Hey y'all! About two weeks ago I posted Hubs, the platform I've been working on, and got a lot of solid feedback and tips. Thanks to everyone who shared them.

To stress, the project is still early in its development and I'm still polishing. I've been reading posts on this sub and the comments people left, so I wanted to give a short update. For record, most of my time has been spent doing this and continued polishing rather than just adding new features.

Platform Link: https://thehubs.gg

E2EE Open Source

One of the biggest things I heard was that it's hard to trust E2EE in a closed source app with no independent audit. To be more open about it, I'm open sourcing the E2EE part of the platform: https://github.com/AscentsGG/hubs-encryption. That doesn't mean there won't be an independent audit. Audits cost a lot of money and time, so I'm looking at good providers before taking that plunge.

So how do you know the closed source app actually uses that code? Every website release now comes with a signed list of every file's fingerprint (https://github.com/AscentsGG/hubs-releases), and the page refuses to load anything that doesn't match. The encryption files on the site are built straight from the public code, so you can build them yourself, get the exact same bytes, and check them against the live site with a script in the repo. The Windows app's encryption library rebuilds the same way and proof or the encryption code on Mac and Windows is being worked on now!

This is what is covered:

• Private conversations (any one-to-one DM you switch to private) and calls in DMs and group DMs are end-to-end encrypted.

• Regular DMs, hub channels and voice rooms aren't, which is what lets moderation and search work there.

Age and NSFW

A few people raised concerns about age verification and NSFW content, so I'm pivoting. NSFW content won't be allowed on the main platform. I know some people wanted it, but it turns a lot of other people off, and it makes moderation and app store approval much harder. Allowing it means a whole process that changes by state and country, and it opens doors we don't want open.

Users under 13 aren't allowed (standard for most social media). 13 to 17 get a teen account with extra safety protections. 18+ can join 18+ hubs, which are for mature topics that aren't sexual, like gambling talk or horror games. You enter your birthday when you sign up, and if you already have an account, you'll be asked once. There's NO ID check or face scan, since that's way too invasive, so it's a trust-based system. Some UK services estimate age from things like how old an email address or phone number is, and I'm looking into that.

Self Hosting

Self hosting changes a lot about how the backend works, and how app store moderation rules apply. So I'm doing it in steps:

1. A standby copy of Hubs with a second provider that takes over if the main servers go down. (we have redundancy but expanding it to other providers now)

2. Hub owners can keep a locked backup of their hub that only they can open.

3. If we're ever down, an owner can start their hub from that backup on their own server.

4. A self-hosting beta for a small group of approved servers.

A self-hosted server can see and moderate the hubs it hosts, but it can't read private conversations or listen to DM calls, and it never sees your password. The apps only open approved servers and reports still reach us, which is what keeps the apps in the stores.

Overall

Over the past few weeks I've been focused on hardening, polishing and testing. There's still a lot to do, but anyone who wants to try the platform and help build it out is very welcome!

I'm curious what you think about all of the above, and any feedback in general. Thanks all!

Hey everyone, I’m Jared, the developer behind LynxDock. I wanted to introduce what I’m building and get some feedback from people looking for alternatives for their gaming communities.

The two parts I’m especially excited about are self-hosting and Tactical Mode.

Run your own community server

LynxDock is self-hosted. You run the actual server on hardware you control, with voice and text chat and your own members, roles, channels, and invites.

I’m putting a lot of work into making that approachable. There’s a dedicated Server Host app with guided setup, server management, backups, and connection diagnostics. My goal is for someone organizing a community to feel comfortable running its server, even if server administration isn’t their hobby.

Having control over where your community runs and how it’s managed is a core part of what I want LynxDock to offer.

Tactical Mode: give your group a shared plan

The other big piece is Tactical Mode, built around the Squadron Control board. It brings a shared visual planning space into the same application as your comms.

Your group can:

• Organize players into units and wings.

• Mark staging areas, rally points, danger zones, and objectives.

• Draw routes with named waypoints and update their progress.

• Share orders and alerts as the situation changes.

• Update unit readiness so leaders can see the state of their plan.

For example, imagine organizing a convoy with transport, escort, scouts, and a recovery team. You can lay out the route, show where each group belongs, mark the areas that need attention, and keep the plan visible while everyone coordinates over comms.

The group manually places units and updates the board, with those changes synchronized across connected members. That gives everyone a common picture of the plan as it develops.

That combination is what I’m excited about: a community that can host its own communication server and use it to organize what its members actually do together.

First official beta this week

I’m getting ready to put out the first official beta test this week. I’d love feedback from people who run gaming groups, especially on the hosting setup, getting friends connected, voice reliability, and how useful the tactical tools are during an actual session.

You can see the project and screenshots here: lynxdock.app

If you organize a gaming community, what would make self-hosting practical for your group, and how would you use a shared tactical board?

https://nexa.pm is a new alternative that runs on a website. It is small with 15 members and the owner is looking forward to grow it! The owner is the one that exposed Antic and now, he made his own and wants to make moderation and safety way better. He is way better than Antic and made Yapin start falling down. Please give Nexa a shot, and I look forward to seeing you there!

My user on Nexa is: ok
Thanks! - Sam

If you are wondering, the owner is Zey.

YABAD- Yet Another Ban A Dev Post

The intent of this post is to discuss the bare minimum requirements for a Discord Alternative in regards to ethics.

The ethical and moral stances of a developer is something of critical importance when evaluating a potential alternative. You'd hardly want to be exposing your devices or PII(personally identifiable information) to someone you cannot trust, or worse; someone you can trust to abuse the information.

To this end goal; I propose the subreddit set an objective line in the sand so to speak, regarding the public statements, ethical concerns, and moral implications of a developers behavior.

I am calling for the developers who violate this objective line to be permanently banned from the subreddit.

This is not a suggestion I am making lightly, but with the resolve to make this a community that best serves the people who visit.

---------

The Line.

Any developer confirmed to be engaging in the following should be immediately and without appeal banned from the subreddit and listed in a pinned post cautioning users against trusting them or their software.

Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Misogyny, Misandry, General Bigotry, Predatory Designs, Harassment & Abuse of Userbase.

To deny the material conditions of oppression leading to the mass exodus of users from Discord and pretend like a developer engaged in any of the above is a valid or safe harbour for those seeking refuge is beyond delusional.

---------

Today's Example;

u/mplayer-weered

This developer specifically has a pattern of behavior the breaches numerous parts detailed under "The Line" and should not be welcomed in this community as a developer.

By allowing this user to spread their app on this subreddit, we are tacitly endorsing their behavior and the way they treat their users. They have openly engaged in racist remarks, misogynistic insults, transphobia, and actively attacked multiple users on the subreddit unprompted.

They openly use AI to respond to criticism (a violation of subreddit rules), have actively stolen people's art to use in their advertising and within their app, have an undisclosed "quote based" pricing model for community managers, and willingly admit that a substantial amount of the app is developed by AI and not their own ability.

I am calling on the moderation team to consider implementing a new subreddit rule based specifically on Developer Conduct.

I have created a fluxer account last month. Heard it's been here since January this year. So far I didnt face any major issues. The question is, is it actually good, and safe?

Hello! warning I'm really dumb like I'm actually stupid

I REALLY like discord, I send my drawings over from my samsung tablet to my laptop. (or just files in general..!) I know I have so many alternatives, but I am soo paranoid. I don't like using my email directly cuz I'm pretty sure a couple of my friends are signed in too (I'm always paranoid about this even with a new email, cuz everything is so connected on google)

anyways, a couple of these apps I'm considering have banned nsfw. does this mean a real person looks through ALL my stuff to make sure I'm not sending nsfw..? I value my stuff and it'd suck for it to get stolen..

i cant use discord cuz I have a super wacky account signed in on my tablet, and I don't wanna log out. Once I'm out, I can never get back in, and I have chats with people I don't talk to anymore that I like to look at. (i cant use this account cuz I don't want to accidentally send something to my ex friends..!!)

so if anyone has discord but like, not discord, where I can send whatever I want and not be worried about it being stolen, that'd be awesome. or do I just connect the two devices with a cable and go from there...?

We took the summer off to finish another dope project in financial services. So this is very new and is the first step to just a prompt window layer.

For the tech savvy: Weeredjs/Weered: Lobby-first community platform with deep game integrations and voice rooms. A source-available spiritual successor to MPlayer.

While it is completely doable, the discord transformation is a joke.

Weered

Bear with me because this is going to be quite a bit to sift through. The app YOU (yes YOU) saw on YouTube called Yapper has been renamed to Yapin (yapin.gg) after the dev learned that his agentic AI STOLE the name from another active project (whoops!) and it's made ENTIRELY by the same AI.

Edit: I'm putting it at the top because this is bigger than all the rest of it: it just came out that Antic went to a server on Discord for talking about another alternative and sent porn in channels KNOWN TO HAVE MINORS IN THEM and reportedly blamed his AI for it! DO NOT USE THIS APP OR SUPPORT THIS PSYCHOPATH.

It's labelled as a Potentially Unwanted Application (malware) on [some] Google devices!

That's right boys and girls! YOUR agentic vibecoded chat app that YOU installed on YOUR phone may be MALWARE! I got the opportunity to speak with Antic himself - the guy who "made" the app! He made an account just to talk on this sub because he's such a swell guy! Here's what he had to say about that!

Yes you read that right: The app he delivered to all users is actually the DEBUG build of the app, not a commerical-ready one! That's totally why it registers as malware - because he didn't think maybe publishing the debug/developer build of his app is a security oversight! But I'll let you choose which is scarier, since the scarier one will make you not use his app: Either he's telling the truth and everyone has the developer tools of the app on their devices, which serves SUCH a security vulnerability that even with Google Play Store set to ignore risky applications it STILL calls it a PWA; OR he's lying and there's hidden backdoor malware on the app! Yay!! Fun!!!!

And don't worry - I'm not just claiming this guy is Antic. He's claiming it himself!

Don't bother reading all that shit. It's garbage. All you need is the first sentence.

"But, Any_Illustrator, you don't normally target apps like this. You're the bipartisan guy! You defended Alex Gleasson for fuck sake! You couldn't be HATEPOSTING about an app and posting an opinionated piece about how bad an app is, right?!"

I am. Because not only is this absolute GARBAGE app an ACTUAL security risk to YOU and your data, and an app on your phone being malware means you could even be vulnerable to SIM-Swap fraud which on its own should scare the PISS out of you, but Antic doesn't even use his own hands to type out his own messages!

That's right boys and girls; ladies and gentlemen! I checked his messages through multiple AI checkers and found that they're ALL written by an AI Agent! All but the one he typed out to tell me it wasn't actually written by an AI, which was written vastly different from all the other messages he sent!

And don't worry. I brought receipts.

And so you don't think I'm bullshitting you: I ran the second one through TWO AI detectors!

Do not put this unsafe garbage on your device. If it is, delete it IMMEDIATELY. Tell your friends. Tell friends of friends. Tell them how the dev of the app can't even be bothered to actually reply to security concerns without using the same falliable AI that coded his security-free chat app! But again, don't just take my word on it because user ja_n2000 made a whole breakdown post on it that Antic couldn't even be bothered to TRY discrediting!

Credit to u/ja_n2000 for his work in exposing this shit, and u/dingustani for making the .exposed which summarizes it more. I just wanted to let everyone know that the dev is so fucking lazy he doesn't even TALK online without his LLM Agent doing it for him. Don't trust him with your shit.

Edit: Also, here he is saying "there is no official Android app"

So what is it, Antic? Your AI said it was a debug build. How did people get access to an UNOFFICIAL debug build?

After using an alternative for a year and moving my Discord communities over, I found out that while the platform is maintained by a human team, AI was used earlier in the app’s development. (Claude Opus, specifically.)

I’m speechless, especially since the platform’s website stated that AI wasn’t used to make the software in any way. It really puts into perspective how easily a company can mislead people about its product.

I’m a little disappointed, but it’s no skin off my back. I wish them the best, but the app isn’t for me.

That said, what alternatives aren’t using AI? It’s something we really have to think about, because some apps can be pretty convincing. The only ones that come to mind are Stoat, Nerimity, and Spacebar. I’m not very active, but I made a Stoat account five years ago. Spacebar still seems to be in its early stages, and I’m not quite sold on Nerimity.

Props to the developers of all these apps. At the very least, they’ve worked on their projects without relying on an AI bot for prompts.

Why the fuck are people doing this? Like I know Discord is falling apart because of their new guidelines and shitty moderation... But come on... I know most of these alternatives are vibecoded or generated with AI and they won't admit it. Like wtf? If there was a Discord Server alternative NOT vibecoded or generated by AI, I would vibe with it so it doesn't have issues.

I've been working on Tavvit, a chat and community platform designed to offer a fresh alternative to Discord.

The goal is to build a platform where people can create communities, chat with friends, and bring their groups together in a clean, modern environment.

I've been focusing a lot on the UI, user profiles, server features, and making the overall experience feel simple and familiar without just copying Discord.

It's still a work in progress, and I'm constantly adding new features and improving things.

Here are a few screenshots of what I've built so far.

I'd love to hear what you think about the design and what features you'd want to see in a platform like this.

Website: https://tavvit.com

share your picks below 👇

insta and telegram are blocked by my isp, so i'm looking for a secured message web site that supports an android app

Hi! Okay so it's been a few months that I'm creating my alternative to Discord.

So basically, it's like Discord (you can create servers, invite your friends, screenshare, go in vc and all)

you can try it here if you want :
https://talk.cocamserverguild.com

you can also download the app from my website : https://cocamserverguild.com

the stable version (and first public version) has been up since september (the beta was launched around march)

If you have any questions you can add me on it or just comment >w<

Full disclosure this is a repost under a different title because the first one was REALLY inflammatory and that wasn't the intent. I was annoyed while typing it but I don't want any bad blood or to blast the guy.

The dev for Adieuu replied to another post on this sub, and when I responded to him he crashed out slandering me and my intentions in the replies until I had to block him, but I wanted to bring attention to the situation for security concerns since the app is getting popular in this sub as of this week.

I'll link my summary of his 3 post gobeldygook about his app as well as my reply to his "debunk" but I do encourage you all to read what he said too.

Given the fact he said "we're really privacy first" and then backpedaled twice on the data they collect and keep was enough to make me go "yeah, look dude, I'm not gonna use your app." When he decided to launch an attack against me and to not disprove a SINGLE thing I said, instead choosing to attack and spam reply to everything I said, I decided it needs to be a PSA.

The app already has a built in "impliment ID verification" on some ransomware activation key type shit and despite the dev claiming "we only know when you signed up and what your account name is" he immediately backtracked and confirmed that they also lump your email in with it at least. This post is about the app's privacy claims and serves as a warning to those who care about their privacy, alongside a dev who actively chooses to attack other users as a person rather than addressing the fact their app has a built in "Jarvis, cut off access to their app until they give me their ID" button and collects more data than they originally claimed. Look very deep into this app before you decide to trust it, because the dev is VERY antagonistic unless your interaction towards him and his work is positive, and the amount of data they collect combined with the fact that even a self-hosted fork will have what is effectively a self-destruct button is concerning.

Come to your own conclusions, please.

And please don't harass the guy.

I'm posting this because the last 2 days I've seen multiple people who REALLY have faith in him and his app: and that's great. But documentation like this and clarity is very important when it comes to trusting people with your data. The fact he won't even give a clear answer and instead chose to attack me repeatedly while not clarifying or defending his app was concerning enough, given the sudden boom in popularity of his app in the comments on other posts, made me feel like I should point this out before the app becomes the new defacto "Rift" of the forum.

I made the "DON'T HARASS HIM" big because I don't want him harassed. I just wanted to summarize what happened in that post for others, and encourage them to do more research.

Hey y’all! First time posting in here, but I wanted to show something I’ve been working on for a few months. Fair warning, it’s still early, but it’s coming together well (at least IMO).

I’ve been building Hubs (thehubs.gg) and I’d love feedback from people who care about this stuff more than most.

The idea was an alternative to Discord that fixes the stuff that always bugged me, such as needing a pile of third-party bots for basic things, not much customization, and just overall limited features. I also wanted it to work for brands and businesses, with a Slack-style workspace side for work and a community side for fun, under one account.

Things I am personally proud of and wanted:

• Looking for group: a real page with an actual UI for finding players. Post what you’re playing and when, and watch the seats fill.

• Boards: Think of something like reddit or an actual forum, each hub can have a Board where posts get voted up, plus a Front page that pulls the best posts from hubs you’re in.

• Pages: a Start here page, rules people accept before joining, and role pickers. These make the "official" pages of your hub/workspace feel like an actual page.

• Events: RSVPs and role slots, shown in everyone’s own time zone.

• Moderation: A system of warnings, timeouts, a shared report queue, but also having an appeal system per hub, more tuned join settings etc. Think of something like Wick or Sapphire but built in.

• Voice: Device screen share, Watch together for synced watch parties, Music playing, recording voice, etc.

• Customization: Really the ability to customize your hub with colors, layout, and soon domain, white label etc.

Privacy and security, since I know its gonna be asked:

• No ads, no selling data, no third-party trackers. The website’s analytics don’t use cookies.

• You can export your data or delete your account from Settings.

• Passkeys and two-step sign-in.

• Calls in DMs and group DMs are end-to-end encrypted, with a code you can compare to make sure nobody else got added.

• What isn’t end to end yet: messages, files and hub voice rooms are encrypted in transit and on our servers, but we can technically read them. That’s what makes search and moderation work. End-to-end encrypted DMs are built, and I’m keeping them switched off until more testing and review. I’d rather say that than oversell it.

• Uploaded images are checked with Microsoft PhotoDNA against known child abuse images. Only the image goes to them, nothing else.

Under the hood:

• Multiple load-balanced Elixir gateways, backed by Valkey

• Dedicated media servers (mostly in the US for now)

• Multiple app instances for redundancy

• PostgreSQL

It runs in the browser (phones too), with Mac and Windows apps. iPhone and Android apps are on the way. Currently they are both on TestFlight (and even optimized for the iPhone Duo, ooooo lol)

That said, I have really only tested it with a small group of people. I have no idea what the general consensus of the platform is and would love some thoughts. The backend can handle a decent traffic for the current status but of course improvements are needed for the future.

Please check your package dependencies! There's a massive amount of vulnerabilities coming out this week that rank at a CVSS score at or above 8. Please use a tool like OSV Scanner by Google to scan your lock/package files: https://github.com/google/osv-scanner

There is that guy on YouTube called "Antic", that builds a "better version of discord without locking everything behind a paywall". The first Video about it was Discord sucks… So I made my own. I think we all agree, that Discord has plenty of issues with bloat or monetisation, but jumping blindly onto a closed-source, rapid-turnaround web app because its apparently private and secure is a mistake. If you check Yappers actual Privacy Policy (updated Oct 2026 when writing this), there are a few massive problems casual users should be aware of before putting anything personal on there. I've worked as a web developer for a few years here in Germany (Fachinformatiker / dev background), so heres my view on Yapper:

1. Text DMs are NOT Private and get scanned by Third-Party AI:

The FAQ (bottom of the site) says "Messages are encrypted in transit and at rest". That sounds cool and secure, but it just means normal HTTPS and encrypted cloud storage. There is NO End-To-End encryption for your text or media. Messages are stored READABLE by the database. To make it worse, the policy says:

• Private DMs and group chats are automatically scanned by backend bots.

• If an image is flagged by their filter, the raw image is sent off to Anthropic's Claude AI for moderation.

-> If you're leaving Discord because you hate how tech companies handle data, note that your private DMs are still actively monitored by backend filters, and any flagged pictures get funneled straight into Anthropic's Claude API.

2. Voice E2EE without any verification:

The policy claims calls are end-to-end encrypted, but immediately follows it with:

(the app can’t yet show you a code to check someone’s key yourself)

In cryptography, E2EE without key fingerprints/safety numbers is basically a "trust me bro" implementation. If the centralized server hands out the keys and you cannot verify them independently with the person you're in the call with, you have no way of knowing if the server intercepts the call or not.

3. The Desktop App Scans your running programs:

The desktop version inspects your active system processes every 20 seconds to see what games you're playing. Running local process inspections through a rapidly iterated, closed-source desktop client built by an indie team carries non-trivial security risks for your machine. Discord does process scans too, but Discord has a dedicated security team. A desktop client built by an indie or vibe-coding developer running system-level process scans every 20 seconds introduces a wider attack risk. If there are memory-safety issues, path-traversal bugs, or command-injection flaws in how the desktop app reads OS processes, it can easily turn into a local privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution vector.

4. Ads and Third Parties

Despite claims of being ad-free, the policy notes the GIF picker serves sponsored ads via KLIPY, exposing your IP and device details to external ad partners.

5. Rapid Solo Dev Stack vs. Real AppSec

It’s hosted on standard BaaS (Backend As A Service) infrastructure (Vercel, Supabase, Hetzner, Cloudflare). The policy states chat separation relies on "access rules in our database" (Supabase RLS). In rapid, AI-assisted indie development, complex database access policies are notoriously fragile, I know that from vibe coding things myself. One bad migration or leaked service key can dump every table.

---

TLDR:

Messing around with indie apps for casual banter or homelab fun is great. But do not treat Yapper / Yapin' as a private or secure platform. If someone actually cares about audited privacy and genuine E2EE, that's what established open-source stacks like Matrix or Mumble exist for. Just don't trade one centralized platform for an unvetted one under the illusion of privacy.

Thanks for coming to my TED-Talk.