Vivaldi Mastodon integrates in the browser

Many Twitter users have struggled with deciding whether to stay on Elon Musk’s platform, or go elsewhere — and where to go, if they do. Vivaldi wants it to be simple. They not only released the Mastodon version but also integrated support directly into Vivaldi Browser’s 5.6 version.

Vivaldi, a niche browser whose market share has been dwarfed by Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, has had to be innovative when it comes to adding new features. nudge users to switch: Reader view and side panel. Vivaldi now taps into the zeitgeist. Dissatisfaction over the Twitter frenzy, Elon Musk, the prospect of unwelcome voices coming on the platform.

The task of finding an alternative was difficult, with options such as Mastodon and Cohost, Post News and Hive. The name at the top of lists of “Twitter alternatives”—however imperfect those lists or the apps in question may be—was Mastodon, the Unified Social Network. There are two methods to integrate Mastodon with Vivaldi.

Vivaldi was the first to be launched Vivaldi SocialIf you have Vivaldi, you are automatically signed up to Mastodon’s instance. This does not mean that Vivaldi automatically joins you to Mastodon. Vivaldi Social already has a Vivaldi account. You must sign up to use that account. If you have a Vivaldi account, you can display Mastodon’s interface as an option in your Vivaldi sidepanel.

Mastodon instances have their own rules. Mastodon instances can “talk to” each other via the ActivityPub network. You may not feel comfortable being part of Vivaldi Social Network. You can register for your Mastodon instance if you wish. This will also be displayed in the side panel. Vivaldi says that in this case you will only see a “split-screen” display for both cases.

Vivaldi 5.6 also features a revamped Settings menu, and the inclusion as an optional supported search engine, You.com.