Phoenix is a new Tapbots app for Bluesky
Fans of Tweetbot for Twitter and Ivory for Mastodon have reason to get excited all over again as the developers at Tapbots tease a Bluesky client called Phoenix.
When Elon Musk took over Twitter, no one could have predicted the chaos that ensued. The mass firings, restructuring, and user-aggressive changes led Twitter to a fast user-count decline as the less-popular X emerged.
As X struggles for relevancy, the death of Twitter — and the Mac app in the process — did create some interesting new options. Tapbots is back to make another excellent client for an emerging player in the space.
The new app is called Phoenix, and it is a Bluesky client that is expected to launch in the summer of 2025. Tapbots will continue to work on Ivory for Mastodon in tandem, so users of that platform need not worry.
The three-person team at Tapbots created one of the most popular third-party Twitter clients called Tweetbot, which debuted in 2011. It was shut down abruptly when Elon Musk ordered Twitter to stop supporting third-party clients without warning.
The Tapbots developers were quick to work on a new client called Ivory for Mastodon. At the time, there was no way to predict which platform would become the new Twitter as the tech exodus from X continued.
Mastodon felt like a good fit, and even today much of the active tech community still uses Mastodon actively. It seemed like the right home for Tapbots, and remains a priority for the company.
However, in spite of rapid growth, Mastodon proved to be one step too far for casual social media users to call it home. It sits today at around 10 million accounts and 1 million active users with a strong presence of tech, gamer, and nerd culture.
Niche communities are awesome, but they can’t always pay the bills.
Another alternative could have been Threads, but leaving X for Threads would have defeated the purpose given Meta’s approach and policies. Besides, Meta doesn’t seem keen on supporting third-party apps anytime soon, if ever.
Of the few other options vying for attention, Bluesky was an early contender. It was a project initially started by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, who wanted to create a decentralized social media — not that dissimilar from Mastodon’s Fediverse.
Dorsey is no longer part of the Bluesky project, but the idea remained and grew. It runs on the ATProtocol and has been called “billionaire proof.” Meaning, no one can buy Bluesky because the users can just switch hosts.
The concept is a good one, but what really sold the platform is simplicity. People could just sign up for an account without needing to worry about servers.
Advanced users can use their own domain for their handle, but that’s as complex as it gets.
Users were especially attracted to Bluesky’s unique features like creating starter packs that let new users follow groups of people with one tap. The lack of a central algorithm, meaning the main timeline is chronological, has also proven popular. Plus, users can follow different algorithmic timelines and switch between them.
Bluesky has surged in popularity, leading to a 30 million user milestone in February 2025. The user diversity at Bluesky is closer to Twitter’s in its prime — people from around the world in all walks of life.
30M users 1B posts
bluesky milestone
achieved this week
— Bluesky (@bsky.app) Feb 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
The potential ban of TikTok and Meta allowing hate speech and misinformation has created demand for alternatives to Instagram and TikTok. There are already several projects using the ATProtocol in the works like Flashes, an Instagram alternative, and Skylight, a TikTok alternative.
The increasing popularity of Bluesky is what led Tapbots to Phoenix. There is still a strong tech presence on Mastodon, but many have migrated to Bluesky full time, splitting the user base.
A short Q&A on the Phoenix announcement page says the app and Ivory will support cross posting between Mastodon and Bluesky, but the apps will remain separate. Mastodon remains Tapbots home on the social web.
So, Ivory and Phoenix will exist in tandem. There is no word about a public beta test via TestFlight, but the app itself is expected to launch in the summer.
While many people still use X, including Apple executives and advertisers, it isn’t the same platform many of us enjoyed before the Musk takeover. AppleInsider can still be found on X to reach users that only use that platform, but there are also accounts on Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky.
