any-sync VS any-block

Co-founder of Anytype is here [1]. Excited to share the multi-player release is live!

Last time I shared how Anytype can be used to build encrypted, local-first spaces around your interests [2]. Today, these spaces can be shared and co-created together: with your family members, small communities, teams, neighbors and people with similar interests. Examples: https://gallery.any.coop/Collaboration.

When we were testing collaboration internally for the first time, it felt like magic - we as a team were editing the same page, even after switching off the Internet - changes happened in an instant and all of them were synced via wi-fi.

Unlike cloud applications, in Anytype the encryption keys are stored locally, so only creators have access to them, so they own the space with its data and social graph. Every change is cryptographically signed, spaces can be created offline and can sync in peer to peer ways in local networks. This is enabled by open source protocol AnySync that supports high-performant collaboration over encrypted data and creators’ controlled keys. All our code is open on Github - https://github.com/anyproto/any-sync.

This first version of collaboration is very basic - it’s an alpha. It’s far from polished. We will focus on making it complete by adding notifications, public spaces, comments, and many other essential features in the coming months.

Why we’ve built it? Why anytype is the way it is?

> Then how can I use the app without creating first an account and space which will sync my data without even asking? You talk about trust and offline-first, but the first thing you do is uploading data and don't even talk about it.

It's not an account you create in a classical way using a server. It's locally generated data wallet ( we need it for encryption and sync). We talk via on-boarding that your wallet will be synced, and that your data is encrypted only with the key generated on your machine. It's for people who don't want to mess with self-hosting. If you want you can make your build from GitHub, disconnect sync, or just self-host yours. This way our promise works.

> we have described our data format

we have a GitHub! here it is https://github.com/anyproto/any-block

> BTW Don't reinvent menus. I just now realized that File->Close does not actually close the app, like in any other app. And for whatever reason, there was no information about the App still running. Kinda sus..

good point!