Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions. Please check to see if your question is addressed below. If you need further assistance, feel free to contact me.

Backup File Location

To begin, you need to select the folder where your downloaded backup file(s) are located.

TimeTraverseHub will extract the .zip file into a new folder and parse the contents. Depending on the size of your archive and your computer’s performance, this may take a few seconds.

Currently, TimeTraverseHub supports processing one backup file at a time.

Supported Backup Types

As of December 2024, TimeTraverseHub supports Instagram archives only.

I plan to add support for Twitter (now X) archives in the coming months. If there’s enough interest, I may also add support for other platforms like Reddit or Facebook.

Feed

TimeTraverseHub displays your photos in a month-by-month feed. You can navigate through the months using the top navigation buttons.

Clicking the month and year in the center of the top navigation bar allows you to jump to any month in your archive.

In the settings, you can change the feed’s sort order. By default, the newest posts are shown first. You can also enable an option to remember the current month when you restart the application.

Supported Networks

Currently, TimeTraverseHub supports the following networks:

  • Mastodon
  • Pixelfed

Planned support:

  • Bluesky

If you’d like support for other networks, please submit a feature request.

Note: I do not support posting to networks operated by Meta.

Mastodon

Authentication

To post to your Mastodon feed via TimeTraverseHub, you need to authorize the application.

First, provide the instance where your account is hosted (e.g., mastodon.social). You’ll be redirected to a browser window to log in and grant the necessary permissions for posting.

TimeTraverseHub will receive a token used to authenticate requests to your Mastodon server.

Security

The token is securely stored in your Mac’s Keychain. It’s read only when posting, and immediately cleared from the application’s memory afterward, ensuring your account remains secure.

Revoke Access Rights

You can revoke TimeTraverseHub’s access anytime via your Mastodon account’s Preferences:

  1. Go to Preferences > Account settings > Authorized Apps.
  2. Find TimeTraverseHub and click Revoke.

To post again after revoking access, you’ll need to log in and reauthorize the app.

Pixelfed

Authentication

To post to your Pixelfed feed, you need to authorize the application.

Provide the instance where your account is hosted (e.g., pixelfed.social). You’ll be redirected to a browser window to log in and grant the necessary permissions for posting.

Pixelfed tokens expire after 15 days, so you may occasionally need to log in again.

Security

The token is securely stored in your Mac’s Keychain. It’s read only when posting, and immediately cleared from the application’s memory afterward, ensuring your account remains secure.

Revoke Access Rights

You can revoke TimeTraverseHub’s access anytime via your Pixelfed account’s Settings:

  1. Go to Settings > Applications.
  2. Find TimeTraverseHub and click Revoke.

To post again after revoking access, you’ll need to log in and reauthorize the app.

Bluesky

Bluesky support is coming in 2025.
More details will be provided once it’s implemented.

Sharing

General

By default, TimeTraverseHub includes the original text from your archive in the sharing dialog. You can disable this option in the settings.

You can post up to 500 characters, excluding any content warning.

Currently, only one photo can be posted at a time. Support for multiple images will be added in a future update.

ALT Descriptions

TimeTraverseHub requires you to provide an ALT description for every photo. You can disable this requirement in the settings if you prefer.

Content Warning / NSFW Flag

TimeTraverseHub allows you to add a content warning for networks that support this feature. The length of your content warning counts towards the character limit of your post.

You can also flag posts as NSFW (Not Safe For Work). In the settings, you can choose to apply content warnings or NSFW flags by default to all posts.

You can include a footer when reposting content from your archive. Define a footer template in the settings using these parameters:

  • $nl = new line
  • $network = original social network (e.g., Instagram)
  • $originalDate = date of the original post
  • $repostVia = adds “Repost via #TimeTraverseHub on {platform}”

Any additional text in the template will be included as written. If no custom template is defined, the default template is used:

$nl $nl Originally posted on $network at $originalDate $nl $repostVia