Flashes: Instagram's alternative is now available for iOS devices

Flashes, a freshly released app built on Bluesky, may be a good option for anyone searching for an Instagram substitute because it appears to cover all the essentials. Although Flashes officially debuted on the App Store on February 24, a number of modifications that were made in the days after the launch have greatly simplified the recommendation process for the app.

You can get the idea of what Flashes is if you recall Instagram before Meta made it into a Facebook substitute. This photo and video sharing software has certain Bluesky-flavored features, such as the ability to select from several custom feeds rather than Meta's algorithm-driven default selection.

You will be asked to sign in using a Bluesky account or create a new one specifically for Flashes when you first launch the program. The program basically repackages image and video postings from the people you are already following into an Instagram-style feed if you utilise your existing account. Additionally, this configuration is reversible: any post you make on Flashes will also appear in your regular Bluesky feed, which is primarily text-focused.

The app itself has several tabs, including a profile tab, a notifications tab that shows all of your Bluesky notifications, a search tab where you can look for articles and see trending topics, a home tab for your feeds, and a dedicated tab for generating new posts. Although you can add certain filters to your photographs and create custom feeds if you'd like, Flashes offers very few further customisation options. This version of Bluesky is mostly focused on images and videos. However, there are some irksome disadvantages to that. You will now receive Bluesky alerts twice, once in Flashes and once in the Bluesky app, if you receive a lot of them. Your account will be removed from one app if you delete it from another.

A major part of Bluesky's objective with the AT Protocol and what programs like Mastodon and Threads are attempting to accomplish with ActivityPub is to create a more adaptable, portable form of social media that doesn't confine you to a single platform. Although it's unclear which standard will take precedence, Bluesky has been gaining traction. In November 2024, the app reached 20 million users, which led to a significant expansion of its moderation efforts. In January 2025, it surpassed 30 million users. Because of Flashes design, all of those new Bluesky accounts have the potential to become Flashes users as well.