Dan Romero
@dwr.eth
As previously discussed, we're considering renaming the Warpcast app to Farcaster. Why? - Top priority is grow users on the protocol - The name split is extremely confusing for new users - So, we want to simplify How we're thinking about it - Rename Warpcast mobile app - warpcast.com to farcaster.xyz for web app - Open source both apps - No change protocol name, i.e. similar to Uniswap with app / protocol What we’re doing - Seeking input and want to make sure we understand concerns - Ultimately Varun and I will make a decision; it won’t be a vote. - Expect a decision in the next week or so; if yes, we will give plenty of notice and will take time to do this correctly / cleanly. How you can provide input - Developers: please reply here or feel free to reach out to me via direct message whether you agree or disagree. - Everyone else: you're free to offer input, but we will be weighting developer input a bit more since it has a bigger near-term impact on what they are building
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Dan Romero
@dwr.eth
Additional context 1. We originally launched the Farcaster beta as a desktop app called Farcaster in 2021 2. In February 2023 we rebranded the app to Warpcast and deprecated desktop / moved to mobile + web app 3. The original rationale was we felt like having our client (Warpcast) have a different name from the protocol (Farcaster) would make it easier for other developers to build clients that would grow the number of users on the protocol 4. Ultimately, that didn't really play out (for a variety of reasons) and Warpcast has been how most active users 1) created an account 2) use the protocol today 5. Recently, we've been spending a lot of time onboarding new users to Farcaster (with varying degrees of knowledge about crypto). Nearly everyone says they were confused between what is Farcaster and Warpcast. This is especially confusing when the core Farcaster team (i.e. Merkle employees) talk about Farcaster more than Warpcast yet we are building Warpcast. (continued)
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Dan Romero
@dwr.eth
6. A simplified name benefits consumers — they may have heard about Farcaster, now they can just search via Google or the mobile app store and find it. 7. It's slightly worse for developers in that it makes it harder for people to use an alternative client that's quite similar to the current Warpcast UX. However, our hope is the improved consumer benefit compounds with user growth and leads to a bigger addressable market for developers. 8. Why not rename Warpcast? It doesn't solve the core problem of two names. Farcaster has a massive amount of brand equity—we've spent years talking about it. 9. Why not rename the protocol? Developers care about 1) potential users 2) working / stable APIs and infra. Most developers are familiar with what a protocol is (esp. in crypto), so it's fine to have the nuance of app / protocol same name (like Uniswap) in the developer docs.
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rustyqt.eth
@rustyqt.eth
True, I was always confused with the Warpcast name. Farcaster is a much better name 👍
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