Bluesky Originated within Twitter — an Invite-Only App
TechCrunch reported that BlueSky is now on Apple App Store as an invite-only app. This is a project that Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, supported. The app resembles Twitter, especially the timeline and profile pages.
The app only invited some users to try it out. It debuted on February 17 and has been downloaded 2,000 times. Because of its invite-only status, it indicates that the beta testers can try it at this time.
The app is not on Top Charts in the US yet and it’s also not on Google Play.
Authenticated Transfer Protocol
This project is powered Authenticated Transfer Protocol. It’s an open-source social protocol. Overall, it is a “federated social network.” That is, there are networks within a single hub.
The AT Protocol is based on account portability, performance, interoperability, and algorithmic. It allows you to transfer your account data to another provider and you have more control over what you see on a network.
The app was made available for beta testing in October. But with the recent development, it appears that the company wants to test it a bit more. As to when it will be available to the general public, the BlueSky website doesn’t offer any details. It also doesn’t state the number of testers who can use the app.
However, if you wish to try it out, you can join a waitlist.
Bluesky originated within Twitter. When Elon Musk took over, a lot of people raised concerns about the future of the app considering that it relied on Twitter for funding.
But, last year, it noted that it is now a separate company. In other words, it is independent of Twitter and it added Jack Dorsey to its board.
Dorsey explained to Musk that a new platform is required. However, it can’t be a company. It is one of the reasons he left Twitter. He left the social network in November 2021. But he remained on Twitter’s board until May 2022.
After he gave up his CEO duties, he talked about Bluesky. He said that it is an open decentralized standard for social media. That was also the time when he discussed Twitter’s decision to ban Trump from the platform.
Dorsey believed that having a decentralized platform will prevent centralized ones from taking much power in deciding which users could engage in speech and who can moderate the content.
Bluesky looks promising. It has separate tabs for search, notifications, and home. It has a repost ability, just like Twitter.
This app may help users be away from mean tweets and crypto scams. However, there are various Twitter clones now. (Remember Mastodon?). Dorsey and his team would have to make Bluesky more appealing to entice users to use it over Twitter.
The company has not commented on or answered questions bout the app. It’s not going to press at this time because it is more focused on working and eradicating bugs from the app.
