Say goodbye to Meta’s social apps and say hello to Bluesky’s latest development, a photo-sharing app called Flashes. Developed independently, Flashes runs on the AT Protocol, embedding code from the developer’s previously launched Bluesky client, Skeets.
Flashes is anticipated to cater to the rising consumer interest in alternative social media platforms outside of Big Tech’s dominion. This progressive trend boosts the popularity of open source, decentralized apps such as Mastodon and Bluesky. Recent introductions like the Pixelfed mobile apps, rooted in Mastodon’s ActivityPub protocol, bear witness.
The brainchild of Berlin-based developer Sebastian Vogelsang, Flashes sprouts from its predecessor, Skeets. Serving over 27.5 million Bluesky users, Vogelsang adeptly tuned the Skeets app to meet the varied needs of iPad users and those requiring enhanced accessibility features.
Fast forward to late last year, Vogelsang discerned immense potential to extend his codebase to create apps catering to Bluesky users with a penchant for visual content. Thus, the arrival of a design that resembles popular photo-sharing apps like Instagram.
Admittedly, Flashes is not designed to emulate Instagram completely. At its launch, it will facilitate posts with up to four images or videos up to 1 minute, consistent with Bluesky’s feature. What’s more, Flashes users will enjoy a seamless integration with Bluesky, where their posts will appear, and comments can feed back.
Expect Bluesky to roll out Flashes publically in a matter of weeks, with a TestFlight beta dropping earlier. Keep an eye out for updates on Bluesky’s main channel.
Original source: Read the full article on TechCrunch
