For those who want an alternative app to Instagram, one candidate is Flashes. The app introduced by Bluesky seems to have hit the mark with its simple features. If you remember what Instagram was like before Meta turned it into a replacement for Facebook, you have an idea of what it is. It is an app for sharing photos and videos, but instead of an algorithm, you can choose personalized homepages. The moment you open the app, you can log in using your Bluesky account or open a new account on Flashes. When you use your existing account, the app uploads photos and videos of the people you follow. This also works the other way around: every post you share on Flashes also appears on Bluesky.
The app itself has several sections such as a main space, a search space for trending posts and topics, a space for creating new posts, notifications, and profile.
Flashes includes some filters for your photos and personalized pages that you can use, but other customizations are minimal. The app is like a version of Bluesky that focuses on photos and videos. There are a few drawbacks for now. If you receive notifications on Bluesky, they will also appear on Flashes. If you delete your account in one app, this also applies to the other. Building a more personalized social network that does not limit the user to one platform is one of the goals of Bluesky. The app that competes with X has started to gain momentum. In November 2024, it reached 20 million users, and in January it passed 30 million.
