PeerTube in Your Pocket: Mobile App Gets Major Feature Boost
PeerTube's mobile app reaches version 1, now offering account login functionality, comment capabilities, subscription management, and playlist creation. This major update transforms the app from its limited initial release into a comprehensive mobile experience for PeerTube users.
It wasn't that long ago when PeerTube announced their mobile app being released. Of course there were some limitations to what was pretty much an early version of the app.
You couldn't log in with your own account, the scope of the available channels and videos were extremely limited and overall it felt unfinished. Framasoft did say that this was an early version with many options and features missing but we're now at a point with the latest version that includes many of what was missing.
Account Log In Unleashed
Users have been waiting for that moment when they could log into their PeerTube account and be able to explore. Now, with version 1, you can connect to an existing PeerTube account and even connect to multiple accounts. This was something I didn't expect but it is quite a welcome surprise.
Bring In the Comments
It was always a bit convoluted to comment on a video through the normal desktop method but now, you can easily do so with your logged-in PeerTube account through the mobile app.
Channel Subscriptions
More functionality and features have been pushed out into this latest version, and we couldn't skip past this important one. You can manage your subscriptions through the mobile app. Whether you liked a particular channel and feel like their content is no longer going in the direction you've enjoyed, worry not as you can simply unsubscribe from the channel. How great is that?
Playlist Management
Within the mobile app, you can create and delete playlists, as well as add videos or even clips from PeerTube videos into your playlists. The cool thing is that you can see these changes right from your account on the web version of PeerTube.
But Wait, There's More
You thought I was done? Oh no, there are a few more items that have been added. Check out this list of more features that can be found within the new app, straight from the blog post itself:
- Don't know what to say in the comments to let creators know you like their content? Don't worry: you can also give a thumbs up from the app (or thumbs down: we don't hide those, on PeerTube);
- When you log in to an existing PeerTube account, you can be extra secure with two-factor authentication;
- Enjoyed a video you recently watched but can't remember its name? Find it directly in your recently watched history (that you can clear at any time);
- Find the full list of improvements on the application repository;
- A new icon appears for this version: thanks to the always joyful work of David Revoy under a CC-BY 4.0 licence!
Looking Forward to the Future
This update just came out today and I really haven't had much chance to fully get into the weeds and play around with all of the features. Already the mobile app is paving the way for those of us on the go to watch, interact, and share PeerTube content with others. It's making the transition from a web/desktop experience toward the modern era in which many of us are glued to our handheld devices. Yes, you could've opened Safari or Chrome mobile browser and gone through the process that way.
Here we are and the future is already looking quite bright for PeerTube, now we can hope to see some improvements come to light for the desktop experience as well.
