# Mastodon — Where conversations happen > Decentralized social network for chronological, ad-free conversations. (iPhone/iPad app by Mastodon GmbH.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mastodon/id1571998974 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Mastodon GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1571998976) - Category: Social Networking, News - Price: Free - Rating: 4.60/5 from 13,480 App Store ratings · 884 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 17+ - Requires: iOS 18.6 · 110 MB - Languages: French (France), Albanian, German (Germany), American English, Arabic, Aragonese, Armenian, Basque, Belarusian, Burmese and 38 more - Released: 2021-07-30 - Data updated: 2026-08-27 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mastodon/id1571998974/reviews.md ## What is Mastodon? Mastodon is the best way to keep up with what’s happening. Follow anyone across the fediverse and see it all in chronological order. No algorithms, ads, or clickbait in sight. This is the official iOS app for Mastodon. In our app, you can: EXPLORE ■ Discover new writers, journalists, artists, photographers, scientists and more ■ See what’s happening in the world READ ■ Keep up with people you care about in a chronological feed with no interruptions ■ Follow hashtags to keep up with specific topics in real time CREATE ■ Post to your followers or the whole world, with polls, high quality images and videos ■ Participate in interesting conversations with other people CURATE ■ Create lists of people to never miss a post ■ Filter words or phrases to control what you do and don’t want to see AND MORE! ■ Login and switch between multiple accounts ■ No spoilers! You can put your posts behind content warnings A POWERFUL PUBLISHING PLATFORM You no longer have to try and appease an opaque algorithm that decides if your friends are going to see what you posted. If they follow you, they’ll see it. If you publish it to the open web, it’s accessible on the open web. You can safely share links to Mastodon in the knowledge that anyone will be able to read them without logging in. Between threads, polls, high quality images, videos, audio, and content warnings, Mastodon offers plenty of ways to express yourself in a way that suits you. A POWERFUL READING PLATFORM We don’t need to show you ads, so we don’t need to keep you in our app. Mastodon has the richest selection of 3rd party apps and integrations so you can choose the experience that fits you best. Thanks to the chronological home feed, it’s easy to tell when you’ve caught up on all updates and can move on to something else. No need to worry that a misclick will ruin your recommendations forever. We don’t guess what you want to see, we let you control it. PROTOCOLS, NOT PLATFORMS Mastodon is not like a traditional social media platform, but is built on a decentralized protocol. You can sign up on our official server, or choose a 3rd party to host your data and moderate your experience. Thanks to the common protocol, no matter what you choose, you can communicate seamlessly with people on other Mastodon servers. But there’s more: With just one account, you can communicate with people from other fediverse platforms. Not happy with your choice? You can always switch to a different Mastodon server while taking your followers with you. For advanced users, you can even host your data on your own infrastructure, since Mastodon is open-source. NON-PROFIT IN NATURE Mastodon is a registered non-profit in the US and Germany. We are not motivated by extracting monetary value from the platform, but by what’s best for the platform. AS FEATURED IN: TIME, Forbes, Wired, The Guardian, CNN, The Verge, TechCrunch, Financial Times, Gizmodo, PCMAG.com, and more. ## Key features - Chronological feed - No algorithms or ads - Discover new users and topics - Post with images, videos, and polls - Create custom lists - Filter content - Cross-platform communication ## What do users think of Mastodon? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Friendly and welcoming community - 🚀 Decentralized and free from corporate control - 🔒 No data collection or ads - 🤖 Good alternative to Twitter - 💡 Ability to self-host servers **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes and stability issues - 🤔 Confusing onboarding and server selection - 📱 Limited functionality compared to web version - 🔍 Difficulty finding and following people - 🕰️ Slow or delayed notifications **Commonly reported bugs** - Can't log in or create account - Keyboard freezes during editing - Inconsistent behavior when switching accounts - Notifications not working as expected **Most requested features** - Add local and federated timelines - Improve search and discovery features - Implement edit and delete post functionality - Add support for animated GIFs - Provide better accessibility options ## Recent user reviews (10 of 884) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mastodon/id1571998974/reviews.md ### 1/5 — apple butted in with a new password generator and glitched out my account as i was making it. *2026-08-20, version 2026.07* now i have a account with you i can’t access somewhere in the void ### 3/5 — Buggy and limited *2026-08-09, version 2026.06* Every time I use this app there are bugs in functionality. Some features missing that I need to visit the mobile site to do. It’s ok to start your journey or if you don’t expect much. Eventually you will stay on the mobile site or find a new app. On another note, the Android version is much better and maybe a different team works on that one. ### 1/5 — Dead platform *2026-07-31, version 2026.06* My favorite Twitter contender, but sadly there’s just no activity. Many posts just fail to load at all. They need to impose a character limit to stop all the 18-page podcast synopses. Scrolling is a nightmare. But really there’s no point without actual active users. ### 2/5 — Not ready for prime time *2026-07-13, version 2026.05* Buggy, slow, “too many requests” errors unfortunately. ### 3/5 — Buggy and limited *2026-07-04, version 2026.04* Every time I use this app there are bugs in functionality. Some features missing that I need to visit the mobile site to do. It’s ok to start your journey or if you don’t expect much. Eventually you will stay on the mobile site or find a new app. ### 1/5 — "Privacy" *2026-07-03, version 2026.04* "Privacy" ### 2/5 — Getting a lot of timeouts *2026-06-30, version 2026.04* Had to install Ice Cubes to avoid them ### 2/5 — Search results suck *2026-06-25, version 2026.04* Can someone explain to me what is the logic of having search results come up on a small floating window. I’m already on a mobile device of a small screen, why would you use an even a smaller window for results? Just use the whole damn screen. ### 5/5 — Great *2026-06-25, version 2026.04* Great community and one that I definitely recommend. I wish there was an option to change the icon back to the pre liquid glass look. ### 5/5 — Great Decentralized Social Media *2026-06-23, version 2026.04* Its great ## Frequently asked questions about Mastodon ### What is Mastodon? Mastodon is a decentralized social network that allows users to connect and share content without algorithms or advertisements. It operates on a protocol called the fediverse, enabling communication across different servers and platforms. ### How does Mastodon differ from traditional social media? Unlike traditional platforms, Mastodon offers a chronological feed, meaning you see posts in the order they are published, not based on an algorithm. It is also decentralized, meaning it's not controlled by a single company, and it is ad-free. ### Is Mastodon free to use? Yes, Mastodon is free to use. It is a non-profit organization and is not motivated by extracting monetary value from its users. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements within the official app. ### What kind of content can I share on Mastodon? You can share text posts, high-quality images, videos, and even create polls. The platform also supports content warnings to hide spoilers or sensitive material until the user chooses to reveal it. ### Can I switch servers or move my account? Yes, Mastodon's decentralized nature allows you to switch to a different Mastodon server at any time, and you can take your followers with you. For advanced users, it's also possible to host your own data on your infrastructure. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2026.07 — 2026-08-10 This version fixes a security issue when using the "Open in Mastodon" feature on links that are not Mastodon URLs. ### 2026.06 — 2026-07-14 A couple important bug fixes: - Update only the affected relationship when following/unfollowing. (Fixes the problem where profiles could show the incorrect follow button state after you had followed/unfollowed another account.) - Avoid getting stuck if fetching associated relationships or accounts fails. ### 2026.05 — 2026-07-09 Some small but important bug fixes: - Restores the ability to change your avatar and banner images. - Shows a collection attached to a post only once, rather than as a collection and as a link preview. ### 2026.04 — 2026-06-09 You can now view Collections natively in the app! You can also report them, if necessary. Also: - The edit history view has been updated to match the new timeline style everywhere else. - Stats are now always rounded down, so you won’t see milestones like “1K” before they are actually reached. ### 2026.03 — 2026-05-07 This update brings an all-new profile page and profile editing experience. More control over your own profile display: - Feature other accounts on your profile - Feature hashtags on your profile - For servers running 4.6+, set how and whether your “Media” and “Featured” tabs are displayed. More control when viewing other profiles: - Filter the timeline by hashtags they have featured - Accept or reject pending follow requests from the new banner - Content warning when viewing a profile that has been limited by your moderators Additional new features: - Create lists and manage them - Add and edit personal notes (visible only to you) about other accounts - Update bottom loading indicator lets you know when additional items are being actively fetched Bug fixes: - Images are sharable again — longpress them in the timeline or use the share button from the full size viewer - Fix main navigation bar gestures like scroll to top not working on iOS 26 ([#1537](https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon-ios/issues/1537)) (Thanks to Patryk Zawadzki) - Improvements to the image gallery including easier paging, easier dismissing, double tap to zoom, and single tap outside the content to dismiss ## Apps similar to Mastodon | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Mona Classic](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mona-classic/id1659154653) | 4.4 (166) | Free | Social Networking | | [Ivory for Mastodon by Tapbots](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ivory-for-mastodon-by-tapbots/id6444602274) | 4.8 (3,917) | Free | Social Networking | | [Ice Cubes for Mastodon](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ice-cubes-for-mastodon/id6444915884) | 4.8 (1,921) | Free | Social Networking | | [Iconfactory Tapestry](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/iconfactory-tapestry/id6448078074) | 4.6 (302) | Free | Social Networking | | [GETTR - A Marketplace of Ideas](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gettr-a-marketplace-of-ideas/id1571619156) | 4.2 (24,436) | Free | Social Networking | | [Clapper: Video, Live, Chat](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clapper-video-live-chat/id1522122685) | 4.6 (82,109) | Free | Social Networking | ## Related topics [mastodon](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/mastodon) · [mastodon social](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/mastodon-social) · [pillowfort](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pillowfort) · [mastweet for mastodon social](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/mastweet-for-mastodon-social) · [ivory for mastodon by tapbots](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ivory-for-mastodon-by-tapbots) · [cohost](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/cohost) · [fediverse](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/fediverse) · [tusker](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/tusker) · [lisa zbozen](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/lisa-zbozen) · [pixelfed](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/pixelfed) · [gimnasia dana](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gimnasia-dana) · [lemmy](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/lemmy) · [ice cubes for mastodon](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ice-cubes-for-mastodon) · [Counter social](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/counter-social) · [crowfi for mastodon](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/crowfi-for-mastodon) · [stoat](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/stoat) · [peertube](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/peertube) · [oxpecker for mastodon](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/oxpecker-for-mastodon) · [fydub](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/fydub) · [mane hovakimyan](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/mane-hovakimyan) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*