Secure Scuttlebutt - Patchbay - Manyverse - Decentralized Social Network - Introduction
https://scuttlebutt.nz/
Alright, let's get started. First of all, computer coders love to make up their own jargon and whenever they make a new app, they love to make app-specific jargon. It's very annoying. For example, you don't make Posts on Twitter, you make Tweets. But, that's just the tip of the iceberg, but I digress, let's move forward keeping this in mind.
Apps can connect through the Secure Scuttlebutt (SSB) network "gossip" protocol. So, you don't make Posts in Scuttlebutt, eye-roll, you 'gossip'. Whatever. Anyway, SSB is a "protocol," a 'protocol' is the underlying code to the network that apps are built on top of. So, you have the network, such as a telephone network, and any phone company can create phones to connect to that network as long as they adhere to the network's 'protocols' otherwise it just won't work as they'll be speaking different 'languages' so-to-speak, insert another eye-roll. Instead of phones, we're talking about apps, here.
There are currently a bunch of different apps available that connect to the SSB network protocol. Think of them like different browsers such as Firefox, Safari, Chrome... they all connect to the same network, but they have a different look & feel with very similar capabilities.
• Patchwork
• Patchbay
• Manyverse
• Planetary
• ...and more
Patchwork was the first and most basic app. You can still use it, but it has been laid to rest as a more robust and easier to use app called Patchbay has taken over as the default app. It's still not very user-friendly, and that's me speaking, as a very computer literate person, I can say that it's pretty terrible. Others also think that it's terrible and have been working on an app that normal everyday people who like things to "just work" can use called Manyverse. As of now, it is only available as a smartphone app, but they're working on a desktop version with no completion date in mind. If you have the newest Mac with their own M1 computer chip, you can also use phone apps on these macs though the apple store. So, pretty soon, I think all computers will be able to use phone apps. If you mainly use your phone for messaging and posting things for your friends to see, download and use Manyverse and ditch instagram and all that other trash that tracks you, collects information on you, etc. Take control of your data. If you don't use a smartphone, you'll need something else, such as Patchbay.
With SSB, there are no central servers/pods needed to host data. Every device contains some data from other users, and is shared across the network. Just like sharing a Torrent. In use, it looks and feels much like Facebook did in the beginning. You make a Post to your 'feed', all Posts are Public and anyone who visits your page can see your Public Posts, likewise, if they subscribe to your feed, your Public Posts will show up on their feed as well. When you make a Post, it's literally like sending out an email to all your friends on the torrent network, and it shows up in their feed.
If you make a Public Post while offline, once you are back online, your post will automatically sync with the network and spread that post to your friends and followers. So, if you have 4 friends in your network, 1, 2, 3, 4, and only 1,2 are currently online, if you make a Public Post or send a Private Post or make a move in your Chess game, person 1 and 2 will receive all your Posts, even the Private Post you made to person 4 and the Private Chess move you made to person 3, but it's all encrypted and hidden in the background. Then you go offline. Once person 3 or 4 come online, they will receive their Posts from you via person 1 and 2 who are still online. Essentially, send a message to someone who is not present on the local network, the next time they are connected with someone who was when you sent the message, it will be conveyed to them. Passed along just as you would pass someone a note in class, and your friends would pass the note along to the intended person. This is how Torrents work. And the note can be either public or private [encrypted].
Interestingly, this network also works without the internet. If you and your friends are connected through a local network or wifi, or bluetooth, that's all you need. The internet is not a requirement. Likewise, data from you will be sent along to those on the local network. So, lets say all of your friends never connect to the internet, they are totally off-grid. You send Tom a message, but he lives far away from you. You meet up with Sally for a coffee, and your device and Sally's device automatically connect to one another over wi-fi or bluetooth. A few days later, Sally meets up with Tom and he receives your Message and your posts etc. in the same way. It's not a quick as posting directly to the internet, but it is completely off-grid and works. No communist totalitarian government can interfere with or track your data. I guess they could roam around with devices looking for people on the SSB network who are physically nearby. Of course, all you have to do is turn your wifi/bluetooth off when you are not connecting to other SSB users in person.
Likewise, after you leave the network, disconnect, you are free to browse respond, comment, reply to all of the communications you downloaded. Once you
connect again, all will be sent in into the network and reach the individuals and groups etc. which you correspond with. So, if you go off-grid on a wilderness hike, or head out on a sailboat, and have no internet connection, you can make posts, sent messages, make comments on other people's posts, etc. and the next time you connect, it will sync with the network and suddenly everyone can see your wilderness hike posts and photos from the last week you were away.
It's kind of like automatic social networked emails, where you can reply to messages now, and they will send the next time you are on the network. No different in experience than if you only use WiFi -- you send messages to your friends while eating breakfast, but while you are travelling to school or work, you have no WiFi connection. But once you reach your school or workplace and connect to the WiFi there, you receive your replies. Right? I'm sure you've all experienced that, when you are out of wifi or cell-tower range and get no messages or texts, but once you get back from your hike or come out from the underground parking, ping ping ping ping you get all the messages that people send you while you were unavailable.
The interesting part about all this for me is that you and others on your network of friends carry everyone's messages around with you, and can send/receive messages on behalf of your friends. Everyone has a copy, so if one person cannot pass the message along, others will.
As I stated previously, there are currently two ways to connect with this network.
1. over the interneti
2. over local network/WiFii
3. BlueTooth (they're working on it)
i
4. ... what are other options?
There is work being done to allow connections through BlueTooth, and even radio frequency! The options can only grow. This really gives me hope at the network broadening. It will also allow people in areas, of which there are many around the world, that do not have any internet connection to communicate with each other. Imagine using shortwave radio! Send a message to someone hundreds or thousands of kilometres away without the internet though the air. It would be amazing, all we would need would be a device and some way to charge the battery, perhaps solar, or even cheaper, a dynamo.
So, I downloaded and installed Patchbay. The first thing I'm greeted with is this, now what do I do?? There are no instructions!!! Very annoying.
So, already this is annoying as there are no instructions on what to do or what these things mean. That's why I'm making this post, to hopefully help others. So, an IDENTITY is another jargon, this is another way of saying your ACCOUNT. When you start Patchbay, there is a Default account/identity. You can use that, but it will be called "ssb (default)". I suggest making a new identity with a name that you can associate with. Choose carefully because it seems you cannot change it later. There seems to be no way to delete an account/identity. Which is also very annoying, because as there are no instructions, one would assume that this could be either deleted or renamed later, but no. Seems not. Hopefully in the future this will be possible and very easy.
Right now, each device you use will have a different account/identity. As of now, there is no way to use the same account/identity across different devices. So, if you make an account/identity on your phone and another on your computer, you can name them both Bob, but it might be more helpful to name them Bob(PC) and the other Bob(Mobile) or Bob(iPad). Likewise, you can make multiple identities/accounts on each device, either for different users, or for different purposes, just as people on Facebook have a personal account for only their friends Bob(PC), and another account for their business Bob(Work). And, if you want, you can connect your own accounts to each other so that you can see your Bob(PC) posts while on your Mobile, and if someone make a comment, you can read and reply as Bob(Mobile). I named mine Bob(home). You can name it however you like Bob_home or bob.home, for example.
Your Avatar name, the name that others see, can be anything you want. By default it's a random set of characters. If you want to remain anonymous on your Public Posts, think about not using your real name. But like on any platform, you want your friends to be able to recognize you even though you call yourself SwampThing. Maybe in the future we can have a Public Avatar and a Private Avatar, so my Public Posts would be as "SwampThing" and my Private Posts and Messages would be from "Bob".
So, this is where SSB gets super annoying, connecting with your friends for the first time. If all your friends are right there in the room with you on the same local wifi, well, then it's super easy, click Initial Sync, you will see a list of other users on the network, and you can connect with whichever you choose to connect with. Easy. Well, sounds easy, but I cannot try this yet as there is nobody here. Besides, the people who I live with, I do this old-fashioned thing, called talking to them. It's the people I know that live far from me that I mostly want to connect with. This is what you see when you click Initial Sync:
See all the Local Peers? Yeah, that's right, nobody is there, because I'm all alone here trying to connect with my friends who are elsewhere.
But, supposedly if there are others in the same room:
Click their profile to see more about them, and click “Follow” if you feel like following what that person has to say and helping to ferry their data around.
Your computers will talk to each other even if you’re not following each other, because you might happen to have gossip [jargon: messages/posts/etc.] about a mutual friend to sync.
But, I think before you start connecting with people, you should review your connection settings, you can Initial Sync later.
Okay, so skip this, Lauch! the app...
Alright! This is it! Yes, very basic and rudimentary, but who cares, that will improve, what we need right now is functionality. I will explain the basics now.
At the top are your default tabs.
- posts (public posts you make that everyone can see, just like a Public post on Facebook, friend or not all can see it)
- private (these are private posts, I have no idea how this works)
- inbox (again, I have no idea what this is, is this where other people's private posts to me show up??)
- notifications (again, what kind of notifications? I have no idea)
The first think you want to do it create a Profile for yourself which will include your Username and Avatar image. In the top right corner, there is a dropdown menu, hover over it for the dropdown, and choose Profile. These setting can be changed later, but each time you make a change, it is publicly known. So, if your name is SwampThing and you change it to Bob Dobbs, then decide, to change it back to SwampThing, it was Publicly known that you changed your name to Bob Dobbs, and if that is your real name and you didn't want anyone to know your real name, well, not it's out there. Changes you make are posted to your Public Posts/Feed. Your profile image/avatar must be a square, if it is not a square it will be auto-filled in, or you can use your mouse to highlight a portion of your image to use, just like on Facebook. Your default profile name as I said before is a random set of characters. Keep it as is for now, or change it, just remember, it will be Pubic knowledge, just like on Facebook.
You will see a checkbox "Show posts on public viewers". What the heck is this? Well, all of the Public Posts on SSB can be viewed by everyone, and you don't need a SSB account to view them, you can use a Public Viewer to have a peek at what using SSB is like. Kind of like when you want to view someone's instagram profile but don't have an instragram account, you can go to instagram viewer websites to do this:
Go here: http://viewer.scuttlebot.io/
Enter someone's profile ID, try this one:
Here is another person working on the mobile Manyverse app which runs on SSB:
http://viewer.scuttlebot.io/
@QlCTpvY7p9ty2yOFrv1WU1AE88aoQc4Y7wYal7PFc+w=.ed25519
Hopefully one day it will be a desktop app, too. It looks much easier to use than the current version of Patchbay. As you can see, Andre has an Identity/Account where he made it viewable to Public Viewers, and he also has a "andrestaltz_phone" profile which he has not made available to Public Viewers. So, you can see the difference yourself by clicking on his phone profile. Nothing comes up.
If manyverse was available for Desktop, I'd use it rather than this Patchbay, because I'm pretty annoyed so far at the general lack of ease-of-use and having just SO many questions without any answers.
Okay, let's continue. On the Profile page is says "aliases". Now this confuses me, because the word is plural. So, does that mean you can create multiple aliases under this one identity/account? No! It should say "Alias". You only have one alias, and that's it. The + sign does not add more aliases, it only adds a profile Avatar, one. The + sign should be "Change Avatar" not a + sign. Also, it says "Names" when it should say "Name" and in the "name" box it says "+ another name". Another? Can I make more than one name for this one Identity/account? No. This should read "Public Name". So, if you want to be known as SwampThing, or Bob Dobbs, this is where you enter what name you will Publicly be known as. As I said before, do NOT enter your real name if you don't want your name to be Publicly known. Again, how will your friends know who you are then? Same dilemma on Facebook. If you want to be anonymous, it takes a bit more work and it's more annoying, but that's why it's so easy to be tracked.
Okay, the next setting you will want to look at is under settings>replication.
So, this fancy looking chart is your Social Circles that you will be helping to "replicate" or "spread their data around" in the network, like Torrent sharing. More jargon! They call each circle a "hop". The first social circle outside of yourself is your immediate friends. The second circle/hop are friends of friends. The third, likewise are friends of friends of friends. I recommend setting it to 2. Why? Well, looking around on Facebook and in real life we all have lots of friends of friends who are connected to each other, on Facebook I'm always surprised to see Mutual Friends, so they are out there, and they can pass your data to your friends even though you don't know them personally. Under the chart are your Pub Gossip settings. Pubs are Public Chat Rooms (will get into that later), and if you join a Pub, you will connect to ALL the people in the pub, that can mean a LOT of Posts (and data), so you might want to limit the gossip/data you download and share with Pubs. Personally, I don't know anyone yet who owns a pub, and I don't want to deal with Pub data, at least not right now, so I think I'll play it conservatively for now and set it to My Pub. I can change it later.
So, 1 seems pretty easy although I've never tried it. In the Menu go to Network. If there are local Peers (more jargon, it means other SSB users on the local wifi or bluetooth) you will seem them in a list here, and you can click around, find people you want to Follow.
2 seems easy, so this is how you do it. In the Menu go to Network>Invites. Then enter a private message to your friend that you are going to send the invite to, like "Hey, this is Bob Dobbs, connect with me!" Then click Create Peer-Invite. Seems pretty easy, right? Hm... what on earth is this other box?? "an introduction message which the community will be able to read with this invite is accepted". Huh?? Why would we want to announce to the "community" that this invitation has been accepted? Which community? The Public? What does "community" mean?? More confusion, more questions. If I'm making connections and want to be anonymous, why would I do this? Even if I didn't want to be anonymous, what's the point of this? Is it just like when you friend someone on Facebook there's a notification that says "Bob is now Friends with Sally"? Again, no explanation, no definitions, nothing. Super annoying. Okay, I'll put a private message and leave the community message blank. Now, let's hit the Create Peer-Invite button.
Okay, I expected something to happen, but immediately there's a test message at the bottom which says,
"creating an peer invite takes some time.""Time so far: 0 mins, 10 seconds"
Hm... okay, how long does this take?? Been a few minutes now...
Still waiting... guess I'll do something else while it's doing whatever it is doing. Again, no information on what it's doing, or why it "takes some time" etc. Also, that's incorrect English, it should read "creating a peer invite" not "an peer invite". It does say this is in BETA above, so maybe it doesn't work at all.
Okay, so let's look at the 3rd option. Pubs and Rooms. First, as these are jargon, I'll define them for you
Pub: pub is a Public House, just like the place you go to drink, be merry, and "gossip" with other locals and exchange information. A Pub is not spread out on the distributed network, it is located on an actual server somewhere. So, in this regard, yes, it's kind of like meeting in the same physical room and connecting over wi-fi, but you do it on a server Pub instead. It's just like visiting a Public Group on Facebook. Everyone can post stuff and there are different Pubs for different subject matter. There could be a general Pub with no specific reason topic, or there could be a Vegan Recipes Pub where people go to exchange recipes and meet other like-minded people and chat etc. In order to join a Pub you need a Pub Invite Code. Why? Well, a Pub works on the network just like another Identity/Account, and just as nobody can connect to you without an invite (although they can see your public posts) you cannot connect to other or to a Pub without an invite code. But, I don't want to connect with a Pub just to connect with friends. Maybe I'll start my own Pub. Okay, that's not really an option as I'd have to set up a server either in my own home or rent server space online, plus I've never set up a Linux server before and setting up any server is tedious and shit. Still, would be nice to have my own Pub and Room. Maybe I'll hire somebody who is a tech wizard who can do it without pulling his hair out.
Okay, after 22min, I still don't have an invite code. Guess it doesn't work yet. Shitty. So, how can I connect with someone on the other side of the planet? I guess I'll have to do it in a Pub or a Room.
Okay, so I don't want to connect to a Pub just to connect with friends, plus that pub data... won't I start sharing that around? Maybe not since I set my Pub sharing to only include Pubs that I own. And how do I find a pub that I WANT to belong to? Also, can I disconnect from a Pub? Also, pubs need to be moderated, so that you don't host a put for Cute Cat Photos, and have a bunch of porn showing up on there instead, so do I really want to join a pub that is open to the public? I don't know, how wild are these Pubs? I don't want to jump onto some random pub, start automatically sharing their data, and finding out that it's full of filth. So, some Pubs are private and some cost money to join because it costs money to run the server and to moderate the users/content. So, maybe I'll do that... but wait, first let's talk about rooms.
Rooms: are a new thing, similar to Pubs, but in Rooms, everyone quietly minds their own business. In Pubs there's lots of talk/gossip/data/posts/etc. going on, but not in a Room. We can look around and see each other in the room (as a list of users in the room), and if we spot a friend we want to connect with, we can connect with them. That's it. It's a simplified Pub.
Learn about Rooms here: https://youtu.be/W5p0y_MWwDE
Okay, so how do I get an invite to a Room? Then I have to get my friend to also get an invite to the same Room? Shit, what a pain in the ass. Once I'm in a Room, can I invite my friends? Unknown at this point. Would be nice if this peer-invite code would work.
So, Rooms have Aliases, which are like domain names. Here's one they mention in the video staltz.hermies.club
That's right, the same guy mentioned above who is responsible for Manyverse. Okay, let's join his Room!
I go to this link https://staltz.hermies.club/ and here is what you see:
Cool, really easy, now I just click on the link....
Okay, it's doing something, looking for my Patchbay app... waiting... waiting...
Oh shiiiiit, seriously??!! It only works with Manyverse?? Of course, because Andre is working on Manyverse, he's not working on Patchbay... uuuuggg... This probably only works on smartphones!!! ARRRG~! I would download Manyverse, but I don't have a compatible smartphone or other compatible device, they're all too old, and besides, I HATE texting on my phone, I'd rather use a keyboard to type messages and do posts etc. Why spend 15min cramping up my thumbs when I can type the same thing out in 1min with my keyboard? Super annoying. So, you can't connect to Rooms with Patchbay?? Maybe if I copy the code and paste it in Patchbay that will work... let's try it... here's the code:
ssb://experimental/?action=consume-alias&alias=staltz&multiserverAddress=net%3Ahermies.club%3A8008~shs%3AuMYDVPuEKftL4SzpRGVyQxLdyPkOiX7njit7%2BqT%2F7IQ%3D&roomId=%40uMYDVPuEKftL4SzpRGVyQxLdyPkOiX7njit7%2BqT%2F7IQ%3D.ed25519&signature=bP-z-DPIOZrWSVvHJdCfUZ2Zq30fyJ_rWLzIcknXi1Jg0aE1jPBVWofe3RnwxBRszYgWHPx7haCzByW89avLDQ%3D%3D&userId=%40QlCTpvY7p9ty2yOFrv1WU1AE88aoQc4Y7wYal7PFc%2Bw%3D.ed25519
Let's try pasting it or part of it into here to see if it works:
Tried a few different things... nothing... doesn't work. They mention in the video that you can share an invite code,
but why do that when it's easier to just click on a button. NO! I
clicked the button, doesn't work, just give me the damned code!! THAT is
easier.Hm, let's copy the code from the video... whew, that took at long time to type out and recheck:
net:hermiesroom.staltz.com:8008~shs:W18NyiHagiiVE4/jm2sxzqQqIwmUw2p9pKZ0lHH9OXA=:SSB+Room+PSK3TLYC2T86EHQCUHBUHASCASE18JBV24=
Let's try that!! Yes!! The Use Invite button changed colour!!
I click on it! Finally, we're getting somewhere!!!
"Not a valid invite code" -- seriously?? Shiiiit!Look at all the fuck'n nonsense I'm having to go through to use this fuck'n thing.THIS is why the average person DOES NOT USE IT. Grrrr.
Now what?? Try to find a Room invite... This is dumb. If I can go to http://viewer.scuttlebot.io and enter Andre's
ID@QlCTpvY7p9ty2yOFrv1WU1AE88aoQc4Y7wYal7PFc+w=.ed25519
and view his profile/feed, why can't I do that with Patchbay?????!!!!! Patchbay can't be used as a SSB Viewer?? What's it good for then? That just seems stupid. If you have someone's direct link to their profile, like Andre's above, you can't do anything with it. I have to use my web browser to go to a SSB Viewer site to view Andre's profile/feed? That seems annoying. Say, you want to put your SSB ID on your resume or something, so people can view your page without being able to comment or anything, they can't use their SSB app to view your page, they must find a SSB viewer on a browser. Dumb!
I also see that Andre and others have a Bio at the top of their Feed, seems there is no such option in Patchbay.
Another question: if someone connects with you by finding you in a Room or on local wi-fi, does that mean they can message you, make comments on your feed etc.? Seems so. I don't know, as I cannot figure out a way to get connected with my friends on this fuck'n thing. Guess you'd have to do a lot of blocking if there are people out after you or lots of people trolling around and sending out SPAM and ADS and shit. I wonder.
Question: what's the difference between people 'connecting' with you by hitting the 'connect' button, verses you sending them an invite code and connecting with them that way? Is there a difference between Bob trolling around in a Room or Pub and connecting with Lucy and Lucy sending Bob an invite code to Connect to her? When people Connect with me, will I receive a notification that "Lucy would like to Connect with you, click accept or deny this request"? How can we keep unwanted people out?
I just found this:
https://hermies.club/
reading through Andre's feed on the SSB viewer, as there seems to be no other way to read anyone's feed through Patchbay, so dumb, that should be a very ability is should have. But what do I know, eyeroll.
OMG, did you read this woke communist marxist crap in the Code of Conduct? Wow, insane! It really is a cult. I'm sure Andre thinks he's being virtuous and doing the right thing, but no, he has been fooled by the marxists. It's okay, I was almost fooled too.
https://hermies.club/notice/show?id=3
https://scuttlebutt.eu/code-of-conduct/
Learn more about how you may have been fooled here: https://newdiscourses.com/
That's the problem with these crazed woke communists, they say they want everything to be open, accepting etc., but what they really want is power and control to the point that anyone disagreeing with them is going against them and must be shutdown. If you look through this insane code of conduct, literally ANYTHING you say can be deemed going against the code. That's part of how they operate. "We want everything to be open and free" then they list pages and pages of rules you must follow which will include wording that will allow them to ban anyone who doesn't agree with them. So much marxist communist wording on this page. Disgusting. In the rules one cannot discriminate against someone, unless of course they're disagreeing with them, or don't follow their ideology. Such as I once made a comment on a social media platform that healthy pregnant women are more difficult to tell that they're pregnant, and was accused of saying that most pregnant women are fat, and was banned. I contested the ban, explaining that is not what I said, but was denied, labelled a woman hater. This, is how mentally challenged zealots these people are, and also a perfect example of doing the exact opposite of what they purport to uphold. They are liars. They are hypocrites. Anyway, I digress, I just can't stand these marxists, and they think they're so high and mighty and virtuous, but they're not and they're rampant in the tech industry for some reason.
Let's look at the hermies.club, and see if we can connect...
OMG, so only Manyverse is able to easily connect. If I want to do this on my desktop, I'll have to do a bunch of nonsense. Great. It says I can contact Andre or cryptix directly with my ID and ask them to add me. Wow... this is stupid. Of course they give no method of contacting them, you will need to look around on the net and find them on facebook or find their email or something I guess. Jezuz. Okay, here's Andre's website:
https://staltz.com/ can find his contact info there.
Okay, let's look at "ssb-room2-check". Not sure what it is or how it can help me.
So, it says it's a "CLI tool to manually test room 2.0 features".Ooooookay, why would I need to "test room 2.0 features"? Really vague description of what it does and why I would need it. So, this is an SSB app. Okay. Close all other SSB apps before using.P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p...
Okay, getting very tired of all of this... I'm going to give up for now...
===============================
Day 2: Connect With Local Peer
Okay, now I have somebody in the room with me. A Local Peer.
They have downloaded Manyverse and installed it on their phone.
I will make another post about that process.
Once they started up their Manyverse app, I could see them in my Connections>Local Peers.
There is only one option, to Follow. So, I followed them. It worked, it says that I'm following them.
They likewise Followed me. Also, they have a Connect button, so they Connected with me also.
I do not see their Name, only their ID.
I do not see their Avatar, that is blank.
They likewise do not see my Avatar and only see my ID.
Wait, Patchbay has a Connect button, but only in the Initial Sync screen on app startup.
I restart Patchbay, hit the Initial Sync button, ah, I can see the Local Peer listed. Their Avatar is still blank (a burgundy coloured square) and their ID. I click on them, it says that I'm "Following" them. There is also a "Connect" button, too. Then I hit the "Connect" button. Nothing happens. Try a few times. Nothing. It says that I'm "Following" them, but the "Connect" button does nothing. It does not change to "Connected" or do anything else.
Okay, launch the app.
Back at my Public Posts... hm... my public posts are not loading, totally blank. I reload Patchbay. Now I can see my Public Posts again. This is a glitch which is noted on github, launching from Initial Sync doesn't work yet, only from the initial screen.
I try to send a message to my Local Peer. There is no way to send a message to them.
When I enter the @ symbol, I am the only Peer to choose from. I try to send a message to myself, using the "Inbox" tab (it should really be renamed "Private Messages").
It takes a few moments, but it works, I receive my own message, in the "Private" tab. Not in the Inbox. Inbox seems to be the place for creating and sending Messages. I guess this tab should be called "Compose Private Message".
My Local Peer, using Manyverse, can click on me, then Follow and Connect.
My Local Peer also sent me a message.
I did not receive the message.
My Local Peer cannot see my Public Posts.
I cannot see My Local Peer's Public Posts.
On the Manyverse website it says "Wi-Fi connections work between Manyverse and other apps such as Patchwork and Patchbay." Well, I am using Patchbay and my Local Peer is using Manyverse and we cannot connect with each other.
When my Local Peer goes to their "Connections" screen, it says that they have no connections.
Aren't we supposed to be able to connect to Local Peers somehow?? I thought this is how we do it!!
More frustration.
Okay, so... I guess that it, that's the end. What more can I do??
We followed each other, but cannot see anything about each other, can't see each other's posts, cannot sent messages to each other, my Connect button does not work, my Local Peer's Connect button seems to work, but nothing happens on their end either. We each made some Public Posts, none are visible to the other.
I tried sending a private message, but I can only send a private message to myself, so I did, it worked. But I do not see any message from my Local Peer.
My Local Peer can see the messages they sent to me in the Manyverse app, but I received no messages.
If I look in my Inbox I see the two test messages I sent myself.
If I look in my Private tab, I see the two messages I sent myself repeated over and over and over to infinity if I start scrolling down. That seems pretty glitchy.
Maybe I should use Patchwork, but I was told that it is now defunct and not worked on any longer and that Patchbay has taken its place, so I got Patchbay.
The Manyverse app seems very slow to react when clicking different buttons. It can take a bit of time to switch from one screen to another.
So, in the end, we cannot connect to each other.
This really sucks. A bunch of friends are relying on me to find them an alternative the can use to the likes of Facebook etc. They want to get off of megacorp networks. I said I'd find an alternative. I chose Secure Scuttlebutt after doing much research. They are not computer savvy. They will NOT like this at all. They will be like, "Oh well, guess I'll use Signal or whatever..."
I can't even get two people to connect to each other on SSB. They are right here in the room with me!
Okay, after all this, there is a problem with Patchbay.
I installed Patchwork, and I have no problem following with the Local Peer, seeing each other's posts, sending and receiving messages etc.
The latest update with Patchbay was YEARS ago. The latest update with Patchwork was only in April. So, it seems that although it is stated on the Patchwork page to not use this app anymore as it is no longer in production, it seems there is no choice, since Patchwork is the only working desktop SSB app at the moment. You know, it would have been useful is THAT information was posted front and centre on the Patchbay and Patchwork pages.
So, basically, Secure Scuttlebutt in regards to a desktop computer app, is dead in the water right now.
Great. I was really looking forward to using this.
If you prefer to connect to your social network on your phone, no problem for you, Manyverse is up and running and it seems to work fine -- we tried it, and the only problem so far is that the app is very slow to load, so once you click on a button, it can take some time until the next screen opens, usually 4 or 5 seconds, but sometimes 20 seconds or more. Not sure why, but if you just wait, it will load. Not really a 'problem' more of a test of our patience, but when nothing is happening it seems that the app is frozen or something, but it's not, it's loading, just wait. I don't have a circle of friends using this yet, but I imagine Syncing will take some time, especially if people are sharing around photos and large files.
