ownership has shifted recently. I’m striving to recapture the joy of social platforms as spaces for community and collaboration, rather than succumbing to the pressures of capitalism and centralized control. This very shift prompted me to migrate my blog from Substack to Micro.blog. I appreciate that Micro.blog offers an Android app, and while it’s currently basic, I hope to see more active development on the Android front. A friend of mine has a blog that breaks down the different Activity Pub blogging platforms that I think is incredibly useful, but it’s solely available as a web app.

This brings me to a key point. I’ve even considered exploring Android app development myself, alongside my full-stack web development work. I understand the time and effort required to build clients, and I’m genuinely grateful for platforms like Micro.blog that offer apps in the Play Store (or even sideloadable on Android). However, I believe a stronger synergy with Android, the world’s most popular mobile operating system, is essential for the growth of decentralized social media.

For a decentralized network, prioritizing web development followed by Android development seems logical. Focusing primarily on the web and then closed ecosystems like iPadOS and iOS feels counterintuitive. Perhaps I’m missing a critical piece of the puzzle, but it strikes me as a backwards approach.

Why aren’t we seeing more development for the most accessible and widespread mobile platform?