Flashes, An Instagram Rival Built on Bluesky, Launched Widely

Bluesky, the emerging social media platform challenging X, has finally launched its own contender in the photo-sharing space: Flashes. Introduced in January, Flashes seeks to revive the essence of Instagram’s original photo-sharing experience and is now available on the App Store.

Designed by Sebastian Vogelsang, an independent developer, Flashes operates on the same AT Protocol as Bluesky. Vogelsang is also the creator of Skeets, a third-party Bluesky client tailored for iPhones, iPads, and macOS systems.

The major advantage of the AT Protocol lies in its open ecosystem, which eliminates platform lock-in. This allows for decentralized social networking, enabling users to seamlessly transfer their posts from Flashes to any other platform that supports the same protocol.

This concept is somewhat similar to the Fediverse, which is based on the ActivityPub protocol. Meta has already integrated it with Threads, allowing content from other social platforms like Mastodon to be viewed and interacted with on Threads.

Flashes allows users to share up to four images in a single post or upload videos that are up to one minute long. It features an optional portfolio mode that lets users curate the content displayed on their social profile’s homepage.

On their profiles, users can showcase their media, likes, feeds, and curated lists. Additionally, they can save select feeds for easy access later. At the top of the profile interface, four customizable tabs are available.

The app’s most appealing feature is its feed system, allowing users to follow their chosen pages without the influence of an algorithm, in contrast to Instagram. This means users see only content they choose to engage with instead of being bombarded by algorithmically suggested posts based on their past activity.

Currently, Flashes offers access to over 50,000 feeds, allowing users to pin their favorites. The app also provides various creative filters and the option to download RAW images from user profiles.

In terms of compatibility, all content shared on Flashes is natively supported on Bluesky. This means posts made on Flashes can reach the Bluesky audience, significantly enhancing visibility among its approximately 30 million users.