Open Social Web Browser Surf fits into Bluesky in the latest beta version

SurfTHE New Flipboard application to browse the Open Social Webexpands its support for the Bluesky social network. On Monday, the company announced a new version of its beta software (nicknamed “Blue Wave”) which allows users to connect to the application using their Bluesky identification information, then see all their Bluesky flows in Surf, including their following flow, discover a flow and one of the personalized flows they have pinned in the Bluesky application.

The new integration will also allow users to access other Bluesky sources when creating their own personalized flows – such as Bluesky start -up packs, which are recommended followers that people create to help new users find connections. Other sources of Bluesky, such as lists and personalized flows, are also available in the form of sources.

With the addition, Surf becomes an alternative to the use of the Bluesky application itself, because you can interact with the publications of the Bluesky network by loving, responding and republishing them, while the tastes and responses of the users of the application of Bluesky are also displayed in Surf.

Explains the CEO of Flipboard Mike McCue, Surf gives you “transparent access” to anyone publishing on Bluesky, Mastodon or Threads.

“It is the social web that comes to life and unifies the social web,” he says.

In addition, he considers applications as a good alternative to centralized social media, which fills with content generated by AI.

“The overtaking of AI is simply brutal,” he says. “This is why I really think that RSS is so important because it gives you access to all the best content, podcasts and New People YouTube newsletters. By being explicit on the sources you choose and looking at the people you trust and the sources they have recommended, it is the power of human connection to help filter the entire Sold IA, ”notes McCue.

Another new beta feature is a configuration assistant that will guide you throughout the process of creating your own personalized house flow in surfing – something that the company aims to add to other personalized flow creation tools further on the road.

Here, you can design your own universal chronology in a way, by combining mastodon and bluesky flows, including your following flows or other personalized flows, such as the “popular with friends” of Bluesky or “Discover”.

The installation assistant will also allow you to filter the content you don’t want to see in these flows, such as politics. There are even rocking switches to hide articles on Donald Trump or Elon Musk, if you prefer a more escape flow.

“Many people I personally talked about with are like … I use Bluesky to get away from the news. And I don’t want to read on Elon. I don’t want to hear any policy, ”says McCue.

Where surfing is already shining is its ability to help you build your own topical flows that combine publications through open social networks and other open protocols like RSS. The latter allows you to add sources such as new sites, blogs, podcasts and YouTube channels to your personalized flows.

For example, one of McCue’s flows, “Tech Builders and Thinkers”, includes individuals whose accounts are on Mastodon, Bluesky and YouTube.

The idea is to follow the people and the subjects that interest you, without limiting yourself to a single platform.

For the moment, all flows are public by default, allowing users to follow the flows that others have built. Over time, however, McCue says that your flows will be private so that you can choose the ones you want to share more widely.

You can also modify the design and arrangement of the foods you build, defining their cover image and background color, as well as the selection of the tab which is their defect.

You can have flows that look more like a Twitter / X chronology by defining them on the “discuss” view, or if you prefer to have them focused on images, audio, videos or articles, you can choose other views, “watch”, “listen”, “watch” or “read” respectively.

Today, a number of Developers build Tiktok type Or Instagram type applications for BlueskyWho change the way you visualize the contents of Bluesky by focusing on a particular type of media. With surfing, you can get the same results without needing a separate application and without limiting yourself to Bluesky content only.

Updating the Blue Wave Surf Beta version was demonstrated for the first time at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, and will be deployed to existing testers. The company will also allow to leave a new wave of beta testers with this version. Surf will later leave the Apple Testflight test platform so that the application can reach the limit of 10,000 testers that Apple imposes.

The company also works to provide it of surfing currently only iOS on the web.