who said you need to install apps?
this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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I use piefed on mobile firefox. Its better than an app ๐
Visit https://feddit.online/ in any browser and log in with the same credentials you used in your app of choice.
I don't know who told you otherwise but you definitely don't need an app. I've been here for years and never really used one, except to just try a few out to see what they look like. Also, PieFed accessed via a browser has features that apps lack, and possibly vice versa (but I am not the best person to ask which these are, or in what apps, since I don't really care hence don't keep up-to-date).
Most PieFed instances even allow you to browse the content without logging in, like https://piefed.social/, unless the instance is currently under attack from a scraping attempt and needs to lock itself down for awhile.
Many of piefed's features are only available via web. Either they do not have an api yet, or apps have not added the new apis.
And unless something has changed, using piefed on a browser does not force you to install an app, I do not see that you need to install an app.
PieFed has you covered. Just go to feddit.online with your browser?!?? ๐ค๐ค๐ค
Regarding crossposting, @snoopy@piefed.social has told me that piefed has some limitations, which can be overcome by using apps.
Now my question is, if piefed has limitations, then how is it possible for the apps to overcome them ?? I mean, what's wrong with the regular browsers ???
PieFed is a combination of back-end software that runs the stuff - posts, comments, votes, DMs, etc. - and a front-end providing access to that stuff (this is the actual buttons pressed, and what things are shown vs. not, plus how they are laid out).
When you use a 3rd party app, you still access the same back-end, but through a different front-end. e.g. the traditional basic PieFed front-end refuses to show you both upvotes and downvotes separately (since +51 & -50 is a VERY different situation than just "1" - the former shows contentious engagement whereas the latter shows lack of any engagement at all, which could affect e.g. voting results or other conclusions that you wanted to draw from the conversation, or even clue you in to network problems where people weren't seeing your content at all. There is a way to see those btw, but it's super jankey and barely works), but a 3rd party app can make a different design decision and so choose to show them... however it wants.
As such, you could either have a better or worse experience than with the basic web browser UI. Or more likely both at the same time: better in some ways and possibly also worse in some others. Though it is so good to have choices to pick from:-).
Hopefully someone who actually uses 3rd party apps can step in with some recommendations or like information on how to find what features are offered by what apps, though here I just wanted to clarify what you might expect from all of that.
There are some issues with plain browser UI. The way Android (for example) memory is managed it can be flushed even if you switch just for a moment. Touch based input needs a different approach than desktop one, etc. IMO in general apps provide better experience. And when those are open-source, most probably one doesn't have to worry about snooping, like with the apps created by for-profits
But I don't think the basic web UI and or PWA is going away. It's rather that apps are a quite widely shared preference
I don't understand the problem that you're talking about. I use piefed on my android phone, on my browser.
Me too, as PWA
- notifications don't work for me
- links open in the same window instead of going to the app
so yt links open yt page instead of NewPipe - there is no "drafting"
so if I swipe back when typing a comment, I'll go back and my WIP comment will be gone - seeing votes (the up and down popup) is a gamble
- when I expand three dots I'm always afraid I'll click something when trying to scroll
- in order to share the link I need to open the drawer
I was using apps with Reddit and Lemmy and the experience was much better. But so far AFAIK none of the apps support Piefed features in non-cumbersome way, so I'm waiting until one does
Did you try connect ??
I think it's not open source. So I'll wait a bit more
Have you tried Voyager or Blorp?
Voyager definitely addresses many of the issues you mentioned and Blorp is often recommended for use with Piefed (Voyager doesn't really support Piefed specific features even if overall platform support works well).
Voyager - that's the one that felt cumbersome to me
Blorp - uhhh. I thought it was only an alternative web UI. I'll try the app out, thanks!
I already see that in inbox there are no notifications from feeds. But the "draft" feature is here