ash garcia

Hi all,

You probably guessed as much from the lack of updates over the last couple years, but I’m making it official: Washboard is essentially “done” at this point. I will do my best to keep the site online for as long as people find value in it (which a startling number of you still do!), but I just don’t have the time to rewrite everything from the ground up like I touted in 2018.

Tag filtering is here Don’t see what you don’t wanna see

In our ongoing effort to help you all determine your own experience here on Tumblr, we’re launching one of our most requested features: the ability to filter out posts from your dashboard based on their tags.

Trying to avoid #Star Wars spoilers? Filter them out. Need a break from all the #holiday excitement this month? Sheesh, fine. Filter it out. It’s your dashboard. Groom it well.

Where do I set up a tag filter?

In your settings! You’ll find it in your general settings on mobile, under “Filtering.” On the web, you’ll find it in your account settings, also under “Filtering.”

That makes sense. Will I know when stuff is being filtered out?

Yup. Just like with Safe Mode, you’ll see a placeholder in your dashboard wherever something is being hidden. If you actually do want to see it, you can click/tap on it, and it’ll appear.

I follow some real nimrods. How can I stop seeing their posts?

Unfollow them! And if they’re really being a jerk, block them. And if they’re truly being hateful, report them.

Anything else I should know?

Sure. There are lots of other tools for making Tumblr the Tumblr you want to see. You can read about them all in our help center.

It looks like Tumblr recently introduced a change that attempts to redirect all requests to www.tumblr.com from mobile browsers to their apps. Unfortunately, this includes the authentication endpoint used by Washboard, and so clicking on the “Sign in with Tumblr” button ends up redirecting you to the app and possibly displaying an error message in the web browser.

Washboard — Tumblr Savior for mobile devices

Hello, Tumblr! Over the last few months I’ve been working on a project that brings keyword blacklisting to mobile devices, and it’s finally ready for the public. If you’re not familiar, Tumblr Savior is a browser extension that allows users to hide posts containing certain keywords or tags. It works great for desktops, but it can’t be used on phones or tablets, and the official Tumblr apps don’t offer any alternatives.

That’s where Washboard steps in: just sign in with Tumblr, import your blacklist from Tumblr Savior, and start browsing! Washboard also features infinite scrolling, a “Safe Mode" toggle that hides images, and a few other features that make mobile browsing as painless as possible.

There’s no denying that the unveiling of XKit Mobile puts Washboard a bit out of the spotlight. If I had had the resources to make a native app, I certainly would have done so, but I’m glad someone else (a very competent developer, at that) stepped up to the plate.

That said, I will continue to support Washboard for a number of reasons: users who cannot purchase XKit Mobile, users on devices other than iOS (especially Android), and so on. The improvements I promised in May are forthcoming, slowly but surely.

Introducing XKit for iPhone

Well it took a few months, but it’s here: XKit for iOS is now available on the App Store. It comes with Blacklist, PostBlock, Mute, One-Click Reply, Disable GIFs, No Recommended Posts and much more.

I also wrote a transparency letter about it, if you are interested. (highly recommended as it discusses some missing features and the future of the app.)