Anybody searching for a substitute for Instagram may need an acceptable candidate in Flashes, a not too long ago launched app constructed on Bluesky that appears to get all of the necessary fundamentals proper. Flashes technically launched on the App Retailer on February 24, however a sequence of updates launched within the days after launch have made the app a lot simpler to advocate.
In the event you keep in mind an Instagram earlier than Meta turned it into its Fb substitute, you may have the essential gist of what Flashes is. It is an app for sharing images and movies, with some Bluesky-flavored wrinkles, like multiple custom feeds to select from as a substitute of Meta’s algorithm-driven default possibility.
If you first open Flashes you will be prompted to login with a Bluesky account or create a brand new one to make use of completely with Flashes. In the event you use your current account, the app basically repackages picture and video posts from whoever you are at present following into an Instagram-style feed. This setup additionally works in reverse: Any publish you placed on Flashes can even present up in your regular text-focused Bluesky feed.
The app itself options a number of tabs, with a house tab on your feeds, a search tab the place you possibly can seek for posts and consider trending subjects, a devoted tab for creating new posts, a notifications tab that options your entire Bluesky notifications and a profile tab. Flashes consists of some filters to use to your images, together with some customized feeds that you need to use in order for you, however in any other case customizations are minimal. It is actually a picture and video-focused model of Bluesky. That comes with some annoying drawbacks, although. In the event you get loads of Bluesky notifications, you will now get them twice, as soon as within the Bluesky app and as soon as in Flashes. In the event you delete your account from one app, it’s going to even be deleted from the opposite.
Constructing a extra customizable, moveable model of social media that does not lock you to 1 platform is a giant a part of Bluesky’s objective with the AT Protocol and what apps like Mastodon and Threads are attempting to do with ActivityPub. It isn’t clear if one commonplace goes to change into the default, however Bluesky has been selecting up momentum. The app hit 20 million users in November 2024, prompting a dramatic expansion to its moderation efforts, after which handed 30 million users in January 2025. Flashes design means all of these new Bluesky accounts are potential Flashes customers, too.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/flashes-an-instagram-alternative-based-on-bluesky-is-available-for-iphones-now-205946754.html?src=rss
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