Apple closed the Beta (for now). Will have to contact them in the morning to see what's what. Will keep you updated! Good night and to those who got in already: thx for all the feedback!!!
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I sent my request to be admitted to your site weeks ago and I still haven't received a response even though it said I would have it within 24/48 hours.
I got in and liked the UI a lot. Posted, filtered, used alt text, and liked other posts. No issues with any of those. Not sure if alt text worked as I didn’t go back to check until now. One of the features I’m hoping for is group messaging, but I’m sure there’s a roadmap. Thx!!! ☺️
I wish I had more of a choice of what photos show on my Flashes profile grid / that they weren’t integrated with my Bluesky posts. Not every Bluesky post I make with a photo is something I would want shared on Flashes
About displaying the likes: I'm doing so because likes are always public in the Bluesky ecosystem. I thought it would be good to be transparent about it and not let users make false assumptions about their privacy. But I'm open to hiding the likes if people don't want to see them.
My only gripe is I use the same username for everything. I don’t want to make a “dedicated account” just for flashes, just to keep the notifications separate. :(
I think it would be good to hide the likes, they always work on people’s ego and make them want to score. When there is likes there is strategy and maybe we should care less about likeability? Just thinking out loud. Good that you’re open to hear! 🙏🏼
I think this is the right move. I think it’s important for people to understand that the protocol is open and public. If there is an option to hide, maybe just have a disclaimer that it’s still publicly available.
Totally fair. I think seeing that someone liked content you’re also interested in and viewing is different than being able to see a full display of every like they’ve ever made in one stop shop. Interested to see how others feel, though.
I would just make multiple accounts if it stays this way.
I feel like if they’re hidden in the UI but still inherently public , folks are going to forget they’re public until someone discovers that they’ve been stanning an embarrassing account for years lol
it will only be optional from a viewer's point of view though. People will always be able to see what you liked on Bluesky / AT-Proto, no matter the configuration I put in the app. All data is public.
I'm only bringing this up because fandoms have been known to weaponize likes in targetted harassment campaigns.
"this user has been liking art from this problematic artist, they are clearly problematic themselves!!" is a situation I have seen happen more times than I can count 🫠🫠
I'm making an assumption, but I think 99% of users don't dig that deep. So in your app, if you want it to be an option, that's what most users will see.
I really don’t want to see them on people’s grids, would love the option to toggle those off. Also is there a way to remove images from your grid without deleting them?
Key point here is that even though they are currently public by at proto, they aren’t that easily discovered by the average user. So in practical terms they remain “private” (or more precisely said: unseen) in most case scenarios. But that changes if you put them so readily available in the app. So:
When I look up a user in the official Bluesky app, I can’t see their likes, but, in the Flashes App I can. I would love if that can carry over someway to hide my own or, somebody has control over their likes viewable or not
Could you clarify this a bit? On Bluesky I see my own likes when viewing my own profile, but I don’t see another users likes when visiting theirs (friends or not).
I don’t think users viewing each others likes is industry standard these days 🤔
Bluesky chose not to show the likes, but they are publicly available (because almost all data on Bluesky is public). You can click on this link for example and see all the likes done by the Flashes account: https://atp.tools/at:/flashes.blue/app.bsky.feed.like
Ahhh, gotcha. Ty for taking the time to explain! I definitely think from a UI standpoint hiding them will be the move. When IG had an open “likes” feed back in the day things got real messy.. 😂
Beta is looking great so far. I think this’ll be the platform that gets my friends to make the switch!
Not saying anything new here but wanted to weigh in. I know while Flashes will be an alternative to IG but not exactly like it, people are used to the idea that their likes may be seen if ppl interact with the same posts, but there isn’t a list of your likes on your profile.
I thought this was about people seeing the amount of likes etc in their own/ others posts, not things they like having an option to be hidden. The first option i think is a great idea to have a hide function for!
Definitely don't think what a person likes on a PUBLIC platform should be hidden.
I’ve been conditioned by the other place but double tap to like would be nice… but I do love the full screen option. Maybe a tap for full screen then double tap for like?
Managed to get in. After thinking about it for a bit, decided to go with its suggestion of a separate account. Likely to continue to post “personal” (iPhone) pics with this one, and perhaps segregate AI generated pics to the other, for those that care about the difference.
I think the UI has good bones and just needs some refining, like the harsh lines of the borders that frame the feed. I wonder if blurring and floating buttons a la in Bluescreen could work. Also something other than the awkward space between posts to separate them.
I hope there will be a way to choose what photo media we post on Bluesky is simultaneously shared on Flashes, without having to make a dedicated Bluesky account for Flashes. Like maybe a way to enable one/two way cross posting. Just thinking about my grid.
I tried to make a new dedicated bluesky acct for flashes, but it wouldn’t let me because my “email was already used” for my original bluesky acct. so now I’m just seeing everything I’ve already seen on bluesky.
@flashes.blue please change your app logo into a camera or a camera flash aesthetic. Your current logo kinda looks like a weather app or a game app. The upload button is also a bit gimmicky. Please make Flashes look professional 🙏🏼
i actually like this thunder logo, is very minimalistic and simple 😌 Twitter and Bluesky had also simple icons and thats cool. No need to go too big on these
I didn’t say make it big or grandiose. Just asking if they can make the logo that relates to a camera or a flash from a camera. Right now it looks like weather app and the interface with the thunder as an upload button made it look like a game app.
well still don’t need to be a copy of Instagram even if its the alternative for it. They can still bring their unique touch. I like thunderbolt and can be iconic logo like FB, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and more
I didn’t say be a copy either. One can look professionally unique without opting to gimmicks. Insta is not even the same anymore. As a business owner, would love for it to be minimal and clean. Let the photos be the highlight. The thunderbolt is a little too childish.
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I kind of wish double tapping would like a post.
I would just make multiple accounts if it stays this way.
ppl can chose to make them visible or not
"this user has been liking art from this problematic artist, they are clearly problematic themselves!!" is a situation I have seen happen more times than I can count 🫠🫠
I don’t think users viewing each others likes is industry standard these days 🤔
Beta is looking great so far. I think this’ll be the platform that gets my friends to make the switch!
Definitely don't think what a person likes on a PUBLIC platform should be hidden.
One bit of feedback is the alt text on photos doesn’t seem to be working.