Hey all! I wanted to share with you that Armada is now officially in Beta release! We're seeking feedback from any communities that are willing to try it out. App store releases are coming soon, and in the meantime it's available via APK or PWA (install on your home screen from the website).
Armada is designed to be "unstoppable" - which means it's decentralized, open source, and self-hostable. There is no ID, phone number, or email required to sign up. It's build on the Nostr and Concord protocols, and interops with many other Nostr apps. (Lmk if you are curious about Nostr! happy to explain more about how it works).
Other features include:
- End-to-end encryption
- Text channels similar to Discord
- Voice or video call in any room, including screensharing
- Custom emojis
- Gifs
- Custom themes
- Bridge to existing Discord servers available
- Completely free
Many other hidden gems
Everything our team builds is always free and open source software. Forks and issues are welcome! We also offer bounties for any correctly identified and disclosed vulnerabilities discovered: https://gitworkshop.dev/soapbox.pub/relay.ngit.dev/armada
Feel free to also join us in the Soapbox Community on Armada to provide feedback or ask questions (which you can find on the /discover page).
I see electron in the repo but there is no mention of it on the main page. Providing desktop builds is essential, as Discord communities based around desktop activities may have little interest otherwise.
Fluxer is another discord clone that is AGPL, self-hostalbe, etc. How does that compare with Armada?
The hardest part is that the communities that feel like old HN or old forums probably exist but theres no discovery mechanism for them anymore. Everything funnels through 5 platforms and if youre not on one of those you basically dont exist. Some of the most interesting conversations ive had recently have been on smaller protocol-level communities where theres no algorithm deciding what gets seen
Yeah, and how does someone get an invite / stumble into such communities nowadays?
Discoverability has always been something of a problem but nowadays it feels worse than ever. There's just way too much stuff trying to grab our attention
APK via Zapstore for Android: https://zapstore.dev/apps/buzz.armada.app
Web: https://armada.buzz/
Armada is designed to be "unstoppable" - which means it's decentralized, open source, and self-hostable. There is no ID, phone number, or email required to sign up. It's build on the Nostr and Concord protocols, and interops with many other Nostr apps. (Lmk if you are curious about Nostr! happy to explain more about how it works).
Other features include:
- End-to-end encryption - Text channels similar to Discord - Voice or video call in any room, including screensharing - Custom emojis - Gifs - Custom themes - Bridge to existing Discord servers available - Completely free
Many other hidden gems
Everything our team builds is always free and open source software. Forks and issues are welcome! We also offer bounties for any correctly identified and disclosed vulnerabilities discovered: https://gitworkshop.dev/soapbox.pub/relay.ngit.dev/armada
Feel free to also join us in the Soapbox Community on Armada to provide feedback or ask questions (which you can find on the /discover page).