There is a new Bluesky app in works by a well -known iOS app developer. Tapbots, the company behind the popular Mastodon Ivory client, born of its previous Tweetbot (RIP) efforts, is preparing a new application called Phoenix, created for the growing social network of over 32 million users.
In a post in Bluesky, the company shared its website by teasing the new app, which is expected to launch somewhere later this summer.
On her website, Tapbots explained that her work for a Bluesky client does not mean that he is abandoning his efforts in Fediversity, also known as an open social website. However, Ivory’s development will slow down while new efforts are underway.
Ivory, which began in 2023, brought back the appearance and sense of tweetbot and some of its features to provide an alternative to the official social application of Mastodon, an open, alternative decentralized source for larger platforms like X. As a federated app, Ivory is integrated with activity, the protocol that empowers the federal app only, Mastodon, but also Peerthube, Pixfef, Meta, Meta, Protocol. Flipboard, and others.
Bluesky, meanwhile, is built on a different protocol, the AT protocol (or atproto for February).
Since the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk and its conversion into X, many former Twitter users have been moved to other networks, including mastodon and bluesky. For an indie operation like Tapbots, this meant that its customer base was divided between the two services, making it more difficult to generate revenue with just one application.
“… for us to continue to flourish as a company, we have to support both,” Share Tapbots on its website. “Unfortunately, we can’t only survive in mastodon.”
The company also explains that it decided to launch an app dedicated to Bluesky users instead of combining both networks in an app because it would provide users a better experience. Those who want to hold a presence on both social networks will be able to benefit from a planned construction feature, he added.
Unfortunately for mastodon users, Ivory work will have to slow down as the team works to launch Phoenix.
“It would be a lie if we said Ivory would be in full development while we are trying to get Phoenix and work,” the website explains. However, we did not want to start the development of Phoenix until we released Ivory V2.3. Once the Phoenix gets out of the door, the development will happen simultaneously and both applications will receive all the great improvements we have planned throughout the applications. “
News of the start of Phoenix was first reported by Macstories.
Although the company has not announced the Phoenix’s profit strategy, it is likely to be a subscription model similar to Ivory’s-a free application within the application for access to premium features. Currently, ivory is $ 1.99 a month or $ 14.99 per year.
Phoenix will enter a limited public phase of Alpha before its start of summer 2025.
