Threads, the world record holder of the fastest 100 Million users finally has a web app now. After weeks and weeks of requests, Meta is finally rolling out the web version of Twitter (Now X) competitor. The news was initially announced by Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, through this Instagram broadcast channel. On Thursday 24th of August 2023, he finally confirmed that the web version of Threads is live for all users globally.
So, if you have been impatiently waiting and refreshing threads.net, you should check again. After a massive launch week, Meta’s newborn product saw a significant drop in engagement, and one of the reasons was the unavailability of the web version of the Threads app. Users were frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t access the microblogging platform on their desktop or PC.
Before this, users were able to navigate to a user profile on the Threads web but were unable to browse the feed, reply, or even log on to their accounts using a browser. It used to open a QR code to download the mobile app. But, you can do all that now from the web app. Now, let’s talk about what the web version of the Threads looks like.
The web version is almost identical to what you actually see on the Threads mobile app. However, you will notice some changes. For reference, the navigation icons on the web version are placed at the top of the page. And, you have a new button in the bottom left corner that can be clicked to switch between For You and Following feeds.
That said, the web version doesn’t let you do everything you could on the mobile app. For instance, you can’t edit your profile or send posts to Instagram DMs from the web version. Also, there’s no notification dot on the heart icon as you’d find on the Threads app, and it lacks the feature to quote a post.
Though the initial version looks pretty modest, but Threads team is promising to get things better. Tom Bender, a PM on the Threads team, posted that “This is an early v1,” and said that the team is aware of feature gaps which he says will improve in the coming days.
To remind you, Meta launched Threads as a direct competitor to Elon Musk’s Twitter. The app went on to hit 100 million signups in just a few days, easily beating ChatGPT’s world record of two months. Despite a massive launch, user engagement on the app continues to drop, and it seems Meta will be trying to improve that with the web version of Threads.
Also read: Threads vs Twitter: All you need to know about these platforms
Banner Image Source: Threads
