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Fountain AMA - Oscar Merry (2)
24.4k sats \ 56 comments \ @MerryOscar 14 Oct AMA
Hey Stackers!
I'm Oscar Merry and I'm building Fountain - a social podcast app with payments powered by the Lightning Network and now most recently Nostr.
I last did an AMA way back in 2022 so thought it might be good to come back and have another discussion given so much has changed with the app since then!
Since the last AMA we've launched a bunch of new features and improvements including:
  • Fountain 0.6 (Jan 2023) - podcasts activity feed -https://blog.fountain.fm/p/0-6-0
  • Fountain 0.8 (September 2023) - music podcasts, music playback, and basic music library - https://blog.fountain.fm/p/fountain-08-music-podcasts-beta-player
  • Fountain 1.0 (December 2023) - our biggest design and user experience upgrade to date with usability improvements across the app along with powerful new social features - #361154
  • Fountain 1.1 (August 2024) - open social podcasting via nostr - #657050
  • Fountain 1.1.5 (TODAY!) - simpler library architecture, pay bolt11 invoices, and artist pages - #657050
You can see the full list of major releases here - https://blog.fountain.fm/t/product
Alongside the new features we've also worked really hard on design, ux, and stability which in the past has not always been up to par.
Anyway - we're constantly looking to improve so alongside any questions I'd love to hear your feedback on the app and the your general thoughts on podcast apps even if you're not a Fountain user.
  • what do you like about fountain / your current podcast app?
  • what do you hate about fountain / your current podcast app?
  • what's a cool niche podcast you've been listening to?
  • what's one interesting social feature you think would work well in a podcast app
Other than that I'm not sure what questions you might have for me - but some things I can definitely share thoughts on are:
  • anything podcasting 2.0 related
  • the challenges of onboarding new people to bitcoin and lightning
  • bridging nostr to existing formats like rss
  • migrating an existing social graph to nostr
  • lessons learnt building a mobile app
Ok lets chat! :)
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10 sats \ 2 replies \ @IamSINGLE 14 Oct
As a newcomer to your app I did find it difficult to navigate through and it took me a while to adjust.
The keywords in the search bar also didn't give me the exact results.
Initially I was disappointed but It might be because I was new there.
however the biggest disappointed was not to be able to like without connecting nostr.

Do you want only nostr people to enjoy your app?

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11 sats \ 1 reply \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
Improving the search is one of our top priorities and I hope to have something released before the end of this year.
What was the number one thing you found difficult about the navigation?
On the nostr requirement - you don't need to connect nostr to send a boost to a podcaster - only to reply - you can create a new / throwaway nostr profile right in the app so I don't think it's too much effort. We definitely need to explain it better though.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @IamSINGLE 14 Oct
On the nostr requirement - you don't need to connect nostr to send a boost to a podcaster - only to reply - you can create a new / throwaway nostr profile right in the app so I don't think it's too much effort. We definitely need to explain it better though.
I couldn't even give a like to the pod I listened.
What was the number one thing you found difficult about the navigation?
Click anywhere and it just says 'Connect Nostr'.
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441 sats \ 1 reply \ @benwehrman 14 Oct
The Nostr integration is AWESOME. I love the new social element to the app!
Are there any other additions planned for the Nostr/Fountain connection or is it basically complete now that there's a social feed there?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
There's so much more we need to do. We haven't made too many updates to it due to the work on the library re-architecture in 1.1.5 - but we're revisiting it now and are working on:
  • improving the balance of the home feed by limiting reposts + options to surface older content
  • adding support for NIP-53 Live Streams
  • switching to the Generic Comment for podcast comments
  • and much more!
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630 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 14 Oct
Do you think sat streaming at its most successful will disrupt ad revenue for the biggest podcasts?
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182 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
I don't think it will necessarily disrupt ad revenue for the biggest podcasters - but I think it could match it with the right tools, easy onboarding, and social dynamics to encourage support. I think the game streaming platforms like Twitch and Kick do this really well although they don't really have micropayments.
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331 sats \ 2 replies \ @sudocarlos 14 Oct
Wen Nostr Wallet Connect?
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376 sats \ 1 reply \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
We plan to support this very soon - I would say definitely before the end of the year
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @sudocarlos 14 Oct
Sweet. And hopefully you can lower the boost/zap minimum although i'm not sure why it's 100 sats anyway.
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331 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 14 Oct
What’s the biggest technical improvement you’d like to see happen on nostr?
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430 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
There are many - in priority order I would say:
  • the main client apps (damus, primal, amethyst) should also become remote signers - this way users only have to download one app to easily reach all the others without having to paste their nsec around
  • the zap spec (or an alternative new nip) should be more flexible - right now its very opinionated as a reaction event and it's hard to get creative with that
  • more adoption of the generic comment proposal (we plan to support this soon)
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331 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 14 Oct
Smartest person you’ve ever met?
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262 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
I didn't really meet him but one that stands out was seeing a talk in person from Tadge Dryja.
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318 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
Another example is also someone I've never met but would like to have met - Kelly Johnson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Johnson_(engineer)
Also if you haven't read Skunk Works definitely pick it up! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0751515035
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231 sats \ 1 reply \ @benwehrman 14 Oct
In your opinion, should Fountain be considered in the conversation as a major Nostr client? Or will the identity still be podcasting app first, Nostr client second?
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121 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
Definitely podcast app first then nostr client. We only want to use nostr to enable podcast (and music!) discovery.
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210 sats \ 1 reply \ @sebastix 14 Oct
Nostrifying the app was a great move, but in general I’m still struggling with the overall UX (I have switched from Overcast). And this is also something I can’t explain (I only have around 10 downloaded episodes)
Keep up the good work, Fountain is pushing the limits with the Nostr integration and setting an example for others.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
Thank you and sorry about the storage issue! You should be able to resolve this by deleting the app and re-installing. If you have an email linked you won't lose any of your library. We're also working on a better storage manage to give visibility into what is taking up all the space.
What's the number one UX improvement you'd like to see?
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210 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheWildHustle 14 Oct
Have you taken a look at NIP-98.
Looks like it allows like music on wavlake to be seen across other nostr apps that implement it.
Would mean my wavlake library would be seen on fountain.
Would mean I would have a nostr music library instead of seperate ones for each app.
Congrats on the app btw. And the new features and updates have been impressive to say the least.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
I would love to see a world where my music library can travel between Fountain and Wavlake - for example discovering a song in a music podcast on Fountain and adding it to your library then having it in Wavlake. We actually use NIP-98 for the nostr account linking in Fountain but I haven't looked at what Wavlake are doing here. I'll look into it!
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210 sats \ 1 reply \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 14 Oct
The one feature I really miss from my previous app (Overcast on my iPod Touch -- I'm now on Android with Fountain) is it's Smart Playback, which adjusted on the fly really well. Not sure how easy a feature it is to implement (no one else on Android offers it), but would love to see something like that. Otherwise, love the app!
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
This is definitely on the roadmap!
We've actually got something working on Android - but it needs more testing and I always want to keep iOS / Android at feature parity as it's easier that way. Hopefully it won't be too much longer.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 14 Oct
What is the plan for profitability?
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100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 14 Oct
First off, I love Fountain. It was one of the first bitcoin things I used and I think it's the biggest no-brainer bitcoin on-ramp for normies.
The feature I most want to see eventually is being able to embed podcast clips in my Stacker News posts. I remember this coming up previously, so I'm just restating my interest.
Thanks to Fountain, @grayruby and I pulled in almost 10 kilosats in zaps on day one of our sports podcast. That's unbelievably cool.
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121 sats \ 3 replies \ @DarthCoin 14 Oct
Why Fountain app is not listed on https://zap.store or at least on github released as apk?
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221 sats \ 2 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
The app is currently not open source - but thinking about this decision a lot.
You can download an APK here though - https://fountain.fm/apk
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 14 Oct
Thanks! Seems that is working nice now with this latest release. I can play episodes.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 14 Oct
Ah ok cool, that's enough if I can install it on a tablet that do not use any google app store.
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10 sats \ 3 replies \ @DarthCoin 14 Oct
After was introduced the link to a nostr account, I tried to link it but then none of the podcasts episodes could be played. Also I lost the account I had before (using the email) with the LN address and sats balance. I can't set the old LN address I had, is always going back to a random one if I am logged in with nostr.
How can I recover the old account?
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31 sats \ 2 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
Do you remember the email you used for the first account? Please send me an email and I can recover it for you.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 14 Oct
Yes. I will send you a DM on NOSTR with the email I used for that old account. Like that you can see my nostr pubkey and if is possible to link the old account to this npub used now to login on fountain.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DEADBEEF 21 Oct
I have a similar problem except I also no longer have access to my original email account. We’ve DM’d before on Nostr about issues with my account. If I DM you again is this something that you can help with?
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75 sats \ 1 reply \ @MaxAWebster 14 Oct
How will AI change the way we create and consume podcasts?
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121 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
I think it's going to massively change the way we consume podcasts. The tools we're going to see over the next few years will be incredible and I hope Fountain can build some of them (stay tuned).
However I don't think it will affect how people create podcasts as much. People listen to podcasts for the human connection and even this won't be easily replaced.
I think there will be a split between human produced podcasts and AI produced podcasts which will feel like different things as a listener. The AI ones probably won't be referred to as podcasts - but they'll be very interesting!
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 15 Oct
Hey Oscar. Update seems to have fixed the issue of new episodes not appearing in my feed so that's great. Quick question. How do I do a payment split for our podcast. I see it in the podcast settings and I can see 95% to me, 4% to fountain and 1% to podcast index but how do I change my share to split it with another fountain user? I click on my name and nothing happens.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @martinbarilik 15 Oct
When fully functioning web app, i rarely listen to a podcasts on smarphone.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 14 Oct
How will you sum up 2024 Fountain in one word? And why?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 14 Oct
I recently made the switch to Fountain from Spotify and it is now my default. Thanks for everything!
One thing I'd like to see is a way to zap anonymously with it being logged in. SN and Wavlake have this.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Car 14 Oct
Oscar great to see you on for SN AMA.
I have two questions for you:
⚡️ What’s the best advice you received as a Bitcoin founder early on that made the biggest impact on your journey?
🤔 Reflecting on your experience building Fountain, is there one thing you would have done differently? If not, what mistake—if any—did you learn from along the way?"
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 14 Oct
Love the platform! Been using it for years. Need to get my wife on there. Amy plans to expand out more context? She’s into parenting and longevity living pods.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MaxAWebster 14 Oct
If you couldn't work on Fountain, what would you be doing/building?
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @MaxAWebster 14 Oct
It seems like music podcasts with embedded artists splits are really taking off - do you think this will be the first bitcoin/nostr native new content category to go mainstream?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
I think it might be but the discovery tools are still not good enough for this to happen right now - they are getting close though! We have some updates coming very soon that will hopefully help on this!
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @MaxAWebster 14 Oct
What are your favorite podcasts?
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420 sats \ 1 reply \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
Bitcoin:
Nostr:
Tech:
History:
And of course my overall favourite ;) - https://fountain.fm/show/6B4VONcojdM9GdIjnDZF
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @MaxAWebster 14 Oct
haha thanks ;) 🙏
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @MaxAWebster 14 Oct
What are some novel product experiences that Nostr enables? (In Fountain and beyond)
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121 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
The thing that I'm really interested in seeing and is actually more of a meta-layer is new kinds of notifications - this may sound incredibly boring haha - but if you think about the kinds of notifications that 2009 / 10 facebook and their developer platform offered - I think there will be a resurgence in these kinds of experiences built on nostr. I think games is an area that could massively benefit from this - but also any other consumer social products too. Even the simplest notification you might want to build:
"9 of your friends joined {app} this week!" is impossible with the current locked down social platforms / contact list permissions.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rodpalmer 14 Oct
it would be cool if Fountain had analytics tools podcasters and advertisers could use to build marketing and content creation strategies based on listener habits, boosts, nostr mentions, and other forms of user to podcast interaction using data inferred from the social graph. You could create podcast networks and ad networks with tools to distribute sats via payment split chains and nostr relays etc.
also being able to easily live stream would be cool
That's not a question and idk exactly how to do this but id be willing to help.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @timapple 14 Oct
Hey Oscar, I use Podcast Guru as my main app and fountain as my secondary. The main couple of differences are the ability to mark a whole podcast as listened to, which is very nice when you first subscribe, I usually don't listen to the back catalog and want to start fresh from the most recent episode. This may exist in fountain, but it is very hard to find if so.
My other issue is slow load times, the app sometimes doesn't load a episode for me without multiple closes and reopenings... to be fair, I haven't looked at it in a few weeks and that may be resolved.
The thing I like is the Nostr integration, which I think is great. Someday I may migrate fully to fountain, but for me, it just never seems stable, and the history thing bugs me.
But I cheer what you're doing and keep on eye on things all the time in hopes it gets to where I want it for daily use.... until then I will just jump back and forth.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 14 Oct
How would you build a mobile app differently knowing what you know now?
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228 sats \ 0 replies \ @MerryOscar OP 16 Oct
A few things I'd do differently:
  • focus on the native audio apis sooner rather than relying on open-source libraries which were buggy and not well supported - if we had taken the time early on to build our own audio libraries it would have saved us a lot of re-work later
  • become more of an expert in the ios and android profiling tools earlier - this kind of stuff is not as fun as building features / ui / logic - but the tools are incredibly helpful for improving performance and building a deeper understanding of how the mobile operating systems work
  • make as many of the ui elements as generic as possible - mobile interactions are well defined and there's no need to re-invent the wheel
I would definitely use Flutter again - overall have been really happy with it.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Thereal 14 Oct
What makes your application the only thing I should check?
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42 sats \ 1 reply \ @MerryOscar OP 14 Oct
You can earn sats for listening to podcasts!
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja 16 Oct
I have not received a single sat since the December upgrade, despite having a monthly subscription with you.
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