Instagram's Twitter Competitor Threads Will Likely Arrive This Week

The anticipated arrival of Threads, Meta's Twitter competitor tied to Instagram, is only a few days away — at least according to a new App Store listing for the platform's app. The iOS version of the app arrived on Apple's App Store only a couple of days after the Android version appeared on (and then quickly disappeared from) the Google Play Store. Unlike the Android listing, though, the new App Store product page shows the release date for Threads: July 6, 2023.

That means we're a little over two days away from the launch, and the timing couldn't be better for Meta. Twitter has faced heavy criticism in recent days over the decision to rate limit tweets and force users to sign into their accounts to view content. On Monday, Twitter also clumsily rolled out what it calls TweetDeck 2.0, which requires a Twitter Blue subscription and followed the sudden loss of access to the legacy version of the web app.

Screenshots of the Threads app surfaced in early June, indicating the app wasn't too far away. Then, this past Saturday, the Google Play Store listing for Threads went live. Though it didn't include the release date and was soon hidden, it did offer users a look at official screenshots. Now the product is live on the App Store with the option to "pre-order" it and the release date is set for July 6. The app has also reappeared on Google Play in recent hours.

Unlike Instagram, which started out as an image-centric platform that has more recently embraced short-form videos, Threads is a text-based platform. Because Threads is part of the larger Instagram platform, your existing account can be used with it, and you can easily find and follow the same people you follow on Instagram. The official screenshots show some key features that are found on similar existing platforms, including the ability to limit some messages to only followers or to make them visible to anyone.

As well, an apk of the Android version of the Threads app has also surfaced in the wild, but those who have tried to install it are unable to access the platform — and, of course, sideloading any random apk is a safety risk, so you should just wait for the official version to arrive. Are you trying to avoid using Meta products, too? We have a list of other Twitter alternatives.