This week, while Twitter again tightened their restrictions on 3rd party apps, App.net passed its funding level, and developers quickly started releasing new web and native apps built on the new platform. App.net was designed to be an open social network that encourages innovation and 3rd party apps. In fact, its own Alpha app is only built as a design reference, to show what could be done with the network.

That doesn’t mean that the Alpha app isn’t interesting, though. In fact, it’s already received a number of new features and tweaks in its first week of existence. Let’s take a look at where App.net stands this week, and what the best apps have to offer. (more…)