Instagram different Flashes publicly launched its Bluesky-based photo-sharing app on the App Retailer this week, gaining practically 30,000 downloads in its first 24 hours. The app provides a basic Instagram-like expertise, permitting customers to add as much as 4 images and movies of as much as a minute in size.
Constructed by Berlin-based developer Sebastian Vogelsang, Flashes runs on the identical underlying protocol that powers Bluesky, the AT Protocol (or atproto for brief).
As a result of it’s based mostly on Bluesky, the social networking startup with now over 32 million customers, Flashes has entry to a built-in viewers. That’s, all of the posts you make on the Flashes app are suitable with Bluesky, which means they will attain a wider viewers past these utilizing the Flashes app itself.
Whereas Flashes resembles Instagram in some features, it’s extra customizable.
As a substitute of being trapped by an algorithm of the corporate’s making, folks on Flashes can entry any of the greater than 50,000 customized feeds on Bluesky that allow folks curate the community’s content material nevertheless they need. Plus, the app provides built-in feeds for each the highest posts and newest posts throughout Bluesky’s community.
Different options are designed to cater to photographers trying to showcase their work.
A “Portfolio Mode” permits you to curate your profile by selecting what media will seem to guests, for instance. That manner, you may characteristic your greatest pictures up entrance when folks go to your profile.
Posts created in Flashes itself could be edited utilizing built-in picture filters, too, much like Instagram.
One other new characteristic focuses on curated feeds from artists.
Flashes is kicking off this latest replace with pictures from the Blacksky neighborhood. (Blacksky has been constructing out Bluesky instruments for the Black neighborhood, together with Blacksky feeds, its personal moderation service, and different technical options.)
Vogelsang says he’s had some conversations with buyers round funding and is open to alternatives. The app had reached 40,500 downloads as of Thursday and is considered one of a number of new efforts constructing on high of the Bluesky platform.
