Bluesky customers on Android now have entry to a brand new app that works extra like Instagram than X. On Tuesday, an app referred to as Pinksky launched an Android version of its photo-centric social networking expertise constructed on prime of Bluesky.
The app is now one in all many making an attempt to court docket former Instagram customers by providing an analogous person interface to Meta’s app, however one which’s constructed on open know-how. Lots of the newcomers on this house, like Pinksky, are constructing on prime of the present social community Bluesky, permitting them to faucet into customers’ social connections and feeds.
Nevertheless, this additionally limits the apps to Bluesky’s personal constraints of as much as 4 images per put up and movies of as much as one minute in size.
Pinksky’s app was constructed by developer Ramon Souza, a full-stack developer whose work has largely centered on working with net applied sciences.
He tells TechCrunch that he was impressed to construct Pinksky having already been drawn to open applied sciences like ActivityPub (the protocol powering Mastodon), and one other open social protocol Nostr. Bluesky, in the meantime, leverages the newer AT Protocol (or atproto), which is at present fostering a wave of experimentation from the indie developer neighborhood.
Nevertheless, whereas Pinksky seems to be and feels rather a lot like Instagram, Souza believes the apps will attain totally different audiences.
“There are a number of person segments inside Instagram: those that watch loads of reels, those that observe content material creators, and those that wish to join with pals,” he explains, in response to a query from TechCrunch. “I believe Pinksky suits into the third section — centered extra on images and connections reasonably than viral and repetitive content material.”
In different phrases, it’s extra of a traditional, photo-sharing-focused Instagram expertise.
The app was beforehand accessible for iOS the place it affords a well-known Instagram-like look, which incorporates person profiles with images, a feed of images and movies, and a Tales part, the place posts stay seen for under 24 hours. Customers can interact with posts by feedback and liking them, which syncs again to Bluesky’s consumer app, too.
As a result of it’s constructed on prime of Bluesky, customers’ social networks will already be accessible after they log into the app for the primary time — presuming they’ve a Bluesky account.
For now, the app is simply an experiment, however Souza says that would change if there’s additional curiosity. For example, he’d think about integration with different applied sciences, like Mastodon, Pixelfed, or Nostr, or working his personal occasion. However as he’s at present masking the prices of Pinksky, expansions would doubtless must contain some form of enterprise mannequin — like paying for premium options.
Pinksky competes with different apps being constructed on this house, together with Flashes, Pixelfed, Reelo, and others.