The Flashes for Bluesky app launched last February, and I thought I’d provide an update on how I use it.
(See my previous post about the app launch)
Flashes basically takes Bluesky accounts and presents them in an image-forward, Instagram-like experience. The presentation is clean and simple and much like what Instagram was when it launched.
You can curate a portfolio tab in your account to showcase images. Everything you post on Bluesky is mirrored there, but in a layout that presents your image posts.
In the months since it launched, I’ve used Flashes mostly for art sharing events like #kidlitartpostcard. It really is the best way to interact with these types of events.
Attempting to participate in the #kidlitartpostcard art-sharing event on Instagram has become a frustration. The algorithm there pushes images and posts that are months or years old into the current hashtag event. Some posts are favored in the app, and others are limited. You have no control over finding and discovering new art from the day’s event.
But a search of the #kidlitartpostcard hashtag on Flashes brings up neat rows of 3 thumbnail images, which you can view and sort in different ways. You can view by TOP posts, which seems to generally sort the thumbnails by the volume of recent engagement, or most importantly by LATEST, which lists all thumbnails in chronological order starting with the most recent. These views are crucial if you want to see the post made in real time on the day of the event. Links and hashtags are not suppressed, everyone’s art is given equal footing to be seen.
Clicking on a thumbnail enlarges the post and image and makes the entire sorting view scrollable, so you can view all images enlarged in the same TOP or LATEST order.
See the app in action:
Everything you posted on Bluesky and everyone you’ve followed and who follows you are already on Flashes, so there isn’t a need to build or curate a new platform. Downloading the app and signing in is all you need to do. All of your preferred feeds, lists and even blocked users are the same.
the difference in engagement between the Bluesky/Flashes postcard posts and the same image posted to Instagram is drastic for me each month.
The app is available on iPhone and is currently preparing a desktop and an Android version.
You can sign up for a Android beta test here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVqt4oB_9xZ9wens16kX8TNWFGU_FqM0hxJ2LQ2XINJ3_FFA/viewform
I encourage everyone looking to find art online to check it out! Here’s the link to the app in the App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashes-for-bluesky/id6741443033
Find me on Flashes: https://www.flashes.blue/profile/boringstorybook.com