LinkThing
An iOS app for linkding.
I made a new app! It鈥檚 called LinkThing and it鈥檚 an iOS app for linkding.
First some background. linkding is a self-hosted bookmarking service very similar to Pinboard. I鈥檝e used Pinboard for many years and only recently switched to linkding. I do like Pinboard (and I still browse the popular links frequently), but the service seemed to be unmaintained for a while and I thought that I could try self-hosting bookmarks.
Linkding was very easy to get running in Docker on my Synology and now I control my own bookmarks. But while the web UI is nice, there just weren鈥檛 any options for an iOS app.
So I made my own.
It鈥檚 very similar, structurally, to my Stir Trek app in that it鈥檚 built using Ionic and React and it even shares many of the same components. I鈥檝e actually built a few utility apps this way and LinkThing is just the first one I鈥檓 willing to release.
I鈥檝e been using it for a few months and it鈥檚 quite nice. It鈥檚 pretty basic, but it let鈥檚 you easily browse your bookmarks, with a default filter for unread. You can search all of your bookmarks, and you can mark bookmarks as read/unread. There鈥檚 even a way to edit bookmarks. Tapping on one will open it in a Safari view so you can read what you鈥檝e saved all within the app.
There are several improvements that I would love to make, namely creating a new bookmark (especially from a share sheet where I currently use a shortcut). Doing so from an Ionic app seems difficult, but it鈥檚 something I鈥檇 really love to make work.
The whole thing is open-source so you can go see how it鈥檚 built. You can also submit new issues for fixes or new features there. No promises on when I鈥檒l get around to them, but I鈥檒l keep an eye on the repo.
Like with the Stir Trek app, this one is iOS only for now. It won鈥檛 work as a PWA because linkding鈥檚 API doesn鈥檛 send the right CORS headers to allow it to be called from a browser. As for Android, I still don鈥檛 have an Android dev environment set up, but maybe this will push me to do so and release this app on the Play Store.
Update 1.1
I鈥檝e added the ability to create a bookmark from within the app! It鈥檚 not a share extension, but it will attempt to read any URL from your clipboard and auto-fill the form. It鈥檚 not perfect, but I鈥檝e found it to be a very good experience. The update is available now from the App Store.
Update 1.2
Tag support is here! As well as some new settings and features suggested via GitHub!