• Damus, a decentralized social networking platform powered by Nostr, has launched on the Apple App Store.
• Nostr markets Damus as the „social network you control,“ allowing for censorship-resistant and permissionless communications.
• The launch of Damus on the App Store is a significant milestone for decentralized social media networks and adds more competition to Twitter.
Social media platform Damus, powered by Nostr, has officially launched on the Apple App Store, bringing a new level of decentralization and censorship-resistant communications to users. The launch of Damus marks a monumental milestone for decentralized social media networks and adds another layer of competition to centralized networks like Twitter.
Damus, which is marketed as the “social network you control,” is based on cryptographic keypairs and allows users to send private encrypted messages with the destination user’s public key. Only the private key corresponding to that public key can decrypt the message. To ensure message distribution, Nostr utilizes decentralized relays to distribute messages sent on Damus. In addition, Damus is said to have built-in payments through the Bitcoin Layer-2 Lightning Network.
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter who made a case for a decentralized alternative to the app, has contributed to the Damus project. Reacting to the news, Dorsey tweeted: “A milestone for open protocols…#nostr is now officially on the Apple App Store with @damusapp.”
Twitter is also trying to catch up with its competitors, recently announcing the launch of a payment system, which could include crypto on the app.
The launch of Damus on the app store is a major step forward for decentralized social media networks and a viable alternative to centralized social networks like Twitter. With its censorship-resistant and permissionless communications, Damus allows users to have a social media experience with an unprecedented level of control and privacy. With the launch of Damus on the Apple App Store, decentralized social media networks are now more accessible than ever before.