Bluesky hits 40M as user control and payments shift across apps

A new round of product decisions is reshaping how people experience social and mobile services, as Bluesky surpasses 40 million registered users, Instagram pilots topic based controls, Google loosens Play Store billing rules, and Grammarly rebrands to Superhuman amid a broader shift across digital platforms.

Bluesky is rolling out conversation tools designed to keep feeds healthier and more relevant, including a beta dislike feature and upgrades to replies and moderation systems that expand feed control. With 40 million users, retention becomes the benchmark, and competition in social apps will test whether these design choices can turn novelty into habit across digital platforms.

Instagram is testing a setting that lets people select topics they want to see and remove those they prefer to avoid, a direct response to demand for personalization that reduces unwanted noise. The change brings discovery closer to individual intent and shows how Instagram and rivals like X must compete on trust and control within digital platforms.

Grammarly’s rebrand to Superhuman arrives with a suite of new AI powered products and folds the company into the Superhuman Suite that combines its core writing engine with Coda, acquired in December 2024, and Superhuman Mail, acquired in June 2025. The bundling signals a turn from single purpose utilities to integrated work hubs that make writing, documents, and email feel like one layer inside digital platforms.

Google has updated Play Store policy to let Android developers offer alternative billing options and link to external payments, following court pressure that included the Epic Games antitrust ruling, and developers can now use their own billing systems effective immediately. The change could alter revenue models and give software makers more leverage on mobile distribution, an opening that may ripple through pricing strategies across digital platforms.

Taken together, these updates point to a larger realignment in the AI market where personalization, moderation, and monetization converge into a product thesis that elevates user choice over default feeds within digital platforms. For investors, the signal is that tools which harden trust and offer suite level integration are more likely to endure than standalone novelties, a reminder that the future of enterprise content favors design that earns attention rather than lock in.