Bluesky teases 2026 roadmap: a better Discover feed, real-time features and more

Social web Bluesky is teasing its roadmap for the twelvemonth ahead, emphasizing a absorption connected things similar improving the app’s algorithmic Discover feed, offering its users amended recommendations connected who to follow, giving the app much of a real-time feel, and more.

At the aforesaid time, the institution admitted that it needs to enactment connected getting the “basics” right, too.

Launched to the nationalist successful early 2024 aft an invite-only period, the decentralized X and Threads alternate has since scaled to implicit 42 cardinal users, according to information sourced straight from the Bluesky API for developers.

Though it’s differentiated from mainstream societal media with its customized feeds and configurable algorithms, Bluesky hasn’t caught up to rivals with respect to basal features, similar backstage accounts, drafts, enactment for longer videos, and more.

Bluesky’s caput of product, Alex Benzer, acknowledged immoderate of these concerns successful a caller station connected the company’s website, wherever helium said that the “basics request to beryllium solid” earlier Bluesky tin expect users to instrumentality around.

Those remarks travel aft a usage slowdown connected Bluesky, which saw a 40% year-over-year driblet successful regular progressive users arsenic of October 2025, according to information from marketplace quality supplier Similarweb, as reported by Forbes.

Image Credits:Bluesky

In summation to supporting drafts, Benzer said the app’s composer should grip media better, noting that three-minute-long videos aren’t enough, and videos should upload faster. Plus, helium wants Bluesky to enactment posting much than 4 photos astatine a time, and thinks threads should beryllium easier to create, too.

The request for backstage accounts wasn’t addressed, but those volition instrumentality longer to realize, Bluesky has antecedently explained. The plan is for the underlying protocol, the AT Protocol (or AT Proto for short), to eventually enactment backstage accounts. But that won’t beryllium coming anytime soon.

Benzer besides pointed to improvements to the app’s Discover feed, which could adhd taxable tags arsenic a mode to usher radical to posts related to their interests. “Who to follow” suggestions volition besides beryllium improved, arsenic uncovering high-quality connections tin amended the wide idiosyncratic experience.

bluesky/screenshot of feedsImage Credits:Bluesky screenshot

Benzer believes that Bluesky needs to person much of a “real-time” feel, whether that’s astir events similar sports, oregon governmental moments of involvement similar elections. The institution is gathering curation tools for its squad to marque high-quality and timely customized feeds disposable during unrecorded events, helium said. The squad is exploring different caller features wrong feeds that would marque these feeds consciousness “less similar conscionable scrolling done posts and much similar hanging out,” Benzer said. (What that means, we’re not precisely sure!)

In presumption of increasing the wide ecosystem, which the assemblage has dubbed the “Atmosphere,” the institution volition look to amended interoperability with different apps that are besides built connected the underlying AT Protocol.

For instance, if you spell unrecorded connected Twitch oregon Streamplace, different app powered by the AT Protocol, you’ll spot a LIVE badge look connected your illustration photograph connected Bluesky.

Image Credits:Bluesky

Benzer said different integration similar this is coming “soon.”

While Bluesky has succeeded successful adding users, existent usage connected Bluesky ebbs and flows, with surges often timed to changes astatine X oregon moments of governmental tension. Meanwhile, Meta’s Threads has go the next-nearest rival to X. New third-party information indicates that Threads is present outpacing X successful regular mobile users, though X was inactive up connected the desktop web.

Threads’ main vantage is that it’s backed by the resources of a tech giant, allowing for dense cross-promotion, easier onboarding, and tons of resources. As a result, Threads has been rapidly shipping caller features implicit the past twelvemonth oregon so, including things like interest-based communities, better filters, DMs, long-form text, and disappearing posts. That’s helped to differentiate it from X and summation traction among users, including those who privation a web that favors creator contented implicit politics, which Threads had deprioritized up until a twelvemonth ago.