Consumer demand for alternate options to Big Tech’s social apps is heating up. Alternative social networks like Bluesky and Mastodon are gaining traction with individuals trying to depart X, whereas others are constructing ban-proof TikTok alternate options on open protocols. Similarly, many impartial builders are additionally engaged on open, decentralized alternate options to Instagram, Meta’s flagship photo-sharing app with over 2 billion month-to-month energetic customers.
While not one of the newcomers is wherever close to able to rival Meta’s dimension and scope, their means to even carve out a small area of interest inside Meta’s shadow is compelling. They’re additionally arriving at a time when buyers have began to take discover of the rising open social internet. Gen Z of us, in the meantime, just lately signaled they’re extra prone to depart TikTok for an additional Chinese social app relatively than return to Instagram.
Below are among the apps working to construct Instagram alternate options on open protocols like Bluesky’s AT Protocol and ActivityPub, utilized by Mastodon and others.
Pixelfed
Though not a brand new service, the photo-sharing website Pixelfed in January launched official cell apps for iOS and Android. The app is constructed on ActivityPub, utilized by Mastodon, a YouTube competitor known as PeerTube, and lots of others, together with now Meta’s Threads and Flipboard (plus its newer app, Surf). Together, these apps kind what’s known as the “fediverse,” a reference to the federated servers that comprise it.
Similar to Instagram, Pixelfed lets customers share and discover images and movies and ship direct messages. However, not like Instagram, Pixelfed is ad-free, open supply, decentralized, and defaults to chronological feeds — that are its promoting factors to customers.
Within its first two days available on the market, Pixelfed’s cell apps topped 10,000 downloads, developer Daniel Supernault mentioned on Mastodon.
Flashes
Flashes, an Instagram different constructed on prime of the Bluesky social community, opened its doorways to beta testers simply final week. Like Bluesky, the app runs on AT Protocol and is proscribed to Bluesky’s identical picture and video necessities, that means as much as 4 images per publish and movies as much as a minute in size.
As it’s basically a photo-first Bluesky consumer, customers who publish on Flashes can have their posts seem on Bluesky, whereas Bluesky customers’ feedback on these posts can even seem on Flashes. The app is a part of a trio of Bluesky shoppers constructed by developer Sebastian Vogelsang, which additionally features a Twitter-like app Skeets and a video app Bluescreen. Eventually, the concept is to supply premium subscriptions that span these apps, permitting individuals to modify between shoppers.
Pinksky
Another Bluesky consumer, Pinksky, can also be tackling the concept of providing a photo-first view of the social community. Designed to draw former Instagram customers who wish to join over images as an alternative of viral content material or Reels, the app encompasses a acquainted interface — together with a tappable Stories part on the prime. But not like new apps constructed from scratch, Pinksky customers can faucet into their present community of mates and followers from Bluesky, even when these individuals aren’t additionally Pinksky customers but.
For now, the app is only a Bluesky consumer, but when there’s sufficient demand, Pinksky might increase to incorporate different applied sciences, like integrations with ActivityPub or Nostr. So far, the app is free to make use of, although it could later add premium options if it grows sufficient to help monetization.
Skygram
Currently a piece in progress, Skygram is a web-based app designed to supply a extra photo-centric Bluesky expertise. Within Skygram, customers can change between interest-based feeds on the prime of the display screen, like Gardening, Dogs, and others, for instance. Still pretty rudimentary, Skygram’s code is obtainable on GitHub because the work continues.
