The parent company of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook is preparing to release a text-based conversation app that rivals Twitter. The app, dubbed Threads, will allow users to follow the accounts they currently follow on Instagram and keep the same username while using the new app, according to a listing on Apple’s App Store on Thursday (July 6). The listing also includes photos showing a dashboard that looks similar to Twitter.
Tech analysts see the app as a formidable challenger to Twitter, which has struggled since Musk took over in October. He has introduced strictures such as a tweet viewing limit and made paying for a blue checkmark mandatory. The limits, which took effect on Saturday, could have gone better and prompted thousands of users to seek alternatives on the decentralized network. Twitter-like apps like Mastodon and Bluesky saw a jump in user numbers shortly after the viewing limits were introduced.
Although Twitter has said the limits are temporary, many believe they could become permanent and significantly impact the site’s revenue. The company laid off about half its employees last year and has struggled to fend off spammers.
In addition, Twitter has been losing advertising dollars and has yet to devise a plan to turn the business around. The CEO recently hired a former NBC Universal executive to lead its effort to win back advertisers and has threatened to pull Twitter from the App Store if Apple and Google don’t lift restrictions on how often it can be downloaded.
The new app from Meta, which is expected to be released on Thursday, may provide a new source of revenue for Twitter. It will compete with other popular social networks such as Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. But it has the advantage of a large user base that can be targeted with ads. It also has several other tools and features that attract advertisers, such as polls, reactions, and live video streams.
According to the App Store listing, the app is slated to launch in the United States on Thursday. It needs to be clear how widespread the launch will be, but several prominent tech writers and bloggers have written about it on Twitter. Some have also posted screenshots of the App Store listing, which shows a Twitter-like interface. The app was originally a project called “Barcelona,” which Meta developed under the Instagram brand to compete with youth-focused messaging apps such as Snapchat. The app will be available on iPhones and Android phones.