Instagram is planning to launch a new messaging app called Threads aimed at immediately liking intimate friends by sharing status, location and even battery life with a user’s closest connections, The Vergereported.
Threads will be seen as a companion app to Instagram - a networking service used for sharing photo and video content among a user's followers - but will mainly focus on a selected list of “close friends”. The user will thus be able not only to circulate texts, photos and video messages among with best buddies, but also automatically share some private details, such as speed or current location.
The Threads will be primarily used for messaging, but will still allow viewing friend’s photos and stories from inside the app, with the user’s close circle instantly receiving updates about his or her activity.
Facebook, which previously announced its intentions to integrate the messaging platforms of its apps, including Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram and some others, is currently testing the app internally. The release date is yet unknown.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, also argued in March 2019 that he saw private messaging as the company’s future.
Instagram has also been developing another messaging app known as Direct since 2017, but the preparations for its launch were halted in May 2019 when beta testers reported their frustration from the need to switch between different apps in order to send a message. The Vergesuggested that Instagram was particularly interested in developing a more successful messaging experience for its users in an effort to entice a new audience away from currently more message-friendly app Snapchat.
Neither Instagram nor Facebook agreed to comment on the news when approached by the media.