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Microwave

Native iOS app for videos on ATproto

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Hi HN — I built Microwave, a native iOS app for browsing and posting short-form videos, similar to TikTok, but implemented as a pure client on top of Bluesky / AT Protocol.There’s no custom backend: the app reads from and publishes to existing ATproto infrastructure. The goal was to explore whether a TikTok-like experience can exist as a thin client over an open social protocol, rather than a vertically integrated platform.Things I’d especially love feedback on: - Whether this kind of UX makes sense on top of ATproto - Client-only tradeoffs (ranking, discovery, moderation) - Protocol limitations I may be missing - Any architectural red flags TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/cVxV1W3g

HN · launched Jan 13, 2026 · 36 upvotes (top 26%) · 0 views

Niche: niche social networking platforms · 322 launches, 34 in the last 7 days ▲ +26% · Explore this niche →

Category and tags
  • Media & entertainment
  • Communication
  • B2C
  • Not AI
  • Commercial product

Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗

More like this: all 322 launches in niche social networking platforms →

Could you build this?

Yes It is a client-side SwiftUI app that delegates all video hosting, authentication, and social graph functionality to the public AT Protocol API.

Discussion

10 comments analyzed.

Competitors mentioned: TikTok, Instagram

Concerns raised: No external share option for videos outside Bluesky, Loading indicators missing, videos take multiple seconds to load, Initial feed heavily skewed toward American politics and ICE videos, White gradient glitch when scrolling up then back down, Description text not expandable

Feature requests: Add ActivityPub support, External video sharing capability, Expandable description text, Loading indicators for video buffering, More diverse content beyond American politics

Competitors

Other products that read as similar to this one : 52 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.

Attention rank: #14 of 53 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).

Launched 66 days after the earliest competitor.

Related data

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