ATProto is a post-app protocol trapped in a world of apps. I can feel it all around the edges of the network.

i would like to see more atproto apps that aren’t just “already popular app, but on atproto”

I hate to post from the other app but I have to agree with Zach. Add atproto and permissioned data and we’re onto something…

Building @skysquare.app, I’ve thought a lot about what the future of the @atproto.com ecosystem might look like, and I’m increasingly excited by the possibilities. Skysquare is a useful demonstration of something that feels much bigger than the application itself—the portability of the ATProto post.

This is partly why I think atproto needs a more convincing vision about being a post-app protocol. A future where atproto is a bunch of apps and each app governs their own lexicon diminishes a lot of its potential in the long-term.

Every lexicon, every "app" on ATProto is a "yes and" waiting for your contribution to the vision. We're all first party developers.

weirdly ATProto also bridges mobile OS wars so well you wanna make the next Instagram in Swift on iOS and have it be insanely beautifully built by iOS experts à la Flighty? Ok, do it. Since the data is owned by the user, Android devs can build an incredible Android experience off the same data.

I'm thinking about how non-developers will feel about atproto. For example, will it take people by surprise that data entered into one app can show up somewhere else? More thoughts in this post.

My recollection of this is that even if you just pop a new ATProto account into existence and start spitting out `app.bsky.feed.post` records, they don't show up unless you actually go through a Bluesky onboarding & agreeing to ToS, so they should have an email for you through that process.

I swear to Bast that many people who love ATProto don't realize they are rebuilding directory services. Which could be fine -- I refuse to page through instagram for restaurants menus and hours -- but it's not a value proposition to a normal non-tech business.