Bluesky Social Reviews

by Jkcanewton

This is the most worthless app on my phone. Even apps I haven’t used in a year are worth more than this one! Why? Because I can at least still open those year old apps and use them. BlueskySocial just sits on my phone waiting to be accessed. I’ve been on this “waiting list” for a VERY long time, but haven’t even received an email that says, “Hang on, we are getting there.” Just plain useless and really shakes my faith in the ability of this new site to even be worth something because Meta’s new social media site is going to be open before Bluesky and they will have nobody to blame but themselves because people are tired of a useless app sitting on their phones just waiting to be used.

by Derpsens

I don’t think having a waitlist which sends out invite codes at a glacial pace is a very good idea. Not only does it delay growth of the site, but many will lose interest and maybe even forget about the site by the time they finally receive their invite a year later. If you don’t have the resources to account for a social media, which is obviously going to have lots of people joining it, maybe just don’t host one? Threads by Instagram started right out the gate with no invite system. Side note: the exclusivity factor of the site that the invite system provides does not entice people to join, it makes them not even want to bother.

by Kelli BE

I know it’s an invite only beta, but the management has put zero thought or effort into moderation (until it causes a scandal). Even when changes have been made re moderation there is no meaningful communication from management. Looks like they are embracing the self-moderation style (blocking) of other sites who are also infested with bigots except bluesky launched (beta) with no ability to block anyone.

There is no Trust & Safety team, which they almost managed to get by with until they hit 250k+ users at which time trolls started creating accounts using slurs as usernames (including the n word). This is particularly egregious given management had invited big accounts from black twitter to build community on Bluesky when they first started accepting testers.

This site, and it’s federation once that launches, will be deader than mastodon without moderation. Hope the VCs stop throwing money at Bluesky until moderation tools and a trust and safety team are in place.

by BiteHunter

I have been waiting forever to use BlueskySocial. I have spent too long waiting to use it. Only selected users are allowed to use BlueskySocial. Well, many use BlueskySocial in my face while I’m still waiting to use it, I have decided to remove it from my iPhone 14 Pro Max 1 TB. The Apple App Store does not need to help app makers who conduct their business as if they were some type of secret society. BlueskySocial creator needs to take his or her app straight to a dot whatever and needs to be removed from the Apple App Store. I strongly suggest end-users try the newly revamped, former-Twitter called, X.

by Miggs83

Great news for those who are thin skinned and can’t handle the first amendment. Where all the “bad people” are not present and you get to see and read only the things you agree with. The safe space of the easily offended and 🌈 folks; the “I’m right, you’re wrong” crowd fighting for “freedom of speech” but only when it aligns with their beliefs. I get it, triggered individuals need their platforms too, but it’s sad to see the continuing decisiveness being rooted deeper and deeper in the hearts and minds of what we once called our fellow human beings.

by BillGonzalez

What a great way to launch a new social media platform, by gating off entrance so people sell codes and run scams pretending to sell codes, it’s like Elon Musk is running Bluesky as well. Why can I download something I can’t use? Since when did BlueskySocial Store start carrying early access? Excited to hand over your email address for a mailing list to be monetized on while people with money get to play in a walled garden?

New old CEO same as old new CEO, why does this trash even occupy space on BlueskySocial Store?

by Review Guy 467

A reminder to all! In 2019, Jack began developing Bluesky. Twitter invested $13 million, and nearly four years later, Jack launched an app without blocking, GIFs, videos, DMs, or verification. Your block list on Bluesky is public data; anyone can view it. But on the superior site, known as Spoutible they don’t publicly display your block list & they have all those features and more. Forget bluesky it will not be any different than Twitter nowadays. So check out a spoutible instead.

by Nutjob

This invite-only platform has been sitting prettily on my iPhone for (literally) months, doing nothing. I’ve seen many celebrities tout what a lovely time they’re having on it and how much better it was than the “birbsite”, and that’s great. But what other social media has is egalitarianism and the potential for the big names to interact with even their smallest fans. Bluesky’s walled garden ensures that’ll never happen. I’m not holding out for the invitation anymore. Deleting.

by Therealtamishow

To be worth using and to make it functionally usable for me: Needs push notifications on lock screens and needs basic "people you follow"-type information listed on profiles. The second is SO IMPORTANT when you're setting up and starting from scratch again. If you're a big account on Twitter it's not easy switching over to begin with, but it's almost impossible without some help sorting. These two things would fix a whole lot: lock screen notifications get eyes to BlueskySocial , and shared/known followers to help you nest and settle in. Then, obviously, video.

by Theamethystfae

Well, they did a good job making it seem important by making it by invite only but I really don’t like it. So far every time I open BlueskySocial I’m like looking at other peoples conversations and it’s confusing to me. I don’t wanna look at other peoples conversations if I want to see what other peoples opinions are on some thing, then I will click on the comments and read them and that’s usually where every troubles starts and I don’t like to read the comments usually so if I open BlueskySocial and all I see is like somebody replying to somebody else. It just doesn’t even make any sense, where is the actual content like I don’t even know what they’re talking about. BlueskySocial seems very disorganized and confusing and so far I haven’t seen any insanity yet like the ex or Facebook which was the whole point I guess but I just don’t understand how this is supposed to be showing post of things when all I see is other peoples conversations.

by Phoenixthewidow

Unless you enjoyed the feeling of being in high school with the twist of people getting away with telling one another to kill themselves with zero repercussions, you may want to give this one a pass.

It started out not so bad, but as it got bigger and people got comfortable and the masks came off, the hate really came out. There have been several targeted attacks on communities with slow reactions from the dev team and even then there is no sign of a true Trust and Safety Team coming in. This past weekend I counted 15 separate incidents of people actively inviting others to harm themselves or wishing death on someone and not one thing was done to remove the posts. This isn’t a healthy or safe environment for a productive society. It makes me sad as I was so excited about BlueskySocial when I first joined and touted how different it was to all who would listen. It wasn’t even a hard decision to delete my account just like I deleted my twitter account when that became toxic.

by 8 Bit Snow

Remember clubhouse? They took forever to let folks in, and then it just died. Look, I get exclusivity and trying to build buzz. I get wanting to gate-keep and build a good community first. But for those of us who have faded from/quit certain social media because of the toxicity, it’s really unfair to make those looking for refuge wait. Y’all have just waited too long to let some of us in, and we are very angry. We will not be quick to (or likely may never) forgive. Bluesky could have created a better way to let folks in who aren’t connected/have lost connection. It now seems EXACTLY like clubhouse. A lot of big names and elites there (I don’t mean elite in the derogatory way it has been used in politically charged discourse. I just simply mean folks with power, pull, celebrity, connections, etc.). But y’all only seem to care about making sure they are happy. But when you finally let the rest of us normal folks in, we’ll not care. And the elites will then have lost interest/found there isn’t a way to monetize/build real engagement. And, just like clubhouse, Bluesky will die. Y’all deserve this when it comes. I’m just gonna be grateful for the geeks and developers I interact with NOW on Mastodon. I’m over waiting. Deleting BlueskySocial. I will now ignore any emails, from Bluesky, about an invite. Just like I did with clubhouse when they finally got around to us lowly, everyday folks.

by Can’t Review Without A Nick

Click on an image, instead of enlarging to full size I see half of it. Most of the time I can’t read the alt text either, it’s not on screen anywhere. When I try to type a skeet, the iPad keyboard covers up the text so I can’t read what I’m typing until it’s posted. Thinking maybe I’ll delete BlueskySocial , but I was having difficulty logging in in Safari. On my desktop the Blue sky stuff works fine on the webpage in Firefox.

by Mark Stoneman

(1) Still no iPad app. Are they going to stay as deaf to this need as Instagram/Threads are? (2) It is nearly impossible to move from another person's profile page back to the timeline I was in because one needs to use a back arrow that is nearly impossible to see against the background of most users' profile images. (3) When I start BlueskySocial , it often wants to fill the full width of the screen while sticking to the iPhone version of the vertical space. I have to quit and restart BlueskySocial to make it work. (4) The web experience is better, but I would prefer an app on my iPad, which is what I tend to use for social media. Apps make it easier to interact with other apps on iPad OS. (5) Why is there no two-factor authentication of some kind for the web app?

by ChrisEqualsYoo

I know Bluesky have “no algorithm” but let’s be honest, everyone is seeing at least 20+ furry post a day. Nothing against people with those interest but it is clearly not for everyone - and as invite only platform Bluesky currently are predominately occupied by furry community. Again, nothing against it, it’s just not for me. It offers “for you” page but it is clearly not working. You can try to join a mute list subscription but it’s gonna always come through. Other feedback - app needs to be more polished especially with touch input sensitivity, it seems like the menu pop ups are more touch sensitive compare to other apps. Also haptic feedback on app would be nice bonus.

by Erinalope

Somehow they screwed up the toggles. An important toggle is the “mature content filter” and I’ve had it mess up on me. I’ve literally seen those toggles flip back to its original position after I tapped it. Never had issues with basic UI like this before. I wish I could set it with a focus mode or schedule but I’ll take WORKING to start.

Also there’s no DMs, really limits interactions when you can’t take private info to a private place. You can’t trade any info on Bluesky without it being public.

by Yuri22418

I just joined today after spending 1 year on the waiting list and I am interested so far but was disappointed to find out there isn’t an iPad version of BlueskySocial (like Twitter has) so I am stuck looking at a small screen when I use BlueskySocial on my iPad. Please make an iPad version then I will change to 5 stars. Also love that BlueskySocial has a translate feature for other languages but I don’t like that it opens the google translate app instead of just showing the translation in the Bluesky app.

by ThatFurryperson

BlueskySocial has the potential of being a good platform, but it feels empty, and it’s missing a few key features that make a platform good.

- Missing Video and GIF support. Without that simple component it is making the competition look a lot more appealing. No videos and no gifs means no life, it feels sterile

- DMs. Being able to DM someone on this platform would make it great, it’s impossible to talk to anyone unless they have ANOTHER platform to talk on

- A working Notification system. Half of the time I never know if I have notifications or not. I have to manually open the tab to see if I have any. Not only that but when I open it up and close BlueskySocial , I can see that I have notifications, THAT I’VE ALREADY OPENED, so then I need to open up BlueskySocial and manually click on the notifications to clear them. So much wasted time. And the notifications feel cluttered and messy, not a clean system.

I have a feeling that adding just slightly more features, the quality of the platform will improve tenfold. Mainly the support for Video and GIFs, that would make the place a lot more appealing against its competitors. But for now, it’s easier to use anything else but this platform.

by Archangel Beth

Yes, I'm comparing it to the Twitter app. (Not the X app; I haven't updated since before the takeover so it's still Twitter. 😈)

It is missing: DMs, Bookmarks, a memory of people you searched for (I use that as a mini-list of people whose home feeds I read so they don't get lost in the firehose), and *the ability to select text*. That last one means I can't take advantage of my iPhone's innate ability to translate selected text, and thus understand skeets (posts) when the "translate this" doesn't kick in.

I do like how it handles replies to threads that dangle off posts in the thread: you get everything, rather than having to go up and down to select posts with replies.

But the inability to select text is REALLY ANNOYING.

by Ckahtck

I love BlueskySocial but it needs working hashtags. They make it easier to find people to follow and keep up with certain topics, etc. it also needs DMs & the ability to turn on notifications for posts from a profile, because there are people that I follow to keep up with important urgent information.

I am trying to get settled in here and hopefully so will more of the people that provide important information I need to keep up with before Twitter gets even worse than it already is.

Currently I still have to rely on Twitter for the post notifications because I can’t get them on here & the people who I have them set for either don’t post here much because they can’t cross-post to bluesky along with other platforms, haven’t even tried to sign up yet as far as I can tell, or they’re not impressed because BlueskySocial still doesn’t have certain functions that make it easy to reach the audience they cater to.

Btw, why does BlueskySocial only allow ONE notification at a time for replies, likes, and such? As soon as another one comes in the previous one disappears. That’s a HUGE inconvenience.

by Jemil1992

I have been invited by a friend to Bluesky some months ago, and have to say BlueskySocial works properly. There are some stuff that should be fixed, like the addition of hashtgs to properly search for specific topics, a DM section to talk with those who you follow, but overall it’s all good. I do wish Bluesky goes public soon as this is an app I am using more often but many of who I follow on Twitter haven’t moved here yet. Keep up the great work and also love BlueskySocial logo, feels unique and represents BlueskySocial ’s ideal to be a place to express your ideas.

by LOO̵K̶̔ BEHḮ̴͔N̶͝D YÕ̶U

Just got accepted into Bluesky a couple days ago. It's not bad, I realize it's still in beta mode but one thing that makes the user experience frustrating is that you can barely tell which replies are threaded in response to somebody else or to the original post. It makes my brain trip every time I go to the replies which is honestly the biggest deterrent for me with BlueskySocial. Besides that, not bad for a developing app.

by Spencart18

As an nsfw artist, not being able to view nsfw on mobile is disappointing. I can view it on desktop. It is a bug so I’m sure it’ll get fixed. However, the moderation options are a great sign. I’m am a huge advocate for them. It allows people to express themselves while also keeping vulnerable parties, like children and traumatized people, safe. Too many companies go straight to “everyone must be squeaky clean and child safe” and it destroys creativity and genuine connection. Being able to post what I want to create and know that it won’t land in the laps of people isn’t meant for is freeing and bodes well for bluesky.

by THE REAL LION

They’re putting people on waitlist for ever, the enthusiasm is slowly dying out. Now I see some people trying to sell the invite codes. Is that their endgame? 🤷‍♂️
Come on, guys! If you let some people in on the BETA version, why discriminate against others? Is there any serious technical reason why you’re keeping some people in the dark? Apple didn’t have to know me before signing me up for their Beta updates. They don’t have to, it’s a waste of time!
If it takes more than another month for me to get the invite, then forget this.

by Ed349835

I like blue sky social. It has a ups and downs, but it is a lot better than Twitter etc. so I really like it in my opinion it has more good than bad points.
One thing that has to be fixed. On my computer screen, the blue sky page fill up screen like it supposed to
Same with my iPhone . it fills up full screen like it’s supposed to
I just got a new iPad and I download BlueskySocial was going to be really happy with it, but BlueskySocial only filled up about a third of the center of the screen the other to turn around it are black looks kind of funky
When they fix it appears on the screen that’s the step up for them that would be great. Otherwise I would give them five star but for this, I’ll give them a four star but they are doing a great job.

by TheTMD

Pretty confusing that in order to choose moderation for one’s profile have to do it on the website but can’t do so on BlueskySocial -and when you do it on the website, it doesn’t factor over to BlueskySocial so some content that one would allow to see on BlueskySocial is censored on BlueskySocial

by 93Dylanb

A few bugs (?) exist currently: the most glaring one is not getting push notifications for likes or reposts even though app permissions are enabled. Not sure if this just isn’t implemented or an actual bug.

Feature request:
1) Currently, when I launch BlueskySocial , it does not seem to re-poll the feed I’m on for new posts. Ideally, it would re-poll but leave me where I left off on the feed and allow me to jump to the top with the button that already exists. (Again not sure if this is current intended behavior or not implemented). Still new to Bluesky.

2) Support for direct messages would be cool!

by Hadashot Kashot

I will have to put it on the iPhone iOS, but as it is right now on iPad, BlueskySocial doesn’t refresh. So, I can’t look back on what comments I posted, it doesn’t update the number of followers, and I can’t know if the comment replies are updating or it is taking a long time? For days, it shows the same numbers and same replies I made from a while ago.

by Sanderopop

User for a few weeks now. Since then they’ve added a few new features and updates seem to be steady flowing. App has nice look. Very reminiscent of early twitter. Much better than threads as it is. You can actually search posts with keywords. Just need something like the trending page and we’re solid here. Changing to 5 stars if that day comes

by Sethkinkaid

Can we get a different loading screen that’s not clouds ☁️? Even a spinning wheel or the Bluesky logo—something that isn’t blinding bright (since many of us use dark mode).

Also hashtags would be great but I understand that can take some time. If not hashtags then perhaps a tagging system of some kind?

Mastodon uses hashtags and it works well, please add this! 🖤

by Pileofgreyrocks

I’ve created an account and am looking forward to posting content, but there’s no way to allow permission for Bluesky to access photos in iOS.

by A Twitter Refuge

So much progress has been made since bluesky surged in popularity with Elon’s mistakes. We have user lists, better block functionalities, email verification, better comment systems, and now, a new logo and a public interface! This 5 star review does not mean BlueskySocial is complete. It’s a review of a BETA software that never claimed to be the final product at any point. Their low rating is undeserved and does not reflect the hard work of the dev team and the fantastic community

by SaiaSaia

Though it's funny because the people in the reviews are outting themselves. The funny part about the furry nsfw is that you actively have to join communities for that and turn off the nsfw filter to see anything mature. Theres no algorithm yet and even if you're seeing that stuff on your algorithm on other sites it means you interact with things similar to it. 😏

I can see bluesky becoming more promising overtime when new features are added and more communities join in. Artist seem to enjoy BlueskySocial so that's what matters to me the most to me.

by BreloomsGarden

Don’t listen to the low star reviews. Any issues that have been raised are those to be expected from a budding and early site/app. A waitlist is to be expected while the structure of the place is being set up, there is a GitHub page to openly show what is being worked on at the moment, and self content labeling was just implemented. The team is listening and learning from the failures of Twitter, and I’m all in.

To those of you complaining about the waitlist, don’t expect anyone to reward your childish outbursts with an invitation. We’d rather go on without you.

by Christiolson

BlueskySocial is a little buggy, but it still gets 5 stars for the work the devs have been putting in and the community they’re curating.

It really feels like early social media. People are talking about their actual interests. People are having fun. There aren’t 200 people yelling slurs at you every time you post. It’s the most wholesome and welcoming online experience I’ve had in a long time.

It’s idyllic and the fact that everyone is happily overlooking any faults with the tech should tell you how badly we needed a space where people are normal.

by AreeshaAn

I’ve never seen a more responsive and conscious team on any project of any type. CEO Jay is working to build BlueskySocial , build a team, and connect with people on BlueskySocial and even in real life!
The entire team is dedicated and their commitment really shows.

BlueskySocial isn’t near finished at this time.
If you’re expecting an app with features like Facebook or Twitter - you’re better off waiting until BlueskySocial is officially released. If you want to complain about challenges on BlueskySocial or bother people for invites - you especially need to wait until the official release.

This is an amazing team doing amazing work to usher in the next era of social media. An era that goes beyond extracting profit from human interactions and instead focuses on letting users control their own data. Excited to see this grow!

by Tigger_theyregreat

For those who miss old Twitter, this is as close as you can get to it. Not only that, but new features, such as custom feeds. A feature that was really needed by Twitter. I will say, I miss the Trending tab and Bookmarks, but I’m sure these features are to come. Also, my profile picture seems to default black photo even when I set an actual photo. Again, I am sure these things will get fixed. Overall, a great beta! Can’t wait to see what comes.

by JEMaschmeyer

Bluesky has been a tremendously refreshing and almost completely nontoxic social media experience. I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Most of the 1-star reviews are from older versions of BlueskySocial . Don't let them dissuade you from trying it out! New features (and many expected features) are constantly being added as everything on the platform starts to take shape. If you're a former user, consider giving it another chance.

by Facestealer

So full stop I’m not a tech person. Got invited to beta test bluesky off the waitlist. While there are occasional times the feed loading gets wonky- and I’ve experienced this a handful of times in the past week- it’s also very intuitive, and it evolves while you are using it. It has been hands down the coolest social site I have ever been a part of. Remember watching Star Trek? Or your first MySpace experience? When you were like-technology really can’t be that ‘human’. Scrolling through Bluesky is that kind of experience- where you feel connected to humanity. And yes- the users are pretty legit amazing. Being a beta tester I went in there without any connection or community- and was quickly embraced by so many. If you’re lucky enough to get an invite, don’t sit on it.

by RoseliaX64

While it may take a while to get in, it definitely has one thing... A very welcoming community! I also love the general design of BlueskySocial itself (I'm just not that big of a fan of the current icon, being a general picture of clouds)

It feels like a proper Twitter successor where people can be safer than what Elon Musk has brought, and it's worth it for the wait to get in. One thing to remember is that it won't be closed off forever. I like to think the reason it's currently closed off is because they don't want to bring any bad people (fascists) in.

by Arunwadhwa

I'm not going to sugarcoat and say that it doesn't have bugs, because it does. But then again, it is very early access. I love certain implementations - the way link previews (cards) work, and the way notifications can be expanded and collapsed to view all usernames involved in an action, etc - it's the little things. But I guess the beauty of it lies at the back end - with all the decentralization. It does have the potential to dethrone the already well-established Mastodon as the go-to decentralized microblogging platform, but that's way far into the future. Looking forward to future updates!

by Jvdb91

The lack of algorithm is scary for a lot of people who have spent years on a monetized web and they are understandably struggling with this newer app. Its great, the team is adding features regularly so its getting better daily.

Your experience is up to you! You won’t be spoonfed a feed. You need to surf it and take control on what content you get by searching for your favorite topics and finding people and conversations to engage in.

It’s fun and fresh - good luck!

by Tmoreysa

BlueskySocial is great, if still early. I’ve found a few missing features but few bugs. It’s amazing to me how fast the small team behind it pushes out updates. It’s an impressive display of decentralized technology. Gives me hope.

I love the community so much. Kind and welcoming. The right mix of weird and funny. Really has quirky early internet vibes. At this stage, compared to twitter, feels more like connecting with people than promoting products.

by ChrissieCrossing

I hope Bluesky will go public someday. It’s the absolut Twitter Clon and I love it. It’s still in Beta and I got the invite from a friend. A view Newstations are also already there. But it’s in Beta and not public yet. People on here forget about it. Don’t give 1 star review for a Beta version if you have no idea how Betas work. I like to it and it has great potential. I’m also on Threads but it belongs to Facebook/Instagram 😑 I hope Bluesky will become the new Twitter!

by Feliznavdavid

Been using Bluesky for a couple of days. Completely sold. It’s a strange and wonderful feeling to use a social network where you feel in control. Development is pretty rapid right now with new features being added all the time but I think the potential to replace any other social media I use is there.

by Zoobium

It’s not finished yet. They’re still testing. It’s in invite only for that reason. Bluesky is still in beta, and review bombing because you’re mad you can’t get in is childish. If you think it’ll be invite only forever, you’re mistaken.

Anyways, Bluesky is a solid twitter competitor and overall I’m happier on it than I was on twitter. I’m not getting random right wingers and transphobes I don’t interact with at all in my home feed thanks to Elon Musk, and the replies are actual replies instead of unrelated memes, onlyfans girls, blue checks contributing nothing to the conversation, NFT/cryptobros, etc. The community is also much more positive than twitter so far. I’m liking the features such as custom feeds, and I’m excited for when federation is fully finished and for new features to come

by Mykola Bilokonsky

BlueSky right now is in beta. The only way in is for someone to invite you.

If you act a fool and harass people you will be swiftly banned, and the person inviting you will receive scrutiny.

This is all new right now, but the result is a space that’s actually free of right-wing troublemakers, fascist trolls etc. it’s… nice?

by NI-reviewer

I downloaded BlueskySocial in the hopes of being able to replace Twitter, and I have been pleasantly surprised. It is still in its early stages but the community is amazing and honestly compared to Twitter this place is like a well-tended serene garden. There’s no unwanted bots, no trolls, and people are free to be themselves. All around, Twitter feels like anarchy compared to here.

by Raantuva

BlueskySocial's growth and updates have been incredible. I really love how we can see behind the curtain through direct dev communication and I'm looking forward to seeing the federation launch! Haven't had this good a time with strangers on the internet since Yahoo! Chat shut down. Allons y!

by Coolcade

has twitter aliveness in a way *nothing* else has, but WAY more potential. soon you’ll be able to use custom algos, clients, etc. which will bring upon an age of healthy, thoughtful discourse 😌 also, you can exist without paying a tax (twitter blue) and link to substack without getting banned 😂

by Worldrecordcoolness

Most apps show you what THEY want you to see. Not this one. This allows you to reject algorithms and make your own. There's even a feature to mass-mute (or block) entire categories of accounts that you don't want to see posts from. If you use it right, you're only going to see what YOU want to see.

Overall, probably the best user experience I've seen from any social media app, because it actually prioritizes it. I don't normally write reviews, but after many frustrations with Meta and Twitter (even pre-Musk, mind you), I want to be part of the change I want to see.

Regarding the censorship allegations, I have never once seen or heard of any censorship, folks just seem to assume that any Twitter competitor is anti-free speech. Also Jack Dorsey isn't, and hasn't been involved for a long time now, lol