Bluesky hits a milestone as Amazon kills Freevee

We’ve passed the midpoint of November, meaning the Black Friday deals are in full swing. That doesn’t mean this week has been short of news, though. 

Google’s Gemini Live AI assistant upstaged Siri on the iPhone, while the company was also rumoured to be working on its own ‘Hide My Email’ alternative for Android. 

Amazon refreshed its Fire TV line-up with a range of new models, Apple rolled out an unannounced security feature, while Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer hinted at an Xbox handheld console far in the future. 

Keep reading to learn who we named our winner and loser in tech this week. 

Winner: Bluesky

Our winner this week is Bluesky as the social media app hit the top of the App Store charts, gathering a record number of users. 

According to a stat-tracking site by Bluesky developer Jaz, Bluesky officially surpassed 15 million users on Wednesday. The Verge reported this data, adding that Bluesky had become the number one app in the iOS App Store charts, ranking above Threads, ChatGPT, Google and TikTok.

As of Friday, Bluesky remained in the top spot, though it does still lag behind other social media platforms in terms of user numbers. 

While Bluesky has recently rolled out several new features, including custom fonts, pinned posts and the ability to share videos, none of these seem to be the driving force behind the sudden surge in sign-ups. 

Rather, recent reports attribute the landmark number of users to the outcome US presidential election. More specifically, users seem to be fed up with Elon Musk as the X owner joined the Trump administration as the leader of its ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ – or DOGE – and are looking to move on to bluer skies. 

Regardless of why people are joining Bluesky, it’s exciting to see a proper alternative to X grow in popularity. 

Loser: Amazon 

Our loser this week is Amazon as the company announced it would be shutting down its free streaming platform, Amazon Freevee. 

If you’re unfamiliar with Freevee, the streaming service got its start in January 2019 when it launched under the name IMDb Freedive. Later in 2019, it was rebranded to IMDb TV, before being rebranded a second (and final) time in 2022 to Amazon Freevee. 

All seemed well for two years as the platform released new and original content, including over 100 Amazon Originals previously exclusive to Amazon Prime Video. All of this content was free to stream without a Prime membership, with the app employing an ad-supported model to make a profit rather than relying on the subscription model used by its sister site, Prime Video. 

However, it seems the ad revenue wasn’t enough to keep Freevee afloat, as Amazon has officially announced it is shutting the streaming service down. 

An Amazon rep told Variety, “To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding. There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST channels — all available on Prime Video”. 

This means that non-Prime members will still be able to access some free content previously found on Freevee via Prime Video without a membership. However, there will be no more rebranding for Freevee, with the platform as we know it now leaving for good.