Q1 2026 Ecosystem Roundup: Polls, Wallets, and the Desktop Push

The first quarter of 2026 has been one of the most feature-packed periods in Nostr’s history. Three major clients shipped transformative updates, Web of Trust went cross-client, and OpenSats passed $10 million in funding for the ecosystem.

The Big Three Updates

Amethyst v1.06.0 — The Everything Release

Vitor Pamplona shipped what might be the most feature-dense release in Nostr client history. Amethyst v1.06.0 (March 23) added polls, calendar appointments, a redesigned media player with music support and waveform animations, a comprehensive NWC wallet, code snippets, Blossom URI support, and chess. Yes, chess on Nostr.

The release also includes NIP-85 Trusted Assertions for Web of Trust scoring, NIP-51 relay favourites, and a URL parser rewrite in Kotlin Multiplatform. An early Amethyst Desktop build signals the Android-first client’s expansion to desktop.

Primal’s v3.0 release (March 2026) introduced the Spark wallet integration, replacing the previous custodial wallet with a more capable option. Polls arrived alongside GIF support and smoother onboarding.

The standout feature is Remote Login (NIP-46) — use Primal to sign into other Nostr web clients without ever exposing your private key. Combined with Android Signer support (NIP-55) via Amber, Primal has become a serious key management tool, not just a social client.

Notedeck v0.8 — The Nostr Browser Takes Shape

Damus’s desktop client Notedeck jumped from v0.4 to v0.8 in Q1, a massive leap. The new version adds follows view with list columns, “View As User” on profiles, Gift Wrap support (NIP-59) for private messaging, and a Nostr-based auto-update system with SHA256 verification.

Meanwhile, Damus iOS v1.16 added live streaming and chat (as “Damus Labs” experiments), offline note loading, and a long-form article reader with focus mode and reading progress. NIP-65 relay list support improves relay selection.

Cross-Client Trends

Web of Trust Goes Mainstream

The biggest protocol-level story of Q1 is Web of Trust adoption. NIP-85 (Trusted Assertions) was merged in January 2026, allowing clients to offload WoT calculations to trusted providers. Amethyst shows trust scores on user profiles. Coracle has had WoT moderation for a while. Primal is integrating trust signals.

This matters because content moderation on a decentralised protocol is genuinely hard. Web of Trust provides a user-sovereign alternative to centralised moderation — each user can choose who they trust, and those trust scores propagate through the network.

Polls Everywhere

Both Amethyst and Primal now support polls (regular and zap-based), making community engagement more interactive. Expect other clients to follow.

Long-Form Content Matures

YakiHonne received an OpenSats grant for mobile stability and offline-first publishing. noStrudel v0.46 added an article reader with native text-to-speech. Primal’s Reads tab continues to grow. The ecosystem is moving beyond microblogging.

Desktop Expansion

Notedeck’s rapid v0.4-to-v0.8 jump and Amethyst Desktop’s early builds signal a serious push to capture desktop users. Nostr is no longer a mobile-only ecosystem.

Funding and Sustainability

OpenSats has now allocated over $10 million to Nostr projects through The Nostr Fund. The 14th grant wave (December 2025) funded YakiHonne, Quartz (Kotlin Multiplatform shared library), and Nostr Feedz. Long-term support grants continue for key developers including Hodlbod (Coracle) and Kieran (Snort/Zap.Stream).

Apple Tensions Continue

Nostur became the latest Nostr client to face Apple’s “zap jail” — forced to remove direct Lightning payments under Apple’s digital content purchasing policy. The Zapplepay workaround remains the recommended path for iOS users who want to zap.

What We’re Watching

NIP-52 Calendar Events: Amethyst’s implementation could spark a Nostr-native events ecosystem
Remote Login (NIP-46): If more clients adopt Primal’s approach, key management gets much safer
Relay Discovery: Jumble PWA (OpenSats funded) and NIP-43 relay membership lists could improve how users find relays
Nos: Last App Store update was February 2025. GitHub shows active development, but the gap is notable

Updated Content

We’ve refreshed our client directory with all Q1 2026 changes. Six client profiles updated with new features, version numbers, and ecosystem context. Our events page now correctly handles recurring meetups and past conference dates.

This roundup covers Nostr ecosystem developments from January to March 2026. Follow us via RSS for future updates.