Bluesky Photo App Flashes Launches on the App Store
Photographers rejoice: a new photo-sharing app is now available on the App Store and it has nothing to do with Meta or the head of Doge.
The Flashes app, created by Sebastian Vogelsang, is to bring a dedicated photo and video-sharing experience to Bluesky; an alternative to X/Twitter. Flashes is for Bluesky users who prefer visual storytelling to microblogging.
Users can share up to four photos or one-minute videos in a single post. There’s also a ‘Portfolio” mode allowing photographers the opportunity to curate their profiles by selecting which media appears to visitors.
Bluesky allows for a more personalized experience and there is no algorithmic lock-in. “Choose from over 50,000 feeds on Bluesky to tailor your content discovery,” Vogelsang writes in a press release.
v1.0.1 is available in the App Store now. 🚀
PLEASE BE AWARE: when creating a new account make sure you don’t re-use an email you have used with any other Bluesky account yet. The signup will bail atm if you do that. Already pushing a fix with an error dialog for this.— Flashes App 🌩️ (@flashes.blue) 25 February 2025 at 06:52
Flashes also offers features like hiding engagement metrics such as likes, reposts, and comments numbers which may improve some user’s mental health. An alt-text generator will automatically create alt-text for images and all posts are seamlessly integrated with Bluesky meaning the app should be well-populated.
Future features include the ability to edit posts after they have been published, post notifications, bookmarks, and drafts.
Flashes aims to provide a home for visual creators on Bluesky. “While Bluesky itself is a general-purpose social network, Flashes refines the experience for users who primarily post photos and videos,” says Vogelsang.
“I saw an opportunity to create an intuitive, visual-first app that fully embraces decentralization, content ownership, and user choice. Flashes ensures that users retain full ownership of their content without being locked into a single platform.”
Vogelsang adds that the app has seen “immense success” even before its official release. “Within just two weeks, the app’s Bluesky account gained over 68,000 followers. The beta test reached its 10,000-user limit within hours, with new requests pouring in daily.”
Flashes is available now via the App Store.
