Flashes, an alternative to Instagram developed on the Bluesky social network, has officially opened beta testing. Recently announced, the app provides a pathway for users seeking to leave Meta’s vast social network in favor of a more open option, while also appealing to new users who might not have considered the official Bluesky app, which resembles X more closely.
The app, created by Berlin-based developer Sebastian Vogelsang, operates on the AT Protocol (or atproto), the same framework that supports Bluesky. As a client for Bluesky, Flashes allows users to share photo posts featuring up to four images and videos with a duration of one minute. Additionally, posts made on Flashes will be visible on Bluesky, and any comments from Bluesky users on those posts will also appear in Flashes.
Flashes works by filtering Bluesky’s timeline to highlight posts that contain photos and videos. Users also have the option to navigate through their different Bluesky feeds directly within Flashes, providing varied perspectives on the social network.
As articulated by Vogelsang in January, his vision for Flashes is to engage users who may not have considered themselves part of the “Twitter crowd” to explore Bluesky.
“This could serve as an accessible entry point into the network and the entire protocol,” he stated.
Flashes successfully launched its beta rapidly due to Vogelsang’s ability to repurpose code from his previous app, Skeets, which boasts over 30,000 users. By leveraging Bluesky’s foundation, Flashes gains from the growing user base of the social networking startup. Recently, Bluesky reached a significant milestone, exceeding 30 million users and generating 1 billion posts. As of now, it has close to 31 million users, as per data compiled from Bluesky’s developer API.
Through both Flashes and Skeets, Vogelsang plans to test features such as push notifications, multi-account support, bookmarking, and user notifications. Future enhancements may include advanced image editing tools, Story support, and potentially customizable profile pages.
In the long run, Vogelsang intends to incorporate subscription options across all his apps, ensuring that users won’t face dual charges when switching between his various platforms.
Currently, the list of apps includes Bluescreen, another application that aims to replicate a TikTok-like experience for Bluesky. Like Flashes, Bluescreen is based on Bluesky, but Vogelsang is considering broadening both apps to directly incorporate atproto, which could facilitate longer video content.
The Flashes beta is hosted on Apple’s TestFlight platform but is currently facing some technical challenges. However, Vogelsang confirmed that Apple’s engineering team is actively investigating the issue and working on a solution. Within just the first hour of its launch, the beta registered approximately 3,500 sign-ups, showcasing substantial consumer interest. A sign-up form for the beta is also available.
It’s important to note that Flashes is not the only application working towards creating an Instagram-like alternative on an open protocol. Another Bluesky image-sharing app, Pinksky, is already operational, and Pixelfed has recently introduced its mobile applications powered by the ActivityPub protocol, which is also utilized by Mastodon.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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