Fediverse

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This magazine is dedicated to discussions on the federated social networking ecosystem, which includes decentralized and open-source social media platforms. Whether you are a user, developer, or simply interested in the concept of decentralized social media, this is the place for you. Here you can share your knowledge, ask questions, and engage in discussions on topics such as the benefits and challenges of decentralized social media, new and existing federated platforms, and more. From the latest developments and trends to ethical considerations and the future of federated social media, this category covers a wide range of topics related to the Fediverse.

founded 1 year ago

I think we should slightly rethink how login works on most Fediverse apps (Mastodon, Lemmy, but not only) (kbin.social)

submitted 4 months ago by ginerel@kbin.social to c/fediverse@kbin.social

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A while ago I posted a thread back on the

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spez

website, with a personal opinion on why the Fediverse seems a bit complicated. It basically goes like this: Mastodon (and pretty much every Fediverse project out there) is based on the idea of using multiple websites.

This is not really a problem on the desktop, as you're using the browser to log in to the Fediverse. You go to mastodon.social or lemmy.world, maybe bookmark these, and you log in as normal (if you do not check the remember me option at login). Same goes with Facebook, with Xitter, with the

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spez

website etc.

Alright, but the newer generations (not everyone, but many folks part of them) rather use apps instead. And what do these apps do? Present a login screen with fields only for the username and the password (at most).

What are the Fediverse apps doing? They are also asking for the website where they would log you in. So you go open e.g. the Mastodon app, then type the website that you need to access (which in many cases it might not contain the word Mastodon in it), and only then you can enter the credentials.

What am I asking now (especially app developers): Wouldn't it be better (if doable) to take some cues on how actually email (and XMPP for that matter) works, and ask the user for the username and the password instead in one go?

Like, everyone knows how to use email, everyone is familiar with that. And as I mentioned, XMPP is also doing it as well:

Gajim account login screen

Wouldn't it be doable?

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[–] eveninghere@beehaw.org 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No, because security. Look up how oauth works and why.

[–] ginerel@kbin.social 1 points 4 months ago

Email providers also have oauth