Bluesky's active users down 27% as focus shifts to AT Proto ecosystem
The decentralized social network has lost more than half its peak users since late 2024, but CEO says the app isn't the only measure of success.
Conversation activity · last 8 hours peak 4/15m
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 18 items across 5 sources · 4h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
Bluesky's mobile app saw monthly active users fall to 10.4 million in June 2026, down 27% year-over-year, with daily active users declining 26% to 3 million in July. The decline represents a 52% drop from the network's late-2024 peak following the post-election exodus from X. CEO Toni Schneider indicated the company is pivoting focus toward growing the underlying AT Proto protocol and new services rather than the app itself.
- Bluesky's mobile monthly active users fell from 22.1M (Q4 2024) to 10.4M (June 2026), a 52% decline; daily active users down 26% to 3M in July.
- Despite app user losses, Bluesky's remaining community has comparable engagement to Threads with 29% stickiness rate.
- CEO Toni Schneider indicated the app itself is not the primary focus; the company is prioritizing AT Proto protocol expansion and new services like the AI research tool Attie.
- Meta's Threads emerged as the primary competitor gaining ground with 147M daily active users (up 21.3% YoY), while X remained relatively stable with 302M monthly active users.
How it unfolded
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TechCrunch reports Bluesky has lost over half its peak users but notes CEO Toni Schneider is focused on AT Proto protocol expansion rather than app-only success.
“The company is not entirely focused on making Bluesky (the app) succeed, but on making it possible for the underlying protocol (AT Proto) to power a growing number of social apps, services, and communities.”
TechCrunch · Mastodon ↗ -
Reaction User reaction on Bluesky
Bluesky user @robpilk.com responds positively to declining numbers, commenting on competitor Threads' growth.
“honestly? good”
@robpilk.com · Bluesky ↗ -
Simon Downs on Threads attributes Bluesky's user decline to poor app design despite Trump's unpopularity.
“They've basically designed an app that has a sucky user experience.”
simondowens@threads.net · Mastodon ↗ - 11 days quiet
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Mobile daily active users fell 25.6% year-over-year to around 3 million in July 2026.
- 4 weeks quiet
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Report June 2026 user data released
Similarweb data shows Bluesky's mobile app had 10.4 million monthly active users, down 27.2% year-over-year.
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Event Peak user base reached
Bluesky's quarterly average reaches around 22.1 million monthly active users in Q4 2024.
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Bluesky becomes a major beneficiary of user exodus from X following the U.S. elections in November 2024.
What people are saying verbatim
“The company is not entirely focused on making Bluesky (the app) succeed, but on making it possible for the underlying protocol (AT Proto) to power a growing number of social apps, services, and communities.”
TechCrunch analysis, News report · TechCrunch ↗ · Aug 10
“Bluesky's mobile app had 10.4 million monthly active users worldwide in June 2026, down 27.2% year-over-year.”
TechCrunch citing Similarweb, News report · TechCrunch ↗ · Aug 10
“honestly? good”
@robpilk.com, Bluesky user · Bluesky ↗ · Aug 10
“the Threads numbers are insane and that place is so cursed wtf”
@robpilk.com, Bluesky user · Bluesky ↗ · Aug 10
“They've basically designed an app that has a sucky user experience.”
simondowens@threads.net, Threads user commenting on Bluesky · Threads/Mastodon ↗ · Aug 10
“Bluesky's app has lost more than half its monthly active users from its late-2024 high, which means that its app usage continued to shrink even after the initial post-election surge subsided.”
TechCrunch, News report · TechCrunch ↗ · Aug 10
“Meta-owned app's daily active users were up 21.3% year-over-year to 147 million in July 2026”
TechCrunch citing Similarweb, News report · TechCrunch ↗ · Aug 10
Voices from the web unedited
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a bit concerning news heading into the MIDTERMS, since so many of rely on @bsky.app as our main social app looks like overall usage on this platform is DOWN, and the team are struggling to grow usage for various reasons their CEO TONI did an interview recently (1/2)
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Bluesky's mobile app user base is continuing to decline over a year after its post-election surge, though its remaining community remains engaged. The platform is now focusing on expanding beyond its core app. https:// techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/blue skys-active-user-base-is-shrinking-as-its-focus-expands-beyond-the-app/ # Media # SocialMedia #…
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1.) honestly? good 2.) the Threads numbers are insane and that place is so cursed wtf
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Over a year following its post-election surge, Bluesky’s mobile app is seeing a continued decline in active users, though its remaining community is still relatively engaged. https:// techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/blue skys-active-user-base-is-shrinking-as-its-focus-expands-beyond-the-app/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
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A social network that caters to liberals is losing users at a time when Trump’s historically unpopular, all because the people who run the social network are really bad at their jobs. They’ve basically designed an app that has a sucky user experience.