Bluesky launched group chat support on June 11, 2026, as part of a broader strategic shift toward building features for smaller, more private communities within its social network.
The feature, available in app version v1.124, allows groups of up to 50 people to communicate privately on the platform. Group chat creators control who can participate and can generate shareable invite links that appear as embedded cards in Bluesky posts. Users can also set their own preferences for who is allowed to invite them to chats — everyone, only people they follow, or no one. Media sharing is not yet supported in group chats, with Bluesky citing the need for additional safety and moderation systems before enabling it.
Bluesky’s head of product, Alex Benzer, outlined the company’s direction in a series of posts. “Today, Bluesky is one big space. Communities will be smaller spaces inside that where you can go deeper and hang out with people who care about the same stuff,” he wrote. Planned community features include dedicated handles that double as URLs, and visibility options — public, invite-only, or private — similar to Facebook Groups or Reddit.
The move comes as Bluesky’s growth has slowed. The network currently has approximately 44.8 million registered users, compared with X’s 600 million monthly active users. The company previously added messaging in 2024 and more recently introduced encrypted chats through a third-party integration with Germ. Group chats represent an expansion of those efforts.
The timing is notable: X shut down its Communities feature in April 2026 due to low usage and spam. Bluesky’s group chat limit of 50 members is considerably smaller than X’s 1,000-member cap, though the company says it may raise that limit in the future.
The updated app also introduces personalized QR codes for sharing user profiles. Bluesky says its community features will be built on its underlying AT Proto protocol, with support from third-party developers.
Source: TechCrunch