Jack Dorsey’s Decentralized Twitter Rival 'Bluesky' Hits App Store

Bluesky, the new social media platform backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and touted as a rival to Twitter, is now available on Apple's (AAPL) App Store.

Screenshots on the Bluesky App Store page reveal that the new app interface looks like a simplified version of Twitter.

The new app has functions that many Twitter users will be familiar with such as; likes, reposts, and the ability to comment on posts.

To post users click the ‘+’ button to create a message of 256 characters, which includes the ability to add photos.

The app on the App Store is a beta version and is currently only available on an invite-only basis.

To access it you must contact Bluesky and input your email address.

At present there’s no timescale on when more invites will be sent out, or when the final version will receive a wide distribution.

“We really are still in beta, but DM me if you want an invite” tweeted Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky.

Bluesky began life in 2019 as an in-house project at Twitter, with an initial funding round of $13m.

The original mission being to "develop technologies that enable open and decentralised public conversation".

The term 'decentralisation' meaning that user data is not owned by a centralised corporation, the way it is with the social media sites such as Facebook (META) and Instagram.

The platform will operate using multiple servers run by multiple entities, rather than being controlled by a single company.

The biggest difference between Bluesky and Twitter is in the way the former handles data and how it allows different social media sites to interact with one another. This is down to the code that gives the new platform its decentralised functionalities.

On the Bluesky blog the company explained the new way of interconnectivity and said: “Instead of one site running the network, you can have many sites, it means you get a choice of provider, and individuals and businesses can self-host if they want.”

“We’re calling the application we’re building Bluesky because it will be a portal to the world of possibility on top of the AT Protocol,” the blog added.

The AT Protocol allows users to join different servers that host specific social networks. In 2022, Dorsey described the Bluesky app as being like a “web browser” that lets you explore all the different social media sites within the AT Protocol network.

March 03, 2023