Block only launched Buzz yesterday, but one of its most obvious limitations is already being addressed by Soapbox. You see, Armada v0.37 now supports Buzz communities, allowing people to access their workspaces from a web browser or an Android phone.
That matters because Buzz currently only ships as a desktop app. While that may work for developers sitting at a computer all day, modern team communication cannot realistically stop whenever someone leaves their desk.
Soapbox deserves a lot of praise for recognizing that problem and moving so quickly to solve it. Rather than waiting for Block to release official mobile and web clients, Armada is using the open protocols behind Buzz to connect directly to its workspaces.
A Buzz workspace is essentially a Nostr relay operated by a team. Chat messages, forum discussions, project repositories, pull requests, issues, and other workspace data all live on that relay. Members authenticate using NIP-42, while projects use the NIP-34 protocol also associated with ngit.
Because Buzz relies on open protocols rather than a completely closed backend, other developers can build compatible clients. Armada is now showing why that approach matters.
Buzz users can sign in to Armada using the same Nostr key they already use with Block’s desktop app. Their Buzz workspaces then appear alongside Concord communities, NIP-29 servers, and encrypted Nostr direct messages.
Armada v0.37 supports regular chat channels with threads, reactions, replies, and clickable mentions. It also supports Buzz forum channels, which present longer discussions as cards with voting and comments instead of letting everything disappear inside a constantly moving chat feed.
The update also provides access to Buzz Projects. Users can browse repositories, pull requests, issues, members, and contribution activity stored on the workspace relay. Project access is currently read-only, so users cannot yet create repositories, open issues, or comment on pull requests from Armada.
Buzz’s support for AI agents also carries over. Agents receive their own Nostr keypairs and appear in workspaces as members with an Agent role. Authorized users can mention an agent from Armada and receive responses just as they would through the official Buzz desktop application.
This could be particularly useful for teams using tools such as Goose, Claude Code, Codex, or other software that supports the Agent Client Protocol. An agent can run on a laptop, server, or cloud virtual machine while remaining accessible through the team’s Buzz workspace.
Armada cannot currently create or manage those agents. That still requires the Buzz desktop app, but Soapbox says agent management inside Armada is planned.
There are other limitations. Workspace administration, including channel management, roles, and server settings, remains tied to the desktop client. Voice calling inside Buzz rooms is also planned but unavailable today.
The biggest disappointment is that Armada’s native mobile app is only available for Android through Zap Store. There is no iPhone or iPad app, which leaves Apple users relying on the web version at armada.buzz.
The web client is certainly better than having no mobile access at all, but an iOS app would make the experience far more complete. Buzz is supposed to serve as a serious collaboration platform, and plenty of developers, executives, and other potential users carry iPhones.
Still, Soapbox accomplished something important here. Buzz had barely arrived before Armada provided a practical way to access it away from a desktop computer. That is exactly the type of rapid development and interoperability that open protocols are supposed to encourage.
It also gives Buzz an early advantage over collaboration services that lock users into one official client. Block may control the Buzz desktop app, but it does not have to control every way people interact with a Buzz workspace.
Soapbox did not merely announce that mobile support was coming someday. It shipped a working solution immediately, complete with chat, forums, projects, notifications, direct messages, and support for AI agents.
Android users get the best experience for now, while everyone else can use the browser. Hopefully, native iPhone and iPad support will follow, because Soapbox has already shown that it understands what Buzz needs better than Buzz itself did at launch.
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