Dorsey brings Twitter alternative Bluesky to Android after losing Blue tick

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who has also lost Blue check-mark courtesy new CEO Elon Musk, has brought his new micro-blogging platform and Twitter rival called Bluesky to Android users.

Bluesky, backed by Dorsey, offers a host of new features and was initially launched to the iOS users in February in a closed beta.

Bluesky aims to give users algorithmic choice, and includes basic tools for tracking likes or bookmarks, editing tweets, quote-tweeting, DMs, using hashtags and more.

According to app intelligence firm data.ai, Bluesky has seen 240,000 lifetime installs on iOS, up 39 per cent from March, reports TechCrunch.

The app offers a simplified user interface where you can click a plus button to create a post of 256 characters, which can include photos.

While Twitter asks "What's happening?", Bluesky asks "What's up?"

Bluesky users can share, mute and block accounts, but advanced tools, like adding them to lists, are not yet available.

The discover tab in the bottom centre of the app's navigation is useful, offering more "who to follow" suggestions and a feed of recently posted Bluesky updates.

"Another tab lets you check on your Notifications, including likes, reposts, follows and replies, also much like Twitter. There are no DMs," according to the report.

You can search for and follow other individuals, much like on Twitter, then view their updates in a Home timeline.

User profiles contain a profile pic, background, bio and metrics.

The Bluesky project originated with Twitter in 2019, but the company was established in 2022 as an independent company focused on decentralised social network R&D.

After leaving Twitter, Dorsey spoke about Bluesky, describing it as "an open decentralised standard for social media".

Bluesky last year received $13 million in funding with Dorsey on its board.

--IANS

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