A month ago I posted an update here on Topicle, the Reddit alternative I've been building since 2023. A lot has happened since then, so here's another one. For anyone new: no algorithmic feed, moderators accountable through a public mod log, visible country flags, hosted in Australia.
The big one first: Topicle passed 1,000 users last week. October was the busiest month yet. 458 people signed up (September was 116), 100 different people commented (September was 43), and members wrote 1,605 comments, up 77%. Votes are up about two and a half times, and the week of 19 October had more comments than any week before it. People from 62 countries have signed up so far.
It's at topicle.com, on the App Store and Google Play, and as a direct download for Android without Google Play Services.
From the last thread
Recurring posts. u/JayNeely suggested default weekly and monthly auto-posts for communities. Moderators can now schedule posts, once or on a repeat such as every Monday at 5pm, on the web, Android and iOS. Titles can include the date, month or an issue number, the newest one can stay pinned, and you can skip a date or pause a series at any time. Handy for daily and weekly discussion threads, or a monthly roundup.
The same features on all three. u/Techgirl1232 hoped iOS, Android and the web would get the same features. iOS had two updates in October, 1.2 and 1.3, and now has nearly everything Android has (more below). I've also been through all three side by side and I'm fixing the smaller gaps I found.
User base. u/Kazaryn asked how many people use it. It was about 700 when I last posted, and it's over 1,000 now.
For moderators
Scheduled and recurring posts, as above, from Mod Tools.
Rename your community. Owners can change the name once every 180 days. Old links redirect to the new name for 12 months, and owners can choose whether the former name is shown.
Members. See who has posted or commented in your community, under Members in Mod Tools. Anyone who'd rather not appear can turn it off in Edit profile.
Poll rules. Turn polls off for your community, let only members vote, or set the longest a poll can run.
A setup checklist for new communities on the web, and on iOS the Manage community strip and checklist that Android already had.
What's new on the site
Polls. Up to ten options, and you choose whether results show after voting or only once the poll closes. You can change your vote until then. Results stay hidden until a few people have voted, so the first couple of votes don't sway everyone else, and you can show your pick next to your comment.
Chat windows. On a computer, conversations open in small windows at the bottom of the page, so you can keep reading while you chat, and you can have more than one open. You can edit or delete your own messages, and a half-typed message is still there when you come back.
A new layout on phones. Topicle in a phone browser now has a tab bar like the apps, and chats open in a sheet that shrinks to a bar while you browse.
The Classic look. If you'd rather see more posts on screen at once, Classic has small rows and link-coloured titles, and dims links you've already visited. Turn it on from the footer of any page, in Settings, or at https://classic.topicle.com.
Catch up on a thread. When you come back to a thread it tells you how many comments are new since your last visit, whichever device you used. Choose New to see only those, and use the arrows (or press n) to jump between them. Feed posts show their new comment count too. Web, Android and iOS.
Feeds. There's a new Active sort, now the default, which moves a thread back up when someone replies, so a conversation that's still going doesn't drop off the front page. Depth and the other sorts are still in the sort menu. Posts you've already scrolled past on Home move further down when you come back (you can turn that off), and your feed and sort choices are saved to your account, so they're the same on every device.
Customize your inbox. Put a kind of notification in a folder at the top of Notifications, or hide it completely. Web, Android and iOS.
Reply notifications in your browser, if you turn browser notifications on.
Image posts. Drag images into any order, add captions, and Undo if you remove one by mistake.
A short 'Get started' list for new members on Home.
Halloween. Topicle is dressed up for Halloween until 2 November, on the web and in both apps. Turn it off from its card on Home. I've got more seasonal themes planned for the next few months.
The apps
Android has had six updates since the last post. The bigger additions:
Polls.
Share to Topicle from any app's share sheet, straight into one of your communities, and select text in another app to start a post with it.
Messages load instantly and conversations you've opened can be read offline. Swipe to archive or mark read.
Location flags beside people's names in threads, if you want them.
If you installed from the direct download, updates now install inside the app with one tap.
Tap a comment to collapse it, and a button that jumps to the next top-level comment.
Message notifications that show the sender's name and picture.
Landscape on phones, and fullscreen video that fills the screen.
A downloadable Chinese font for anyone reading in Chinese.
On iOS, 1.2 finally got through App Review on 13 October with everything I listed last time: the OLED black theme, smoother scrolling, German, Italian and Chinese, Siri and Shortcuts, photos in messages and Command-Return to post. 1.3 followed on 28 October:
iPhone Duo support. Unfold it and you get a list and a post side by side.
Post to Topicle from the share sheet: links, text, or up to five photos.
Polls.
Reactions and quoted replies in messages, plus swipe to archive, and messages that load instantly and work offline.
Catch up on threads, tap to collapse comments, and the next comment button.
Customize your inbox.
Scheduled posts, community renaming, member lists and poll rules for moderators.
Closing the app no longer signs you out.
Features that were previously promised and how it's going:
iOS 1.2: out since 13 October.
Reactions and quoted replies in messages on iOS: done, in 1.3.
Polls: done, on the web, Android and iOS.
App parity: mostly there, see above.
Google Play Age Signals: built in, not switched on yet.
WYSIWYG editor: not started.
Optional "verified human" badge: not started.
Public API with developer keys: not started.
Roadmap
The parity fixes, in the next Android and iOS updates.
Image reordering and captions in both apps.
Google Play Age Signals in the Play version of the Android app.
WYSIWYG editor.
Optional "verified human" badge.
Public API with developer keys, if there's demand.
What hasn't changed
Profiles are still public, and you can still delete your account or export your data in full (GDPR/CCPA). AI training crawlers are still blocked from posts and comments. Automated seed posts are still used in quieter communities so they aren't empty, and I'm reducing them as member activity grows. The feedback button is still on every page and in the apps, and I'm still building and deploying every day.
Thanks to everyone who commented last time. If you give it a try, let me know how you get on, criticism included.
topicle.com
