The EcoFlow Wave 2 is an air conditioner, heater, and fan that can uniquely be powered by a battery and solar panel. This portable heat pump packs a lot of cooling and heating for its size and could be a game changer for some or a disappointment for others. It all depends on whether you believe EcoFlow’s marketing.
Technology
An A/C and heater that can be taken anywhere
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25573368/IMG_9081.jpeg?ssl=1 "An A/C and heater that can be taken anywhere")
A heat pump’s ability to transfer heat in and out of a room is what makes these increasingly popular appliances so efficient, but EcoFlow’s pitch for the diminutive Wave 2 is absurd and misleading. It shows people using it inside a spacious living room, a large RV, on the deck of a boat, and outside at a campsite. Some backpacker even carried it into the mountains to use with a tent.
After a year of testing, I can assure you that the Wave 2 will not cool or heat those spaces in any meaningful way as depicted. It certainly won’t raise or lower the temperature by 18 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) in just five minutes, as EcoFlow claims.
I’ve tested the $799 Wave 2 to both heat and cool a shipping-container-sized surf shack, and to cool both a campervan and a tiny bedroom in an old Portuguese farmhouse. The fastest temperature change I’ve seen is an 8F (4.6C) drop in 30 minutes, well below EcoFlow’s claim. But it also kept a room at 72F (22C) or below on a day that reached 99F (37C) outside. Its worst performance resulted in no temperature change at all.
Notably, in some climates, a 400W solar panel could conceivably keep the $1,199 Wave 2 with battery add-on running continuously without ever needing to plug it into a wall socket. The Wave 2 is certainly innovative and a very capable device in some limited scenarios — but it’s not the little miracle EcoFlow makes it seem.
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EcoFlow’s Wave 2 is fitted with a compact compressor, condenser, and heat exchanger with air exhaust and intake pairs on both sides of the device that form two closed loops. The system works by moving heat from one loop to the other to either cool or heat the space you’re in. This ability to transfer heat instead of generating hot and cold air is what makes heat pumps so efficient. JerryRigEverything has a good Wave 2 teardown that also explains how everything works in more detail.
The Wave 2 is very small for an HVAC unit which is both a strength and a weakness. It measures just 20.4 x 11.7 x 13.2 inches (518 x 297 x 336mm) and weighs only 32 pounds (14.5kg). It’s rated for 1500W / 5100BTU hours of cooling capacity and 1800W / 6100BTU hours of heating capacity, yet only pulls about 200W to 450W in my testing. But anyone who’s ever purchased an air conditioner can tell you that 5100BTUs isn’t a lot of cooling capacity.
Basic window-mounted A/Cs commonly sold in the US usually start at around 8000BTUs. They cost less than half the price of the Wave 2 but consume far more power over time. You can also buy a much less portable 14000BTU A/C and heater combo unit from Midea for $100 less than the Wave 2 if you can afford the extra space it requires.
But only the Wave 2 can be fitted with an optional battery that adds 17.2 pounds (7.8kg) to the total weight and up to eight hours of untethered run time. Uniquely, that battery can be charged by an efficient 700W DC-to-DC connection from many of EcoFlow’s giant power stations. Or take advantage of the battery’s XT150 jack to charge it from just about any power station or DC-to-DC charger. It can also be charged from a standard AC wall jack (820W max), solar (11-60V / 13A, 400W max), or a vehicle’s cigarette lighter outlet (200W max).
Placement of the Wave 2 is limited by several factors, including the rather short AC power cord and the 55.1-inch (140-cm) long ducts that require five- and six-inch (12.7-cm and 15.2-cm) diameter openings in a window. You might also need a bucket within reach of the drainage hose to capture any accumulated condensation.
Last year I tried using the Wave 2 to heat and cool a single-room surf shack measuring about 800 cubic feet. I wasn’t impressed as it failed to effectively regulate the temperature in both cases. I did, however, benefit from the warm or cool air blowing directly on me, especially when falling asleep, but it didn’t do enough to justify the price.
Then I read the fine print. Ecoflow says the Wave 2 works best in spaces measuring less than 350 cubic feet (10 cubic meters), which is just big enough to fit a double bed and two side tables. Heating and cooling performance is roughly the same in such compact places — it’s a wee bit louder when cooling and uses slightly more power when heating. But the Wave 2 is not a heater for very cold winters. Instead, it’s designed to operate in temperatures between 41F and 122F (5C and 50C). And since EcoFlow says it’s “the industry’s most powerful and compact portable A/C,” I mainly tested its cooling abilities during a very hot summer.
So, with my expectations reset, I’ve been using the Wave 2 for the last few weeks to cool down a small 500-cubic-foot bedroom and a 364-cubic-foot Sprinter van in central Portugal, where cloudless skies have regularly produced temperatures too extreme for my Scottish ancestry.
Setting up the Wave 2 in the Sprinter requires more patience than in a home — but that’s true with everything in vanlife. After parking, I have to lug the unit out of the van’s storage to place it in front of the passenger seat. Then, I attach the battery, drain hose, and receptacle and carefully run the paper-thin ducting up and out through the window using a thick foam insert I created. I’ve got the whole thing down to under 10 minutes.
I tested the Wave 2’s cooling inside the van at night and in direct sunlight. For the sunlight test, I closed the doors and covered the inside of the windows with insulated and reflective covers. With the cooling set to maximum at the unit’s lowest possible temperature (16C / 61F), the inside of the van remained roughly the same as the outside, which ranged from 86F to a sweltering 99F (30C to 37C). That’s not bad considering the interior could have easily surpassed 120F (49F) without the Wave 2 running, but it’s still a fail in my book since higher capacity rooftop A/Cs (costing more than $2,000) from companies like Dometic and Coleman would have tamed that heat.
Of course, I suspected the Wave 2’s meager 5100BTU capacity would fail this test, but EcoFlow’s pitch to vanlifers is that the Wave 2 will “cool or warm, anywhere, anytime” which just isn’t true, especially for RVs — many of which are much larger than a class-B Sprinter van — that must park in the sun to recharge their leisure batteries off rooftop solar.
Cooling the Sprinter after the sun went down yielded much better results. On the warmest night of my testing when it was 72F to 77F (22C to 25C) outside, I was able to lower the internal temperature to about 66F (19C) and maintain it into the morning. The van got so cold that I needed a down-filled duvet at one point. That’s a major win, with one caveat.
The Wave 2’s optional 1159Wh battery only lasts about two and a half hours on max mode in my testing, or over eight in eco mode, its most energy-efficient setting. That wasn’t enough juice to keep the A/C running all night in a mix of max and eco cooling modes, so I had to plug the Wave 2 into the much larger solar generator I carry to power things like my van’s lighting, induction cooktop, and coffee maker. When I woke up, that bigger battery had drained to 10 percent, leaving me with precious little power to start my day.
My final test was to cool a small room in a restored Portuguese farmhouse. Here the Wave 2 received an assist from the room’s one tiny window cut into a structure with two-foot thick stone walls. On yet another 99F (37C) day I managed to keep the room between 68F and 72F (20C to 22C) with the Wave 2 operating in a mix of low to medium settings, even as the temperature inside the house peaked at 83F (28C). Impressive.
Over the last year of on and (mostly) off operation I’ve noticed two problems with my review unit. First, the buttons on the physical control panel now only work intermittently, perhaps because they got squashed from all the moving around. It’s not really an issue, though, because I prefer to control the unit with the excellent EcoFlow app which works well over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Of greater concern is the very loud and irritating noise the Wave 2 sometimes produces. I think it’s related to the water pump as it sometimes happens when the water receptacle is full or the drain hose is looped in a way that reduces gravity’s help. The squeal is identical to the sound reported by several other users. EcoFlow tells me that there’s a known issue related to the water pump clogging due to debris or trapped air. Affected owners can request a replacement under warranty.
- When initially cooling a room on max setting the Wave 2 is a loud 53dB from a meter away, which drops to a reasonable 45dB in Eco mode — that’s consistent with the quietest of basic window A/Cs.
- The Wave 2 can automatically evaporate condensation that develops during the heat exchange process, but only in environments with less than 70 percent humidity.
- The optional battery includes 100W USB-C and 18W USB-A charging ports for your gadgets.
- IPX4 water resistance makes it okay for the Wave 2 (and IP65 battery) to get caught in the rain.
- The top hose duct warms up considerably when exhausting heat outside the window (and thereby cooling the room). Good idea to wrap it in insulation for more permanent installations instead of bleeding that heat (or cold) back into the room.
The Wave 2 heat pump is a fairly niche but interesting product that works best to cool and heat small spaces located in temperate climates. It can even cool a small room in a very warm climate if the insulation is good enough. It’s also a good choice for vanlifers looking for some occasional DIY temperature control, especially at night and when traveling beyond the grid. But if you regularly need to heat or cool a living space larger than 350 cubic feet (10 cubic meters) in more extreme climates, you should consider more traditional cooling and heating options.
Still, as a budding vanlifer and off-grid adventurer, I’m excited by the future of battery-powered heat pumps. The Wave 2 already improved upon the original EcoFlow Wave, and EcoFlow tells me that a third generation is coming in 2025.
All photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
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Technology
A warrantless wiretap law is about to expire — but surveillance networks aren’t actually ‘going dark’
Congress has failed to pass a three-week extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), with the House voting 218-198 against reauthorizing the controversial warrantless wiretapping authority through July 2nd. After a short-term extension earlier this year, the spying program now appears set to lapse for at least a week. This is the nightmare scenario FISA’s proponents have been warning about — but it doesn’t actually mean the US has lost its surveillance capabilities.
Proponents of a clean extension claim a lapse will hinder intelligence agencies’ efforts to thwart potential terrorist attacks, with surveillance networks “going dark”. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) stressed the importance of reauthorizing Section 702 ahead of the World Cup. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has said even a brief lapse would be disastrous. “Democrats in the Senate are playing political games right now with the lives of Americans,” he told reporters Wednesday. “It’s a very dangerous situation.”
In March, the FISA court recertified surveillance under Section 702 until 2027. The Brennan Center for Justice notes that a lapse won’t allow telecom companies to flout requests to hand over communications information to the NSA and other spy agencies. In 2008, after Yahoo failed to comply with a Section 702 request during a lapse, the FISA court ruled that the directives issued under Section 702 are effective while the certification is in place — even in the event of a lapse.
“The phrase ‘going dark’ is significantly misleading,” Andrea Sawka Fiegl, the senior policy director for media and technology at Common Cause, said on a Tuesday press call. Fiegl added that companies don’t choose whether they participate in surveillance under Section 702. If they don’t comply after being served with a directive, they face fines starting at $250,000 a day.
“The ‘going dark’ framing is basically a pressure tactic designed to strip Congress of its leverage to negotiate reforms by creating this false binary,” Fiegl said. “There is ample time for Congress to consider and pass reforms.”
Among those reforms are a warrant requirement for queries involving US persons, including so-called “backdoor searches” in which intelligence agencies identify a foreign target with ties to a US person, and then search that person’s communications, thus granting them access to their desired US target. Reformers also want to prohibit intelligence agencies from buying Americans’ data from private brokers to get around warrant requirements.
“Every day that Section 702 is in effect without reforms is a day that Americans’ rights are under threat,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said in a statement Wednesday night, after Senate Republicans blocked his request for a five-week extension of Section 702 with new transparency requirements. “If there is going to be an extension of these authorities, there needs to be some guardrails or at least some transparency that would allow Congress and the American people to understand the abuses that have taken place and the need for reforms.”
Though President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in both chambers have called for a clean reauthorization of Section 702, there’s bipartisan appetite for reform — and a handful of Republican holdouts stand in the way of a clean reauthorization. Most Democrats — even some who have supported reauthorization in the past — have objected to a clean extension due to Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
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Apple used WWDC 2026, its annual developers conference, to lay out what is coming next for your iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. This year’s keynote also carried extra weight because it marked Tim Cook’s final WWDC as Apple CEO before John Ternus takes over in September.
Still, the biggest story for users was software. Apple put Siri AI and Apple Intelligence at the center of the keynote, while also announcing iOS 27 support for older iPhones, new child safety tools, faster performance and smarter features across everyday apps.
The updates range from big changes, like Siri AI, to smaller fixes that could still make a difference. You may notice them when your phone finds a photo faster, shares a file quicker or helps clean up a weak password.
Here are the 12 biggest takeaways from Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook holds an iPhone 17 Pro and an iPhone Air during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s campus in Cupertino, Calif., on Sept. 9, 2025. (Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters)
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1) Siri AI is the biggest announcement
The headline from WWDC 2026 is Siri AI. Apple says it rebuilt Siri around Apple Intelligence so it can handle more complex requests and carry on longer conversations.
The new Siri still works in familiar ways, including “Hey Siri.” Apple also showed a dedicated Siri app where you can return to past conversations. That means a longer answer or planning session does not disappear after one interaction.
Siri can also sound a lot more expressive. Apple says you can customize Siri’s voice by adjusting its pace and expressivity until it feels right for you.
During the keynote, Apple showed Siri answering a question about a local concert. From there, Siri helped with tickets, created a reminder for the lottery opening and played a song from the artist.
Apple also showed Siri using what was already on the screen. In one demo, Siri identified a location along the Santa Cruz coast from an image. Then it found a friend’s address from Messages and helped create a route with a stop along the way.
In another example, Siri searched Photos for images from a recent trip. It narrowed the results to specific family members and added those photos to a shared family album.
On Mac, Apple showed Siri working inside Spotlight and context menus. Siri compared selected files, turned the information into a table and used details from Messages and Mail to help draft an email.
2) Apple Intelligence now has a Google connection
One of the most surprising moments came when Apple said it worked with Google on the next generation of Apple Foundation models.
Apple said it used technologies behind Google’s Gemini family of models to help create new models for Apple Intelligence. Those models are designed to run on-device and through Private Cloud Compute.
Apple is still presenting the experience as Apple Intelligence. Still, the Google connection is important. It shows Apple is willing to lean on outside AI technology to make its own system stronger.
Apple says the new models bring better reasoning, image understanding, speech support and image generation.
3) iOS 27 keeps older iPhones in the game
Apple confirmed that iOS 27 will support iPhone 11 and the same iPhone models as iOS 26.
That is good news if you are not rushing to buy a new phone. Some of Apple’s biggest software updates will still reach older devices.
Apple also said it brought an improved CPU scheduler to older iPhones going back to iPhone 11. That system helps your phone manage processing power as you move between tasks.
In everyday terms, Apple says older iPhones should feel more responsive. That could help when you switch apps, search for photos or use several features at once.
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4) Apple says your devices should feel faster
Apple did not spend the keynote only chasing new AI features. It also talked about speed. The company said iPhone and iPad apps can launch up to 30% faster. New photos may appear in your library up to 70% faster. AirDrop transfers may be up to 80% faster. On iPad, browsing files and moving them to an external drive may be up to five times faster.
Waiting for an app to open is annoying. So is taking a photo, then waiting for it to appear. Faster AirDrop could also make file sharing feel less clunky.
Apple also said it improved network transitions. Your iPhone should be smarter about moving between Wi-Fi and cellular. That could help in places where your phone clings to a weak Wi-Fi network, even though cellular would work better.
Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote focused on Siri AI, Apple Intelligence and software updates coming to iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
5) Liquid Glass is getting easier to read
Apple also revisited Liquid Glass, the visual design system it introduced last year. This time, Apple said it refined Liquid Glass so that complex content behind it is easier to read. The goal is better contrast and clearer separation between controls and background content.
Apple is also adding a new slider in Settings. You can adjust Liquid Glass from ultra clear to fully tinted. That gives you more control. Some of you may like the transparent look. Others may want a stronger tint so buttons and text stand out.
On Mac, Apple is also bringing back more structure. Toolbars look more uniform. Sidebars stretch to the edge of app windows. Sidebar icons regain color. Windows also have a more consistent shape. The message is clear. Apple still likes the look of Liquid Glass, but it knows readability matters.
6) Apple is giving parents more control
Apple devoted a major part of WWDC 2026 to kids, teens and parental controls. The company says the most important first step is creating a Child Account. That account automatically turns on age-based safeguards, including adult website blocking, media limits and App Store restrictions. Apple also said parents can convert an existing account into a Child Account.
This year, Apple is adding a more guided setup process. Parents can decide which apps a child can use right away, then add more as the child is ready. In other words, a child may need Messages or school apps before they are ready for broader web access.
Apple also expanded Ask to Buy. Parents can now review app requests in Messages. A new Ask to Browse feature lets kids request permission before visiting a new website in Safari. Ask to Browse and Ask to Buy are both on by default for kids under 13. Parents can also turn them on for teens.
7) Screen Time is getting more flexible
Screen Time is getting a new look and more flexible controls. Apple says parents will see a clearer view of how kids use their devices. They can also adjust access faster.
A new Time Allowances feature gives parents suggested limits for app categories such as Entertainment, Games and Social Media. Apple says those recommendations are based on a child’s age and developed with clinical and child development experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. Parents can still adjust the limits themselves.
Apple also added schedules. That means parents can decide which apps are available during different parts of the day. For example, a parent could allow learning apps during school hours and entertainment apps later. Weekend settings can also be different from weekday settings. That is all very important because families do not all handle screen time the same way.
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8) Safari can organize your messy tabs
Safari is getting Apple Intelligence features that could help with one of the most common browsing problems: too many tabs. Safari can now organize open tabs into topics. If you are researching a vacation, comparing products or planning a project, Safari can group related pages together. It can also add new related tabs to a topic as you keep browsing. That could help anyone who leaves tabs open because they are afraid of losing something important.
Safari is also adding Notify Me. You can ask Safari to watch a page for a change, then close the tab. Apple gave examples like waiting for camp signups or a product to come back in stock. When Safari detects the update, it sends you a notification. That may sound small. For tab hoarders, it could be a big relief.
9) Passwords can help fix weak accounts
Apple is also bringing Apple Intelligence into the Passwords app. That could be a big help because weak and reused passwords are still one of the easiest ways for scammers to break into accounts. Passwords already warns you when a password may be weak or compromised. Now, Apple says it can help update eligible accounts to stronger passwords with one tap.
That is the part that may get more people to act. Most of us know we should clean up old passwords. The hassle is getting it done. You have to visit the site, sign in, hunt for the account settings and create a better password.
Apple says Passwords can use Safari to handle supported password changes for you. That could make it much easier to fix risky accounts before they become a problem. Just do not treat it like a set-it-and-forget-it tool. After changing a password, make sure it is saved correctly and know where to find it later.
10) Visual Intelligence is spreading across Apple devices
Visual Intelligence is becoming a bigger part of Apple’s AI plan. On iPhone, Apple is adding a Siri mode inside the Camera app. You can point your camera at something, tap the shutter button and let Siri respond to what it sees.
Apple showed examples like getting nutritional insights from food and helping split a restaurant bill with Apple Cash.
On Mac, Visual Intelligence works through a keyboard shortcut. You can select something on your display, then ask Siri about it.
On iPad, Visual Intelligence connects with screenshots. On Vision Pro, Apple showed Siri answering questions about objects someone was looking at.
This could make Apple Intelligence feel more useful because it connects to what is in front of you. It is not limited to typing a question into a chat window.
Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered his final WWDC keynote as Apple CEO, announcing smarter features included in the tech company’s next big software update. (Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty Images)
11) Apple Intelligence is moving deeper into everyday apps
Apple also showed how Apple Intelligence will show up inside the apps you already use. This is where the update could become more useful in everyday life. Instead of making you open a separate AI tool, Apple is building these features into places like Messages, Mail, Calendar, Phone, Home and Shortcuts. In Messages, Apple says it can understand the context of a conversation and offer one-tap suggestions. For example, it could help create a reminder or note from a message. If someone asks for photos, Messages can help find the right shots by recognizing keywords, locations and people in your library. Mail is getting more capable suggestions, too. Apple says those suggestions will be based on the email you are reading and can help you take action with your favorite apps, including third-party apps.
Calendar is also getting a more natural way to add events. You can type what you want in plain language, and Calendar can fill in details as you go. Apple showed it identifying a contact, adding a location and creating a title. It can also adjust a recurring event when you describe the change. The Phone app may get one of the more useful upgrades. With Call Context, your iPhone can surface helpful details when you call a business. Apple gave the example of calling an airline and having your confirmation code appear from Mail when the call starts. Apple says the feature looks at who you are calling, not what you are saying, and runs entirely on your device.
The Home app is getting smarter about notifications and cameras. Apple says it can understand related accessory alerts as one activity, so you get one notification that keeps updating. For compatible cameras, the Home app can also summarize recorded clips, pull up related footage and let you search by what was captured. Shortcuts may become less intimidating, too. Instead of building an automation step by step, you can describe what you want. Apple showed an example where Shortcuts could message a partner with an ETA when someone leaves work. That is the bigger point here. Apple Intelligence is not only about Siri answering questions. Apple wants it to handle small tasks that usually require digging, tapping or searching inside the apps people already use.
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12) Photos and image creation are getting AI upgrades
Apple also announced several visual creation features. Image Playground is getting a major upgrade with more powerful image models. Apple says it can create higher-quality images in many styles, including photorealistic images. It can also use people from your Photos library, create images in different dimensions and help make Messages backgrounds, contact posters and Lock Screen wallpapers.
Apple also said you can refine images by describing changes. You can touch part of an image, then move it, resize it or add details. Photos is getting its own AI tools. Apple said Clean Up is improving. It also announced Extend, which can expand a photo beyond its original frame. Another feature, Spatial Reframing, lets you adjust the framing of a photo after you take it.
That could be very useful when a photo is close to perfect, but the edges feel off. These features show where Apple is headed. Your photo library is becoming more editable and easier to search with help from Apple Intelligence.
Important limits to know
Siri AI will not arrive for everyone at the same time. Apple said Siri AI will be available in beta later this year. Developers can try it first. It starts in English, with more languages to follow. Apple also said Siri AI will not initially be available in the EU on iOS and iPadOS. In China, Siri AI and other new Apple Intelligence features will not be available while Apple works through regulatory requirements.
Some Apple Intelligence features will also have daily usage limits. That includes image generation and other features that rely on Apple’s server-based models. Apple says people with most iCloud+ subscription plans will get increased access. While some features may depend on region, language, device support and usage limits.
Other WWDC 2026 updates worth noting
Apple also announced several smaller updates that may be useful.
- Shared Albums can now include contributions from friends on Android or Windows. They also support full-resolution sharing.
- The Health app is adding support for perimenopause and menopause. It can notify people when cycle patterns may suggest perimenopause. It also adds symptom logging and educational information.
- AirPods are getting custom EQ so you can personalize their sound.
- Apple Vision Pro can turn panoramas into spatial scenes with depth and realism. You can also use those panoramas as your environment.
- Maps is improving Flyover with sharper detail using aerial imagery and vision intelligence models.
These may not be the headline features. Still, they could end up being the updates some of you use most.
What this means for you
Apple is trying to make AI feel like part of your device instead of another app you need to open. That means Siri could search your photos, understand messages, draft emails, compare files, summarize camera clips and help you act inside apps. Safari could organize tabs. Passwords could fix weak accounts. Calendar could understand a normal sentence. Shortcuts could become easier for people who never wanted to build automations. That sounds convenient. It also requires trust.
Apple says its approach is privacy-first. The company says Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, so your data is only used to complete your request. Apple also says outside experts can verify those privacy promises. Still, you should pay attention to the features you enable. AI becomes more useful when it understands your personal context. That same access makes it more important to know what your device can search and use. The promise is less friction. The question is how much access you are comfortable giving.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Apple’s WWDC 2026 keynote felt like a reset for Siri and Apple Intelligence. Apple is trying to turn Siri into a more useful assistant that can understand what is on your screen and help inside the apps you already use. I also like that Apple focused on everyday frustrations, from faster apps and better AirDrop to smarter search, stronger passwords and improved parental controls. Still, Siri AI has to prove itself outside a keynote demo. Some features will have limits, and some regions will have delays. To me, Apple is finally saying it is serious about AI. Now it has to prove it on the devices people already own.
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Bluesky will be getting “communities,” which will function as smaller spaces where you can “go deeper and hang out with people who care about the same stuff” sometime this year, according to head of product Alex Benzer. They will be built on the decentralized AT Protocol that underpins Bluesky, with Benzer saying that “it’s a new structure for everyone” that’s part of the “Atmosphere” (a shorthand for the AT Protocol ecosystem).
Benzer listed out a “few ideas we have in mind so far” in a thread. “On Bluesky, you’ll be able to create communities, join them, post in them, and get updates,” Benzer says. “The core features on Bluesky stay simple. The magic comes from communities also existing on the open web. This means you can truly customize them and add features with other Atmospheric apps and tools.”
Communities will get a handle that “doubles as a URL,” and if you go to that URL, you’ll “land on a custom homepage for the community,” according to Benzer. “Builders can also host a completely custom experience there instead.” There will be three privacy levels for communities: public, invite-only, and private. And each community would have its own feed, Benzer says.
Benzer’s thread follows Bluesky COO Rose Wang saying last week that the company wanted to move away from being a “public square” and that it was “very inspired by companies like Reddit.” Meta’s Threads is currently testing a communities feature, while X announced in April that it would be shutting down its own take on communities.
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