After a month of heavy use on iOS, I’m pretty conflicted about the current state of Nostr clients.

From a product and UX perspective, three apps stand out: nostr:nprofile1qqs9xtvrphl7p8qnua0gk9zusft33lqjkqqr7cwkr6g8wusu0lle8jcprpmhxue69uhhqun9d45h2mfwwpexjmtpdshxuet5qythwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnsv9ex2ar09e6x7amw5254wh , nostr:nprofile1qqsraldwhvwcjgltmxwfu7kw8dqef2692yhzheuurd7k3kfy8cxjdqgpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqzxthwden5te0wpuhyctdd9jzuenfv96x5ctx9e3k7mgfgmy0m and nostr:nprofile1qqszpxr0hql8whvk6xyv5hya7yxwd4snur4hu4mg5rctz2ehekkzrvcpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6vpj9eukz6mfdphkumn99e3k7mgpz3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuvtnv96zummjvun8pev3 — but in a strangely inverted way.

First, nostr:nprofile1qqs9xtvrphl7p8qnua0gk9zusft33lqjkqqr7cwkr6g8wusu0lle8jcprpmhxue69uhhqun9d45h2mfwwpexjmtpdshxuet5qythwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnsv9ex2ar09e6x7amw5254wh :

Widely used, well known, active on Nostr, many reviews and coverage on YouTube, its creators, nostr:nprofile1qqsdv8emcke7k3qqaldwv956tstu40ejg663gdsaayuuujs6pknw7jspzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgkwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8qunfd4skctnwv46qftzeqc and nostr:nprofile1qqsgqke57uygxl0m8elstq26c4mq2erz3dvdtgxwswwvhdh0xcs04scpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpzfmhxue69uhhqatjwpkx2urpvuhx2uce8wn4m are all behind it, super nice people.

Yet:

• Direct Messages are unreliable, especially cross-client

• No built-in translation (a real adoption blocker beyond English)

• UI is functional, but not visually appealing

Then nostr:nprofile1qqszpxr0hql8whvk6xyv5hya7yxwd4snur4hu4mg5rctz2ehekkzrvcpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6vpj9eukz6mfdphkumn99e3k7mgpz3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuvtnv96zummjvun8pev3 :

The opposite. Little known, few reviews, almost no coverage on YouTube, no visible developers or founder(s), only a Malaysian tech company in the background… JustHonne Technologies… with no CEO or any person behind it… Their website doesn’t link to real LinkedIn/X profiles, and YakiHonne isn’t even clearly presented as a flagship product.

And yet:

• The UI is beautiful

• Customization is deep and thoughtful

• Built-in translation works

• DM relays and content relays can be finely controlled (read vs write)

• Overall: it feels the most mature and carefully designed

Now, nostr:nprofile1qqsraldwhvwcjgltmxwfu7kw8dqef2692yhzheuurd7k3kfy8cxjdqgpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqzxthwden5te0wpuhyctdd9jzuenfv96x5ctx9e3k7mgfgmy0m sits between these two:

There is a well known and well-respected developer behind it, nostr:nprofile1qqsr9cvzwc652r4m83d86ykplrnm9dg5gwdvzzn8ameanlvut35wy3gpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezumrpdejqz9rhwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjmchdg6z6 who not at least invented zapping ❤️

It offers many settings, features, and customization options, and translation works — which is a big plus for non-English users.

However:

• The UI is not visually appealing

• The DM experience is still weak, cross-client messaging often fails here as well

So the core contradiction remains:

Why do the transparent, community-facing clients ( nostr:nprofile1qqs9xtvrphl7p8qnua0gk9zusft33lqjkqqr7cwkr6g8wusu0lle8jcprpmhxue69uhhqun9d45h2mfwwpexjmtpdshxuet5qythwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnsv9ex2ar09e6x7amw5254wh and nostr:nprofile1qqsraldwhvwcjgltmxwfu7kw8dqef2692yhzheuurd7k3kfy8cxjdqgpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqzxthwden5te0wpuhyctdd9jzuenfv96x5ctx9e3k7mgfgmy0m ) feel less refined in UX and messaging, while the most opaque one ( nostr:nprofile1qqszpxr0hql8whvk6xyv5hya7yxwd4snur4hu4mg5rctz2ehekkzrvcpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6vpj9eukz6mfdphkumn99e3k7mgpz3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuvtnv96zummjvun8pev3 ) has the best UX, features and customisation?

Am I missing protocol constraints, historical reasons, or design trade-offs?

Genuinely asking, and with respect for every dev behind these growing gems of Nostr social — I only would like to understand this better and help development. (I do leave test and bug reports on all the three clients’ github.)

#asknostr