Our hand-crafted Pixel Portrait add-on was so popular during our Tapestry Kickstarter that we’ve decided to bring them back – now anyone can get their own retro portrait created. These hand-crafted graphics are made with love by actual human beings, no AI involved. They’re perfect for your online avatar, printing and framing, or anything else you can think of.
If you missed out during the Kickstarter, now’s the time to swing into action. There are a limited number of slots available, so head on over to the Pixel Portrait page and order yours today.
Apple’s new Liquid Glass design that was announced at WWDC25 is more than just a fresh coat of paint—it’s a signal. One that points simultaneously to the future of digital interfaces and to the past. We’re calling it neo-retro.
Liquid Glass appears new and futuristic, yet somehow familiar—after all, the idea of translucent interface elements animating over glassy surfaces has been around since before Minority Report hit theaters in 2002. But Apple has brought the concept into the present day and made it their own. The layers, translucency, and animations feel like a natural evolution of VisionOS—clean, immersive, and spatially aware.
But just like the leap from Classic Mac OS 9 to Aqua over 25 years ago, the visual appeal doesn’t come without a cost. Liquid Glass introduces new challenges across accessibility, usability, and branding—and the design implications are real.
Accessibility
Layering text and translucent UI elements on vibrant backgrounds can wreak havoc with contrast and readability. We’ve already seen examples from Apple’s keynote where app icons or labels feel lost in the visual noise. No doubt Apple will adjust contrast and readability as iOS 26 moves through the beta process but it’s good to be conscious of the issues even now.
Designers will need to rely on their experience—layering, shadowing, and possibly adding custom modes—to ensure accessibility doesn’t take a back seat to aesthetics. Care will also need to be taken when features like transparency and contrast are changed at the system level: your design needs to hold up with a lot of different human capabilities.
Usability
Liquid Glass isn’t just a visual change—it’s a spatial one. Apple’s UI elements now float, breathe, and demand more space. The new Maps search bar is elegant, but it creates layout challenges, especially on smaller screens.
More padding around elements means less screen real estate which leads to more scrolling, rethinking hierarchy, and hiding content that used to fit just fine.
Branding
Here’s the existential one: In a system where everything looks cohesive and monochrome, how do you and your app stand out?
Apple’s design language is intentionally immersive and unified. That’s great for the user—but tough for brands that want to maintain a distinct identity. Your app might now live in an ecosystem that feels more like Apple and less like you.
This makes UX and feature decisions even more important. The challenge becomes: do you integrate your brand into Liquid Glass—or integrate Liquid Glass into your brand? How will you strike the right balance?
The Road Ahead: We’ve Been Here Before
This isn’t our first design rodeo. We’ve helped clients (and updated our own apps) through every major Apple design transition. From the skeuomorphism of the original macOS Aqua and iPhone iOS 1.0 to the familiar flat aesthetic of iOS 7 and Android Material Design. The challenge of designing for iOS 26’s Liquid Glass are many but we’re confident in our ability to not only navigate this new landscape but to excel and push boundaries like never before.
Each sea change comes with hype, uncertainty, and a learning curve. But we don’t just design delightful user experiences—we guide our clients through the strategic side of design transitions. Whether you’re refreshing an existing app or building something new, we have the experience and expertise to help you:
Maintain usability while adopting a new visual language
Ensure accessibility in complex UI environments
Rethink branding within Apple’s unified system
Navigate cross-platform realities without losing your mind (or your users)
Change is exciting. Change is hard. Let’s make it work.
Our bread and butter here at the Iconfactory may be icon and UI design, but we love any kind of project where we can put pencil to paper (or to pixels, as the case may be). Creating original wallpapers for Wallaroo and our Patreon is one way we get to free ourselves from the usual UI-shaped box.
Another is through projects like the one sent our way by James Dempsey.
Every year since 2012 James Dempsey and the Breakpoints put on a benefit concert the week of Apple’s WWDC. For this year’s concert, James asked if we would create a poster for the show in the style of a vintage WPA National Park poster, to be used for promotion of all types, both in digital and physically printed formats.
I love National Parks posters, and have several of them framed in my office, so I was excited about this project right from the start. James had a rough sketch and a lot of great ideas for the direction of the poster, and together we were able to bring it to life, starting with a more refined sketch and working our way to a finished piece with lots of fun details.
You can see my initial sketch and the finished poster below. Be sure to check out the concert website at https://livenearwwdc.com/. And if you need anything drawn or designed for your project – icons, banners, posters, or whatever – let us know!
We’re back with another major Tapestry update chock full of features and improvements that you are sure to love. There’s a ton of new, exciting things in this release including some that have been requested since the app’s launch – so let’s get straight to it!
Likes, boosts, and bookmarks. Oh my!
That’s right, now you can perform specific actions such as liking, reblogging, favoriting, boosting, and bookmarking directly from the Tapestry timeline. All your favorite social media feeds are supported including Bluesky, Mastodon, Tumblr, and Micro.blog.
Developers can also build actions into their own third party connectors, making them even more powerful than before. Being able to favorite posts, quickly reblog content from your favorite authors and natively bookmark items for future reference is a welcome addition to Tapestry. Be sure to check out our knowledge base for more info about connector actions.
New ways to customize your feeds
Fulfilling a long-time user request, individual feeds can now be set to display in expanded, collapsed, or mini mode, making the timeline quicker to scan. You can also turn the service name off for individual feeds, something we’ve now done by default on RSS/JSON feeds – say goodbye to “Blog”!
Set individual feeds to display in expanded, collapsed or mini mode style.
Configuring custom timelines now also includes the option to “exclude feeds.” This makes it easier than ever to setup a timeline that has almost all your feeds but omits the ones you choose. This is perfect for when you follow a particularly busy hashtag, but don’t want all those posts to appear in a given timeline.
Tapestry’s new sound effects are music to our ears
Enjoy Tapestry’s new audio cues that help you navigate and take action. Tapestry plays unique audio alerts after refreshing the timeline, when using the new social media actions, or expanding and collapsing items.
Tapestry’s sounds are a joy to use and were crafted by Andre Louis, the creator of Twitterrific’s sound effects. We’re pleased to feature Andre’s excellent work once again, but if you prefer silence, you can easily turn sound effects off in Settings > Behavior.
There’s so much more!
Other notable goodies include the ability to open all links in Reader Mode, and new long-press menus let you take a closer look at user avatars and share links. There are multiple improvements to VoiceOver, a ton of fun new custom app icons, and so much more. We’ve also enabled the ability to run Tapestry on Apple Vision Pro: it’s experimental and unsupported but will be a welcome change for customers with the new headset.
Be sure to check out the full version history to get the complete bird’s eye view. Enjoy!
The days are getting longer and everyone’s sleeves are getting shorter, so it’s the perfect time for some new Iconfactory t-shirt designs!
We’ve got a couple new Tapestry designs available that are sure to make you the envy of all your developer friends at Apple’s upcoming WWDC: One for Loom, our tool for creating third-party Tapestry connectors, and one featuring Cosmo the Capybara, Tapestry’s unofficial mascot. We’ve also added a snazzy, new Iconfactory logo design.
Finally, be sure to check out the special Tapestry enamel pins. These dual pin packs are the same ones our Kickstarter backers received and are extremely limited. Once they’re gone, they’re gone so go get them while you can!
Head on over to our Cotton Bureau page and buy some goodies for yourself or for a friend!
Today we’re announcing a major update to our personal timeline app – Tapestry. Version 1.1 brings a huge host of new features: all designed to improve the quality of life when browsing your timeline, following social media accounts, and more.
Shake that feeling of déjà vu with Crosstalk
Tapestry’s new Crosstalk feature automatically finds and muffles similar posts across multiple feeds to help keep your timeline free of duplicates. The app identifies repeated text and flags it so you don’t have to waste time reading stuff you’ve already seen as you scroll through your timeline.
Items marked with Crosstalk can be muffled and skipped or muted and removed completely from the timeline. Change how Crosstalk is presented in Settings.
It’s super handy when you follow an author across multiple services like Bluesky, Mastodon, and Micro.blog and see the same post over and over again. Crosstalk is a real game changer, so be sure to check it out.
New connectors for Bluesky and Mastodon
Tapestry 1.1 includes improved connectors that allow you to follow individual people and lists without the need to have a Bluesky or Mastodon account of your own. You can also follow a Reddit user to get updates for games and other products. This is a great way to follow specific people you care about without having to sign up for even more social media platforms.
The quickest way to set up these new feeds is to find the account’s profile page, hashtag, or list in Safari, then use Add to Tapestry. You can also use the newly redesigned Feed Finder to set things up manually.
Quicklinks help you navigate your favorite timelines
Browsing your favorite feeds is now easier than ever. Tapestry’s new Quicklinks are a handy way to switch between timelines and are easily customized in Settings > Appearance or via a long press on the toolbar icon. A total of four slots are available and device specific. This means you can customize your favorite timelines separately across iPhone and iPad.
Customize up to four Quicklink slots with a tap and hold to reach your favorite timelines.
We have also now included the primary timeline actions for refreshing and jumping under the left-most View menu so you can quickly reach them using your thumb. Big Phone People of the world, rejoice!
But that’s not all!
These wonderful new features are just the tip of the release iceberg however. There’s fun new app icons to enjoy, the ability to customize feeds directly from an item’s Actions menu (⋯), better handling of boosts and nested block quotes, faster performance in several key areas, and so much more. Be sure to check out the full version history to get the complete picture and then download Tapestry in the App Store. Enjoy!
There’s a lot to be said about an app that you pour your heart and soul into for well over a year. For nearly as long, we’ve been making the rounds, chatting up our friends and peers about Tapestry and have been grateful for the chance to talk about our work. If you’ve missed any of these podcast appearances, they are a great way to get some behind-the-scenes insight into what goes into making a complex app like Tapestry.
These interviews cover everything from the app’s inception and accessibility, to easter eggs, interface design as well as our amazing product backers and are a great way to pass some time while we eagerly await Tapestry v1.1. Enjoy!
Back when the Kickstarter had just launched, Ged Maheux joined James Bilsbrough at Crossed Wires to talk about the concept behind Tapestry, what we hoped to accomplish, the project’s stretch goals and more.
Steven Scott and Shaun Preece of Double Tap invited Ged on to discuss the launch of the Tapestry Kickstarter with a focus on the app’s accessibility for the blind community. We talk about the loss of Twitterrific and our hopes for Tapestry to live up to the award-winning reputation of our former Twitter client.
Apple pundit and Daring Fireball author, John Gruber invited Tapestry’s creator, Craig Hockenberry, onto The Talk Show for a lively and fun interview. The in-depth discussion covered Craig’s original idea for Tapestry, how scary it was bringing it to life, creating awesome, custom connectors for German users and much more.
David Nason and Thomas Domville of AppleVis speak to Ged Maheux about what it takes to bring an app like Tapestry to the App Store with special emphasis on accessibility. We also chat about making the app fun, friendly and easy to understand as well as how we leveraged what we learned about Twitterrific to improve Tapestry.
Tim Chaten of iPad Pros invited Ged on for a deep dive into Tapestry, with a special focus on the iPad. We talked about the development of the app, how it changed from its original conception and what the future may hold for Tapestry.
Since Tapestry’s launch, customers have been enjoying the app’s ability to combine content from across the open web into a personal, chronological timeline. And Tapestry continues to get even better thanks to a bevy of useful connectors, created by talented third party developers.
Connectors retrieve the content that gets woven into your Tapestry timeline. The app ships with a wide-range of built in connectors to grab posts from Mastodon, RSS, YouTube, Bluesky, Reddit, and many other services. For those sources that don’t come built into Tapestry, third party connectors like the ones we’re highlighting today allow specialized content to flow right into the app.
Two connectors are available to follow and browse the work of photographers: Pixelfed by Darrin Horn and Glass by Otávio Cordeiro. Feedbin users will no doubt want to try the great new connector by Manfred Linzner-Scherf that quickly imports your content into the Tapestry timeline. And Simon Størving’s fun App Store connector highlights the App of the Day and helps you discover great new software in the App Store.
These and other fantastic connectors are available to download today. Installing a custom connector is quick and easy: just follow the instructions on the Tapestry Connectors page.
So get ready to start a journey to a more powerful version of the app everyone is talking about. Enjoy!
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, and ten months of development, Tapestry is finally an App Store reality.
Tapestry presents content in chronological order, with no algorithm or other person deciding what you should or shouldn’t see. Content can come from social media services like Bluesky, Mastodon, or Tumblr, as well as RSS feeds, podcasts, YouTube channels, and others. All in the palm of your hand with no tracking.
Now that Tapestry has launched, we wanted to take a few minutes to share some of the things that happened behind-the-scenes.
The Backstory
A few folks have asked how we launched a Kickstarter that not only hit its original goal, but nearly doubled it. We knew that we needed a strong concept to gain support. To help us refine our pitch, we worked on a rough prototype that showed us, and others, what was possible.
Thankfully, this proof-of-concept convinced our amazing supporters that Tapestry was worth backing.
While still in development, we constantly looked at ways to make Tapestry a sustainable product. Our goal has always been for the app to be a source of information and discovery – and we want that to be accessible to the widest possible audience. We had to give users the richest experience and features without gating content. Ultimately, we decided to make the product a free download and fund future work with both sponsored ads and premium features.
A Unique Approach to Ads
We hate internet advertising and so do you.
That’s why we made our own ad network for Twitterrific. With Tapestry, we’ve taken what we learned there and improved it for the better.
We’ve worked hard to craft ads that are harmonious, visually appealing, and for things you might want to see or use. But most importantly, we have done all this with your privacy in mind: there is no tracking and there never will be.
Sponsorships in Tapestry are tasteful, concise and designed with privacy in mind.
As small, independent creators, we know exactly how hard it is to get the word out about the work you’re doing. Our hope is that the community around Tapestry will want to know about exciting indie apps, blogs that are fueled by enthusiasm, and podcasts or YouTube channels that inform and entertain. We’ve also made it easy for folks to follow your work by integrating our Feed Finder into the ads.
We know exactly how small the marketing budget is for all of this :-) We’ve strived to keep the price low and the value high.
A Big Surprise
Several months after funding, and while we were well into Tapestry’s design and development, we received an incredible opportunity. Tumblr contacted us out of the blue with an email that started “Tapestry looks cool” and went on to say they were interested in supporting our efforts with a grant.
Wow! After our initial shock and disbelief, we realized that these funds allow us to build an even more robust app than what was possible with just Kickstarter. It also served as the spark for the current sponsorship program in Tapestry.
Thanks to Tumblr’s support, we are beyond excited to announce that we’ll soon begin work on what so many folks have asked for: native macOS support! We also have ideas for features that will benefit Tumblr as well as other services. Stand by for more surprises!
Gratitude
We are beyond grateful to Tumblr and how their support allows us to deliver a better and more robust product. We are also thankful for all the backers who believed in Tapestry’s potential and supported us at launch. Finally, the health of any software product depends on the direct support of paying customers like you. Without these is no bright future for any of our apps, so thank you.
Folks who love counting will be happy to know that Clicker has some useful new features on watchOS:
Added support for the Digital Crown – just turn it to adjust the counter. If needed, this feature can also be disabled in settings (tap the gear icon).
There is now separate haptic feedback when you reach a goal: a different sound and vibration are played. This is helpful for activities where you count with your eyes closed or without looking at your wrist.
Added a new setting to disable haptic feedback. No sounds or vibrations will be played as you adjust the count.
The complication can now display longer numbers: commas are removed when space is tight.
We also did a small, but important, update for Now Playing Plus. We fixed an issue where tapping on the watch face complication to see what’s playing would often show a blank screen instead of the player controls.
Apple’s built-in watch complications don’t work in the circular or corner positions: Now Playing Plus fixes that. If you’re like me and need to get at the controls quickly and reliably without fumbling around with screen navigation, it’s a great addition to your Apple Watch.
I use Now Playing Plus while riding my bike: a tap in the corner of my watch face, and then play/pause or adjust volume with the crown, all while keeping my eyes on the road! You can get it for FREE on the App Store.
