Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, is expected to launch on July 6, according to the App Store listing for the app. Threads had popped up on Google Play on Saturday with screenshots and some early details, and one entry I saw on Google Play didn’t have a release date, so that date from the App Store seems to give us our first official release date that we might have you can download the app.
Here is the official – and brief – description of the app from the App Store:
Say more with Threads – Instagram’s text-based conversation app
Threads are communities where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics that interest you today to the trends of tomorrow. Whatever interests you, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things – or build a loyal following to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.
The entry also includes what appears to be the same screenshots as the Google Play entry, showing that you can log in with your Instagram username, find the accounts you follow on Instagram in the new app, and post in an interface that looks like many very similar to other text-based social media apps. In a company-wide briefing, meta executives also shared that the app will be integrated with the decentralized social media protocol ActivityPub, my colleague Alex Heath reported.
But just because the app is available for download on July 6 doesn’t mean you can start posting right away. I wouldn’t be surprised if Meta slowly rolled out the app. So, be prepared to wait until you actually find your new non-Twitter home.