Twitter-rival Nostr's iOS client now live on App Store
The race to replace Twitter has been going on since Elon Musk took over the microblogging platform. The bird app's chief rivals have turned out to be decentralized social networks. Nostr, a decentralized social networking protocol endorsed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has been hailed as a big Twitter alternative. Now, its client Damus is available on Apple's App Store.
Why does this story matter?
Social networking platforms such as Twitter have been criticized for their policies or actions that seem to favor one side of the political spectrum. The inherent nature of centralized platforms makes such criticism inevitable. Things are bound to get ugly at some point or the other. Decentralized platforms can (at least in theory) make this a fair game, with no advantage to any side.
Nostr users can broadcast a message by connecting to relays
Nostr is an acronym for 'Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays.' It has two components: clients and relays. Relays are used for hosting and communicating information, while clients built on the protocol allow people to broadcast data. Clients can publish data on any relays and fetch data from other relays as well. Nostr has a set of fundamental and non-negotiable rules called NIPs.
Users need a public key and a private key
On Nostr, users can create their accounts by generating a public and a private key. The public key can be considered the user's ID, while the private one is similar to a password. These keys can be generated using Nostr clients, including Damus (iOS) and Amethyst (Android), among others. Users can create multiple keys if needed.
Users can send encrypted private messages
Users can broadcast their messages by connecting to a relay and signing their message with their private key. Nostr also allows for private messages. To do so, people can encrypt their message with the public key of the destination user. This ensures that only the private key connected to that public key will be able to decrypt the message.
Nostr rose to fame after being endorsed by Dorsey
Nostr came into the limelight courtesy of Dorsey. He even donated 14 Bitcoins to its creator. The excitement surrounding Nostr led people to its popular clients Damus and Amethyst. The two reached their beta testing limits soon, prompting developers to apply for formal listing on Google Play and App Store. Amethyst was launched three days ago, while Damus went live earlier today.
