Desktop app
Servers & identities
Connect the desktop app to several Tyto servers, switch between them, browse as a guest and manage saved sign-ins.
An identity is your account on one server. The desktop app holds one identity per server and keeps all of them connected at the same time.
One rail for every server
The rail on the left lists the communities of every server you’ve added, grouped by server. Click a community on another server and the app switches to it — no sign-in round trip, because every identity stays connected in the background.
Unread and mention badges update live for all servers, not just the one you’re looking at. Notifications arrive from all of them too.
Adding a server
The Connect to a server button in the rail opens the same two steps as the first start: server address, then sign-in.
From a link
A server can also hand itself to the app:
- the server’s own page — its address opened in a browser — has an Open in Tyto desktop button;
- in the web client, the ⋯ menu next to the community name has the same entry.
Your browser asks once whether to open the link with Tyto. The app then asks whether to add the server and goes straight to sign-in, with the address filled in. If the server is already in the app, it switches to it and says so.
Only continue if you trust where the link came from — a link can name any server.
Browsing as a guest
Browse without signing in adds a server without an account. You see its public communities and can read along; posting, direct messages and notifications need a sign-in. A guest server carries a Guest badge and a Sign in action.
Signing out of a server doesn’t remove it: the server stays in the rail as a guest, so you can keep reading and sign back in later.
Direct messages across servers
The direct-messages view merges the conversations of all your identities into one list, each marked with the server it belongs to. Opening a conversation on another server switches to it.
Starting a new conversation asks which server to write on. Conversations can’t span servers — the people you can message are the people on that server.
Voice calls
A call survives switching servers. While you’re in a voice channel on one server and looking at another, the rail shows which call you’re in. You can be in one call at a time.
Managing identities
Manage identities, in the user menu at the bottom of the rail, lists every server with its state. Filter by Signed in, Signed out or Problem, or search by name, email or server.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Switch to | Makes that server the active one |
| Sign in | Signs in to a server you’re a guest on |
| Sign out | Ends the session and deletes the saved sign-in; the server stays as a guest |
| Remove | Removes the server and its saved sign-in from the app |
Removing a server only affects the app. Your account on that server is untouched.
When a server needs attention
| What you see | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in expired. Click to reconnect. | The server no longer accepts the saved session — you signed out elsewhere, changed your password, or an admin ended the session | Click and enter your password. Sign in as a different user switches accounts |
| reconnecting… | The server can’t be reached | Nothing; the app keeps retrying on its own |
| This server isn’t compatible | The server runs a version the app can’t talk to | Update the app, or ask the admin to update the server |
Dismissing a sign-in prompt continues as a guest for now; the app asks again on the next start.