This is Flashes, Bluesky's Instagram
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 9:59 am
FLashes is a new photo and video app built on the decentralized social network Bluesky , which aims to compete with Instagram on its own turf. It offers a very similar experience to Meta 's social network —allowing users to share up to four photos or videos of up to one minute per post—but combined with the advantages of decentralized networks.
Flashes' public launch on the App Store at the whatsapp number list of February was a huge success, racking up around 30,000 downloads in its first 24 hours . We'll tell you what this new (sub?)social network is all about and how you can try it out.
What is Flashes
The most striking thing about Flashes is that it's not a standalone social network , but rather built on top of Bluesky and its AT Protocol. Created by German developer Sebastian Vogelsang —known for the Skeets app (another Bluesky client)—Flashes connects directly to the Bluesky community, which already has more than 32 million users.
In practice, this means that any photo or video you post on Flashes is automatically shared with the entire Bluesky network, greatly expanding your potential reach.
Unlike Instagram, where content is locked into its platform, Flashes acts as an image-focused Bluesky filter: it leverages the same social graph and displays photo and video content to your Bluesky followers without the need for
Flashes' public launch on the App Store at the whatsapp number list of February was a huge success, racking up around 30,000 downloads in its first 24 hours . We'll tell you what this new (sub?)social network is all about and how you can try it out.
What is Flashes
The most striking thing about Flashes is that it's not a standalone social network , but rather built on top of Bluesky and its AT Protocol. Created by German developer Sebastian Vogelsang —known for the Skeets app (another Bluesky client)—Flashes connects directly to the Bluesky community, which already has more than 32 million users.
In practice, this means that any photo or video you post on Flashes is automatically shared with the entire Bluesky network, greatly expanding your potential reach.
Unlike Instagram, where content is locked into its platform, Flashes acts as an image-focused Bluesky filter: it leverages the same social graph and displays photo and video content to your Bluesky followers without the need for