Introduction

This week, Skylight, an exciting new startup poised to challenge TikTok, is officially launching its mobile app to the public after a remarkable 10 weeks of development. Backed by influential billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Skylight leverages the AT Protocol, the very same technology that supports the rapidly growing social network, Bluesky, among other applications.

Features of Skylight

Founded by Tori White and Reed Hermeyer, Skylight offers a familiar short-form video experience, built to cater to today’s digital audience. The app incorporates a user-friendly video editor, interactive features such as commenting, liking, and sharing videos, as well as the ability to create personal user profiles and follow other users. All these features are designed to create a seamless and engaging experience reminiscent of TikTok but with unique twists tailored for an open and decentralized environment.

Connection to Bluesky

What sets Skylight apart is its ability to connect users to Bluesky’s expansive network of over 33.8 million active users. Videos posted on Skylight enjoy the potential for exposure and interaction across other AT Protocol-based applications, including Flashes—an app focused on photo sharing.

Funding and Support

Funding for Skylight comes from a pre-seed round led by Cuban, who earlier expressed his interest in finding a TikTok alternative that operates on the AT Protocol. Leslie Feinzaig’s Graham & Walker Venture Fund has also invested in Skylight, signaling confidence in its potential.

Inspiration for Skylight

The inspiration for Skylight emerged for White and Hermeyer amidst concerns over the possible ban of TikTok in the U.S. White, a former travel influencer turned self-taught software developer, began preserving her TikTok videos out of fear of losing her community. Recognizing the opportunity to create a platform utilizing ATProto, the duo aimed to establish a social network that could withstand similar challenges.

Technical Reliability

In discussions at the ATmosphere Conference in Seattle, Hermeyer explained how their confidence in ATProto stemmed from its reliability, unlike other platforms that have struggled with technical failures. “We didn’t see the ‘fail whale,’” he mentioned, referring to the infamous error graphic that haunted early Twitter users during frequent outages. This dependability inspired them to build a platform that they believe could be “ban-proof.”

Community Engagement

Utilizing her influencer background, White effectively documented Skylight’s development journey on TikTok, generating buzz and building a following eager for the app’s launch. Her TikTok handle, @buildwithtori, now boasts nearly 50,000 followers, many of whom participated as early testers, showcasing a strong community interest.

Future Features

In line with Bluesky, Skylight allows for video uploads of up to three minutes, a significant increase from the previous one-minute cap, hinting at its ambitions to evolve beyond just a decentralized TikTok replica. White anticipates that Skylight will offer advanced customization options for users’ feeds, incorporating innovative gestures for interaction beyond standard scrolling.

Roadmap Ahead

Future features on the roadmap include support for a variety of sounds, collaborative tools such as duets and stitching, as well as functionalities for saving bookmarks and curating playlists.

Conclusion

With Skylight now in beta on the Google Play Store and recently available on Apple’s App Store, the question remains: Can it carve out a significant slice of the social media landscape dominated by TikTok? As Skylight rolls out to the public, it certainly has the potential to become a game-changer in the world of short-form video content, offering users not just another platform, but a fresh and engaging community experience.