thread is a new app from Meta made as a textbook - based offshoot of Instagram . If that sounds like yet another competitor cash in in on the Twitter turmoil likeBluesky , Mastodon , orPost , you ’ve incur the good idea . The existence of the app and avail was first give away a few calendar month ago and has been in testing with lots of celebrities , brands , and influencers . you may download the Threads app from the App Store , where a preorder placeholder has been uncommitted for a couple of days .
The app is design to get a encouragement from one of Meta ’s most pop divine service , Instagram , with heavy integration between the two . train of thought is listed as “ an Instagram app ” in its deed of conveyance on app stores , and users will enter with Instagram business relationship , where they can then very easily keep up all the accounts they follow on Instagram . If you ’re verified on Instagram , that will carry over as well .
look for Macworld on Threads or Instagram ? We’re@Macworld_hq .
The Threads app accesses just about every kind of data imaginable.
You ’ll be able to post text up to 500 characters – short than Twitter ’s young limit but much longer than the older 280 - fiber limitation – along with photos , links , and videos up to 5 minutes long .
Privacy and protocols
While the app and service is now open to the public , it ’s deserving pointing out that the 100 - country launch does not let in any within the European Union . Meta has been at odds with the EU over privacy laws for some time now , and it come out that screw thread will not meet the EU ’s requirements there .
Just a glance at the App Privacy label in the App Store should tell you why : Instagram ( i.e. Meta ) is grabbingtonsof data that can be linked to you , including obvious stuff like usage datum and nosology but also Financial Info , Contact Info , Purchase History , Heath & Fitness information , and more . Apple has protections in place to make some of this poppycock opt - in , but suffice it to say that Threads is going weighty on exploiter tracking , perhaps even more than most major social medium connection do .
Foundry
The Threads app accesses just about every kind of data imaginable.
Meta has promised to build reinforcement for theActivityPubprotocol , the same decentralized connection communications protocol used byMastodon . Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri explain that it ’s come up , but not in fourth dimension for launch , saying , “ We were n’t able-bodied to finish it for launch given a telephone number of complications that come along with a decentralized internet , but it ’s coming . ” You ’ll one day be able to practice Theads to get at the “ fediverse , ” but for the time being thread is just what it claims to be : “ an Instagram app . ”
