Bluesky Will Have Its Own Instagram (Sort Of)

If you’re one of the millions who have joined Bluesky in recent months, chances are you’ve been put off by established social media platforms. You probably aren’t interested in sites with predatory data privacy policies or sites that appease a future presidential administration with contempt for the truth . Perhaps you enjoy an online space where people can share thoughts, content, and jokes in a way that is not overtly intended to anger or harm anyone for gain.

Of course, Bluesky has you covered, at least as a replacement for X. But if you like sharing photos and videos with the wider internet, you’re probably still tied to Instagram – whether you like it or not. There are other options, such as Pixelfed, a decentralized photo sharing platform that now has an official app . But if you’re betting on Bluesky, it would be great if you could bring that same experience to the community you started building there.

That’s why Flashes are one of the most interesting social media concepts I’ve seen lately. The app, developed by Sebastian Vogelsang, is based on his earlier Skeets app , a subscription-requiring Bluesky client with a focus on accessibility, among other features (for example, if you want to be able to edit your posts, Skeets uses a nifty workaround to do this) . But for Flashses, Vogelsang’s goal was to make the photos and videos posted on Bluesky look like Instagram.

Here’s the thing: Flashes isn’t really an Instagram competitor. There is no Flashes platform, you will not register for a Flashes account, and you will not post photos or videos to the dedicated Flashes channel. Instead, the app is a “photo client” for Bluesky. Essentially, it pulls all the photos and videos from your Bluesky feed and displays them in an Instagram-like user interface. You can post photos and videos through Flashes, but you’re really just posting them on Bluesky. Any posts you make to Flashes, as well as any comments on those posts, will also appear in your Bluesky account.

If you’re intrigued, unfortunately you’ll have to wait a little longer before you can try it out: the official Flashes App Bluesky account just started posting today, and Vogelsang plans to launch Testflight open beta next week for iOS users. But once the app is officially launched, you will be able to use it to post four photos or videos at once. (Videos can be up to one minute each.)

According to TechCrunch , Vogelsand also plans to launch a video-only version of Flashes called Blue Screen. This might be a worthy TikTok alternative for truly passionate Bluesky users.

News of Flashes comes at an uncertain time for legacy social media. Users have migrated from X to alternatives like Bluesky ; US government is on the verge of banning TikTok , prompting users to flee to other Chinese apps in protest ; and Meta alienates many of its users with its strange and frustrating decisions. We seem to be at an inflection point and people are looking for new, alternative platforms. If you already have Bluesky subscribers, I can’t see a better photo sharing solution than one that simply works with the app you’re already so invested in.

More…