Ecency 4.4.0: a faster, cleaner web app

Speed is a feature. In 4.4.0 we put real effort into making Ecency lighter and quicker, especially on mobile and on slower connections.

A redesigned mobile homepage

The mobile home screen has a cleaner hero, the Ecency wordmark up front, a clear Sign up call to action, and search right in the navbar where you expect it. The footer is tidier too, with visible social links and an expanded About section.

A lighter app that gets ready sooner

We moved a lot of code off the critical path so pages become interactive faster. A few examples:

• Error reporting now loads only when it is actually needed, saving weight on every page.

• The feed no longer re-renders every card every 30 seconds. Timestamps tick on their own instead.

• Action bars below the fold load on demand, so the visible part of the feed responds sooner.

• Search and several account dialogs load lazily, keeping the first load slim.

Read next, instantly

Related posts at the end of an article now render on the server, so they appear right away with no flash and no extra refetch when the page loads.

Smarter images and fewer wasted downloads

Pages now negotiate the best image format for your device, and we removed cases where the same image could be downloaded twice. Less data, faster pictures.

More reliable under the hood

Ecency now picks the fastest Hive node automatically and adapts as network latency changes, so reading and posting stay smooth. The installable app (PWA) also updates cleanly now, so you are never stuck on an old version.

The result: lower data usage, a faster first paint, and smoother scrolling. Open Ecency on your phone and you should feel the difference right away.

More tomorrow. Follow @ecency for the rest of the series.

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