What you need to know

• Bluesky has gained millions of new users over the past week as more people flee X (aka Twitter).
• While it’s not quite Twitter 2.0, Bluesky offers some nifty perks, like default chronological order, custom feeds, and starter packs.
• Beeskie is a new native (and free) Windows 11 client for Bluesky, currently in beta.
• The application is created by a Microsoft software engineer who himself publishes various Windows applications on the Microsoft Store.

If there’s a social network, there’s going to be drama, and that’s the case with Bluesky, the offshoot of Twitter originally launched by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Since last week, Bluesky has seen a big surge in new users, going from around 7 million two months ago to 19 million on Sunday, November 18, as people begin to flee the dumpster fire that is now Twitter .

Although it still has hundreds of millions of users behind Twitter (X), the official Bluesky app is currently the #1 free download on iOS and Android, and the Bluesky team reports that it averages around one million registrations per day.

It remains to be seen whether this pace will continue.

Interestingly, there is now a free native Windows 11 app available on the Microsoft Store called Beeskie. It was developed by Daniel Paulina Microsoft software engineer who self-publishes under Jenius apps (we have covered its previous applications like Ambie white noise And Pro Pill Box).

To be clear, Beeskie is largely in beta, meaning it currently has very few features beyond letting you log in, view your default feed, view notifications, and, cough“skeeting” (display). You enter your ID and use a Bluesky-generated app password to log in, and you’re ready to go.