one thing I really like about atproto is that it provides the infrastructure needed to make open source user apps that actually fucking sync data across devices sorry but the average random hobbyist is absolutely not going to run a user account server for their homebrew todo list app

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

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.

ATProto, by design, refuses to be the place where things happen. Decisions live in apps. Value derives from execution, and execution will demand focus. This is application primacy — and it's why I don't expect an ATmospheric "everything app": numergent.com/2026-05/ATProto-Application-P…

Imagine all the times you’ve downloaded a one-off app for a conference where you made all valuable connections with colleagues only to never use the app again. We could integrate the conference experience into your professional networks on the Atmosphere. ATproto can make networking so much better.

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.

I'm going to be launching something pretty big next week, which just happens to include a new atproto AppView, labeler, blob proxy, lexicons. It will have tens of thousands of users, most of whom won't even know they're using atproto, or have even heard of it.

some thoughts on atproto as a post-app paradigm

also, I kinda feel like calling the things that consume atproto data "apps" does a disservice to understanding what they are / how they work / what their potential is. But that is a partially-formed hot take I can't fully defend yet.

the open ecosystem for atproto makes it super easy for one developer to build a compelling and feature rich application in their free time that cannot possibly be maintained by one developer in their free time

I’m not sure aptroto and funding quite mix Traditional apps have easy moats (data/users), atproto apps don’t have moat unless it’s via features Vc funding pushes us towards are current world (few huge players that have “won”) A world where atproto has won is one of many small businesses

the single most important part of atproto is the PDS as a user-controlled auth and storage layer to which clients can connect directly. death to appviews

the point of atproto is to make locked-open apps. apps which are constrained such that they cannot be e.g. bought by billionaires and ruined. yes, doing non-atproto things "enables app developers to do more". yes, non-atproto is "more intuitive" and "it sucks" when you hit atproto's limits.