You don't need to use the official Mastodon apps, they're not the best way to use Mastodon. The official apps only arrived last year, and they were intended as "Fisher Price My First Mastodon" things with a restricted set of features.
Third party apps have been around longer than official ones, and include way more features. You can sign in with the same account on all apps.
On Android try Tusky, Fedilab, Megalodon, Tooot
On iPhone/iPad, try Toot!, Ice Cubes, Ivory, Mona
@feditips Which if any of them make Mastodon easier, less confusing, and less intimidating to deal with? Mastodon still just doesn’t click—no engagement, no discoverability, not much of anything.
There is no algorithm on here, so it is up to you to follow people, follow hashtags, follow groups, browse the Explore tab etc.
I get that algo-driven sites are more convenient and more addictive, but this place is meant to be more friendly and sustainable, and with deeper connections and less toxicity.
I've done an article on discovering other people: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-find-accounts-to-follow-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-how-do-i-find-my-friends/
...and here's an article on making your own account discovered more easily: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-get-more-followers-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/
@feditips I don’t use the algorithm on Twitter—always have been strictly reverse-chronological. Yet for me Mastodon still remains slippery as ice by comparison. (Over the weekend I read Bloonface’s post “Why the Twitter Migration Failed” and found myself nodding quite a bit in agreement.)
If there's something specific you would like me to help with I can try?
I'm not sure how to respond to such articles as they have appeared with pretty much every new migration of people here. The number of people on here is massively bigger now than it was a few years ago. A lot leave but a lot stay, it grows overall.
I'm guessing some people are expecting explosive instant growth which commercial networks go after, rather than slow sustainable growth that this place favours.