Facebook developing new messaging app called Threads

Facebook is reportedly developing a new messaging app to help users share more information more often with their closest friends. The app which will be called Threads, is meant to be a companion to Instagram, as reported by The Verge.

Threads is designed to automatically share intimate details such as “location, speed and battery life,” as well as other typical social media posts like as photos and text. The app is intended to be used with your “close friends” list on Instagram and is currently in testing at Facebook, according to the report.

There was no word on when Instagram expects to launch Threads. Facebook declined to comment. 

Earlier this year, the photo-sharing social media behemoth ended support for Direct, a camera-first app that had more than a passing resemblance to Snapchat. Unveiled in 2017, the app was tested in Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Uruguay but was canceled before a worldwide release occurred.

Facebook announced plans in January to merge the services of WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, allowing users to send messages to one another without switching apps. The apps will remain separate, but they’ll be brought together under a single messaging platform or protocol.

Attempt to grab Snapchat users

A messaging app built around your close friends might be more popular. That’s what Snapchat already is today for a healthy portion of its users. Reports have indicated that the average Snapchat user spends more time inside the app than the average Instagram user does.

For Facebook and Instagram, which have long coveted Snapchat’s strong engagement among younger users, Threads could represent another effort to chip away at their rival’s appeal.

Source: The Verge