Previous articles in the series:
Intro
Nostr is much more than just a social media platform; it serves as a decentralized communications protocol. This means it has the capacity to transmit information across the Internet, free from censorship or interruption.
As Nostr's primary purpose is the transfer of data, it's only logical that a plethora of tools have emerged to help users analyze, structure, and preserve it within the protocol. These tools are incredibly useful and also underscore the fact that Nostr, in many ways similar to Bitcoin, operates as a transparent protocol. It's important to exercise caution in sharing information.
That being said, it's worth noting that the same caution applies to traditional platforms. Additionally, while Nostr provides equal opportunities for everyone to access information, the same cannot be said for traditional social media and services.
Another aspect I'll cover in this article is Nostr browsers. These are incredibly handy apps, essentially dashboards, that allow users to interact with numerous web apps from a single place, greatly improving the user experience and enhancing security.
So let’s explore the tools that can help you dig into all of that data, harness it, and potentially benefit from the stats you’ll manage to collect and analyze. We will cover:
Stats
Statistics can be useful even if you are not a social media manager of an attention freak. Stats can help you see people you're connected with, general community trends and figure out what's cooking in general. Take a look at the apps below to stay on top of the Nostr game.
Nostr Band
Website: https://nostr.band/
Developer:
Nostr band is one of the OG data aggregators that offers a wide range of services:
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Stats - arguably, the most extensive statistics of Nostr events out there;
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Trending - see trending notes, people, audio and video content;
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API services - utilize Nostr Band API to
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Relay - a free Nostr relay that offers a spam filter, search functionality and more. See details here.
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Embed widget a tool that allows you to embed Nostr events into your own website.
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NIP-05 addresses - let you get your "@notstr.band" Nostr address.
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RSS feeds creation - create and follow custom RSS feeds on Nostr.
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Search bots creation - allows you to create Nostr search bots.
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Much more - discover the Nostr Band website to open up the full range of functionality this service offers.
Zaplife
Website: https://zaplife.lol
Developer:
Zaplife is a legendary zap tracking tool that provides stats on Nostr-native financial interactions.
You can see the total amount zapped across Nostr over different time periods, individual zaps made in real time, as well as switch between nostriches and notes. Moreover, Zaplife supports zapraisers, which means that if you create a crowdfunding campaign using the #zapraiser hashtag, it will be displayed on the platform.
Nostrapp
Website: https://nostrapp.link
Developer:
Another tool from aimed at keeping your finger on the pulse of Nostr apps. Stay in the loop with the newest Nostr developments thanks to this apps aggregator. The tool lets you:
- Browse existing apps
- See apps' source code
- Find the best apps to open an event you're interested in
- Share app reviews, browse, comment on and zap existing reviews
Are you a Nostr developer or simply aware of an app that's not on the list? Visit https://nostrapp.link/edit/ to add one.
Nostr Apps
Website: Nostr Apps
Developer:
Pursuing a similar goal to the one mentioned above, Nostr Apps features a sleek design (which should come as no surprise to those of you familiar with Karnage's work), complemented by clear and convenient categorization.
Although reviews and zap functionality are yet to be added to the platform, it remains a highly useful tool with a clean interface, allowing for efficient app searches.
Data
Tools that allow you to back up and transfer your data cannot be overstated in the digital age. The following apps will assist you in regaining control of your data and ensuring it is distributed in a manner that prevents any single party from excluding you or building barriers around the information that rightfully belongs to you.
Nostryfied
Website: https://nostryfied.online
Developer:
Nostryfied (aka NostrSync) is an extremely useful tool, especially given that Nostr is still a young and evolving protocol, and no one is truly immune to potential issues, such as a loss of follower count or other data vanishing.
As stated on the service's welcome page:
NostrSync offers an Broadcast & Export Service that allows you to Download a Copy of your Data & when you use this service, all of your data will also be Broadcasted to Major Relays on the network.
This design ensures that the data is Widely Distributed and makes it more Resistant to Censorship.
All you've got to do is enter your public key into the corresponding field and hit "Backup & Broadcast."
What this does is re-broadcast all of the events you've ever published (that the tool managed to find) across the connected relays and saves them as a separate file. This way, you achieve two goals at once: you remind the relays that your posts are out there and obtain a copy of all your Nostr events, in case of a major account disaster.
The value of this tool is hard to overestimate, as I've seen many people seek advice after losing their follows. Moreover, most relays, especially free ones, only retain your notes for a limited time. This is why bulk re-broadcasting is such a powerful feature.
In addition to enabling you to download the backup, NostrSync offers Local Database functionality—a kind of dashboard that holds all your backups and allows you to re-download a backup from any specific date.
Personally, I look forward to NostrSync offering automated backup functionality. I'd gladly pay a few sats per month to have this feature at hand.
e𝕏it.pub
Website: EXIT.pub
Developer:
Exit.pub is another shiny development from , marking what seems like his 3222nd app developed on top of Nostr 😁
Exit.pub allows you to "leave Elon's walled garden and take your goodies with you." In other words, if Elon permits it, you can download an archive of your tweets and export them to Nostr.
You can also opt into duplicating your media files with Sattelite's CDN, meaning that you won't have to rely on X's mercy to keep your files. It is a paid option, but the pricing is more than reasonable at an equivalent of $0.05 per GB per month paid in sats.
EXIT.pub also allows you to exclude unwanted tweets from being uploaded to Nostr and staying there forever. You can bulk-exclude tweets by utilizing inbuilt search bar as well.
See recent Pablo's note explaining the main features of the client here:
Nostr browsers
As the number of Nostr-native apps grows exponentially, a new niche has emerged for developers to fill. Nostr browsers represent a category of clients (currently introduced by two apps) that enable users to access multiple web-based clients and more, all from a single app. The most significant benefit of this approach is that you no longer need to log into each web app individually. Nostr browsers allow you to log into the app itself, which then securely communicates with the web apps on your behalf, handling private keys with utmost security.
Spring
Website: https://spring.site
Developer:
Spring is an Android app available in the Google Play store and allowing you to build the APK yourself. Apart from handling your private keys Spring provides:
- Content feeds: A selection of new and trending events (short notes, long-form posts, communities, zaps, highlights, live streams, etc.)
- Powerful search
- App suggestions: Spring will suggest you the best apps to open the events you paste on the main page (through NIP-89). Simply paste a noteID, naddr, or any other Nostr event identifier and have suggested apps pop up on your screen.
- Ability to pin any Nostr (or non-nostr) web app to the home screen
- Ability to add numerous npubs to be able to switch between browsing experiences (e.g. log in as Jack or GiGi to browse the same content they are browsing).
- NWC support: Ability to connect Nostr Wallet Connect and use zap functionality in any app. Moreover, Spring allows you to use lightning on any website that supports webLN.
If you're an Android user and a Nostr fan, Spring is a no-brainer for you. This app significantly enhances the user experience when browsing various Nostr web apps.
NostrNetWork
Website: https://www.nostrnet.work
Developer:
NostrNet.Work is a Nostr browser that offers many of the features mentioned above, however it has some of its own tricks up its sleeve:
- PWA functionality: NostrNet can be installed on virtually any device. You can find out more about PWAs in my blog post here.
- Vendata support: Have AIs compete for you sats by providing best quality services at lowest rates. Need anything done? Outsource it to an AI via NostrNet and Vendata. Be it text extraction, voice-to-text, image generation - everything can be done efficiently and paid for via Lightning.
- Data back up: As NostrNet is developed by , it offers NostrSync functionality. You can backup and broadcast your Nostr events without ever leaving NostrNet.
NostrNet offers some interesting perks and will be especially handy for those, who want to utilize a Nostr browser outside of their Android device. Don't miss out on the convenience of utilizing multiple Nostr apps and services from a single dashboard.
Make sure to test out Nostr browsers I've covered and potentially the ones that will surely pop up in the future. I strongly believe that such solutions have the potential to replace traditional browsers, given the convenience and security benefits they offer.
Outro
That's a wrap for today, fellow nostriches! Feel free to share your thoughts on today's selection, and if you have any other apps in mind that should be included on this list, don't hesitate to let me know.
Stay tuned for next episodes, where we will cover many more miscellaneous Nostr apps, blogging platforms, group chat clients and much more 💜
Don't forget that you can access all of my Nostr guides by joining a dedicated community here:
FOSS FTW!
Tony