Here’s something that you’ve never seen on Big Tech social platforms: the decentralized open social network Bluesky has integrated new technology from a startup called Germ Network in order to bring end-to-end encrypted (E2E) messaging to the Bluesky app. The move makes Germ DM the first private messenger that can be launched natively within the Bluesky app.
Alongside the launch, Germ is also releasing new guidance that would allow other apps built on the underlying AT Protocol that powers Bluesky to do the same thing.
Image Credits:Germ Network
The move is a notable example of how open social networking ecosystems work differently from the Big Tech platforms that dominate the space today, as new functionality and features can be developed by the community, not just by the company itself.
Bluesky announced the integration with Germ earlier this month, noting that the experimental integration will allow Germ users to add a button to their profile so others can message them on Bluesky in an E2E encrypted environment.
Image Credits:Germ Network
Meanwhile, Germ’s standalone app is also available in a public beta on iOS in North America and Europe. That app had seen thousands of downloads so far, but after the official integration announcement, daily active users jumped by 5x, the team said.
California-based Germ is a startup founded by Tessa Brown, a communications scholar who previously taught at Stanford, and Mark Xue, who worked as a privacy engineer at Apple on technologies like FaceTime and iMessage. The idea, the company previously explained to TechCrunch, was to offer an alternative to other E2E encrypted platforms like iMessage, Signal, and WhatsApp that’s built on newer technologies.
Today, Germ takes advantage of Messaging Layer Security (MLS), a new standard approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and the AT Protocol (or ATProto), which powers Bluesky, Skylight, and a growing number of other social apps.
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