Twitter alternative Bluesky Social is now in the App Store

Just in case you hadn't gotten enough Twitter to last a lifetime, it looks as though its spinoff Bluesky may be getting closer to a wide release.

Twitter alternative Bluesky has been added to the Apple App Store, giving us a peek at the social media app's familiar-looking interface. Screenshots on the listing appear almost identical to Twitter in many respects, right down to the round profile pictures, following and follower count, and bolded account names followed by grey handles. According to a hands-on by TechCrunch, posts are limited to 256 characters.

Such design similarities aren't surprising considering Bluesky comes from a Twitter spin-out company also called Bluesky. Revealed by Twitter's then-CEO Jack Dorsey in 2019, the Bluesky team aims to create a decentralised social media protocol called Authenticated Transfer, which would allow different social media networks to communicate with each other. The Bluesky app runs on this protocol.

There are already other decentralised social media platforms such as Mastodon and Pleroma which use interconnected but independent servers that can communicate with each other, called the Fediverse. However, Bluesky's design looks as though it may be one of the closest to replicate that Twitter experience we all know and love/hate.

The parallels between the Bluesky app and Twitter hopefully mean the former's learning curve won't be too steep for anyone who decides to try it. It will be a little while longer before you can check it out yourself, though. While Bluesky's App Store listing is public for anyone to see, actually creating an account and using the app still requires an invitation.

Bluesky has been in private beta since late last year, and potential users can currently sign up to the waitlist to join on Bluesky's website.