Skylight, a new social media platform, has come out as a challenger to TikTok by offering a more open and decentralised alternative. Backed by prominent investors such as Mark Cuban, Skylight is built on the AT Protocol, the same technology that powers Bluesky and other applications.
This integration allows Skylight users to connect seamlessly with Bluesky’s vast network of over 33.8 million users, enabling content shared on Skylight to be viewed and interacted with across different AT Protocol-based apps.
Skylight offers users a familiar short-form video experience, complete with features like an in-app video editor, commenting, liking, sharing, and creating personalised profiles. The app’s development was remarkably swift, with its public launch occurring just 10 weeks after active development began.
Tori White, Skylight’s CEO, and Reed Harmeyer, its CTO, were inspired to create the app following concerns about TikTok’s potential ban in the U.S. White, a former travel influencer turned self-taught software developer, took advantage of her influencer background to document Skylight’s development on TikTok, generating interest and attracting early testers.
“The first thing that interested us about ATProto was that Bluesky was not failing,” Harmeyer noted. “We didn’t see the ‘fail whale,’” he added, referring to Twitter’s early error graphic. “That made us feel comfortable about the underlying technology.”
Skylight aims to evolve beyond being a mere alternative to TikTok. Future updates are expected to include features that allow users to customise their feeds using new gestures beyond traditional swiping and scrolling. Other planned features include support for audio, duets, stitching, bookmarks, and playlists.
As Skylight continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how it steers through the challenges of maintaining user engagement and expanding its feature set while competing with established players in the social media space.
The race to build TikTok alternatives has intensified, with several platforms vying for attention. Bluesky itself allows users to upload videos directly, which can be viewed across different apps using the AT Protocol.