Proposal: Mastodon "app covenant"

[aeharding]

Problem

Certain features that are implemented in both the Mastodon web and native clients are not implemented in other clients. However, these basic features are important underlying assumptions for the Mastodon experience.

Proposal

Like there is a Mastodon server covenant, it would be great if there was a Mastodon app covenant in order to be listed on https://joinmastodon.org/apps.

IMPORTANT: This "app covenant" would simply be whether an app is listed on joinmastodon.org/apps. Third party apps are of course welcome to not adopt the "app covenant", they just won't be listed on joinmastodon.org.

Example "app covenant" conditions

• Display PeerTube videos inline — Official mastodon native & web apps display PeerTube videos inline in a privacy-respecting way. This is important because Mastodon video sharing features are limited (40mb limit, server load issues). Unfortunately, virtually all third party Mastodon apps don't support this.

  In order to ensure that people have a consistent video viewing experience, I think all apps on joinmastodon.org/apps should have the ability to render PeerTube videos inline instead of sending the user to the web browser to watch a PeerTube video.

• Broader Fediverse compatibility — Mastodon clients should have the ability to like/subscribe/browse of other Fediverse software (non-mastodon). This is important to ensure a non-fragmented Fediverse experience. In the past, some Mastodon apps only allowed viewing Mastodon user profiles.

I don't think this should be over-prescriptive, as third party apps should be allowed to innovate and be unique, but again, I think there are a few, often overlooked things that make a huge difference.