A new app called Yup has entered the social networking scene, aiming to simplify the process of cross-posting across multiple platforms. With Yup, users can read feeds, follow friends, and easily post to various social apps, including Twitter, Bluesky, Farcaster, Lens, and Threads. However, it should be noted that the compatibility with Threads comes with certain limitations.
Key Takeaway
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Yup is a new cross-posting app that allows users to read feeds, follow friends, and post to various social apps like Twitter, Bluesky, Farcaster, Lens, and Threads. Although the app provides a convenient solution for cross-posting, compatibility with Threads requires disabling Instagram’s 2FA.
Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, had announced the development of a Threads API, which would allow developers to create apps that connect with the Threads ecosystem. While the official API is not yet available, Yup has managed to find a workaround to support Threads. The app currently utilizes the internal API used by Threads’ web client, with plans to migrate to the official API once it becomes accessible. One downside to using Threads via Yup is that users will have to turn off Instagram’s two-factor authentication (2FA), an extra layer of security in the form of a login code sent through text or an authentication app.
This launch of Yup sheds light on the fragmented nature of the social app ecosystem following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now referred to as X. Other Twitter rivals, including the decentralized Mastodon platform and Threads, which integrates with the ActivityPub protocol powering Mastodon and other decentralized social apps, have emerged as well. Additionally, competing protocols such as Farcaster, Lens, and the AT Protocol from Bluesky are vying to reconstruct the social web.
It’s worth noting that Yup does not support the full social app ecosystem upon launch, with Mastodon and Nostr, the decentralized protocol favored by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, being absent. However, Yup plans to explore adding support for these services in the future and currently supports Twitter/X, Bluesky, Farcaster, Threads, and Lens.
Co-founders Nir Kabessa and Vernon Johnson, both involved in the web3 space and open social networks, created Yup with the aim of providing a tool that allows consumers and creators to build their audiences across platforms through cross-posting and engagement with open protocols, while also maintaining a presence on larger social apps like Twitter/X.
Yup is currently funded by a $3.5 million seed round raised two years ago. Although the app is free to use at present, the company may introduce a paid subscription in the future to support its costs.
While Yup simplifies cross-posting to social sites, it currently faces some challenges, such as ensuring updated feeds and quoting posts across different platforms. Nonetheless, Yup’s existence reflects the current state of the decentralized social web, which is marked by competing protocols that do not interoperate seamlessly. It remains to be seen whether a consensus will be reached in the future.
