Bluesky announces 2026 roadmap, plans include Discover feed improvements, real-time features
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What's Next at Bluesky - Bluesky
https://bsky.social/about/blog/01-26-2026-whats-next-at-bluesky
Bluesky teases 2026 roadmap: a better Discover feed, real-time features and more | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/27/bluesky-teases-2026-roadmap-a-better-discover-feed-real-time-features-and-more/
According to the Bluesky development team, 2025 was a year for Bluesky to 'focus on scaling up and building the infrastructure to accommodate rapid growth.' Therefore, 2026 will be a year to focus on what is working well and to make intentional investments to differentiate the service from other social media platforms.
◆ Creating a live feeling
Some people call Bluesky the official sports app. The developer wrote that the reason became clear when the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series went to Game 7: Users flocked to Bluesky to enjoy the World Series. This trend was also evident during the New York City mayoral election, where the developers wrote, 'Bluesky was like a newsroom,' and 'Whenever something big happened, people would flock to Bluesky to discuss it.'
The development team wrote that for most of 2025, they were simply trying to keep the service running for these moments, but now that the app is stable and the team has grown, they are intentionally building for these moments in 2026.
The development team wrote, 'Bluesky should be the best place to talk about what's happening in the world, a place where you can connect with people who share your interests in real time in a way that can't easily be replicated on a closed platform.'
Closed platforms like X and Instagram have a single algorithm, decision-making team, product surface, and content policy, which structurally limits how they can respond to live moments. Bluesky uses the open
The development team noted that Atmosphere , an app ecosystem built on the same AT Protocol as Bluesky, is unbiased and does not require permission for development, making it fertile ground for creating the best experiences.
Bluesky's custom feeds are already one of its most differentiating features. They form the foundation of our trending topics system, and our community-created feeds are a home for everything from scientific discussions to sports. But we're only just scratching the surface of what's possible.
The development team writes that in 2026, they aim to provide the best possible service by placing the custom feed at the heart of the app. They are building curation tools to display high-quality, timely feeds during live events, and are exploring new features and interactions within the feed to make it feel like you're spending time with the people you're seeing, rather than just scrolling through posts.
They are also working on improving the overall 'liveness' of the Bluesky app, but as they are taking an experimental approach, they are keeping the specifics of what they are working on under wraps.
◆ Strengthening the foundation
Bluesky already has a large user base, but there are many more who are not yet using it. To get these people to use Bluesky, the basic functions need to be solid: it needs to be easy to post, easy to find users worth following, and easy to find content worth checking out.
The development team also pointed out that basic features like a draft function are still missing from the post-related features, and that the maximum video length of three minutes is insufficient. They also suggested improvements such as increasing the video upload speed, allowing for uploading more than four photos, and making it easier to create threads.
The company also mentioned that there is room for improvement in the follow feature's suggestion function for who to follow. It said that improving follow recommendations is difficult but important, because 'high-quality follows lead to a better experience.'
While the Discover feed has come a long way, there's still room for improvement. To that end, Bluesky is assembling a dedicated team to develop the Discover feed. They're also considering introducing topic tags as a way to make posts easier for users to find and organize them based on specific interests. This will help contributors find the right audience for their posts.
◆ Promote discovery of the Atmosphere app
Bluesky is offering a beta feature called 'Live Now' for streamers. When you're streaming, a 'LIVE' badge will appear on your Bluesky profile picture. Clicking on this badge will allow you to check out your stream on Twitch or Streamplace (another Atmosphere app). When you stream on Streamplace, the Bluesky 'LIVE' badge will automatically update, eliminating the need for manual updates.
Bluesky adds 'a feature to highlight live streams on Twitch' and 'cashtags to summarize stock-related topics' - GIGAZINE
The development team believes that the Atmosphere app will become an essential ecosystem for expanding the Bluesky community. They are currently exploring new features and asking themselves, 'How can the Atmosphere app make posts on Bluesky more expressive?'
The development team said, 'If you're developing an app, this is your opportunity. If you develop something that meaningfully improves the Bluesky app experience, you can reach millions of people. We want to show app developers the possibilities and inspire them. And we want more people to know about the fascinating projects that are being born in Atmosphere.' We are encouraging third-party developers to develop Bluesky-related apps on Atmosphere.
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