Threads, that new social media app that was known as a ‘Twitter killer’ for all of 24 hours, has finally released an update that “fixes” some of the issues we encountered when we first tried out the app back on its launch day. The first of many, we reckon, if it wants to stand any real chance of competing with Musk’s plaything.
The app’s lack of certain features didn’t stop the Twitter rival from gaining 100 million users in its first week, though the absence of any real content, too-many blue ticks, and no “following” tab seems to have caused quite a massive drop in daily active users in the time since.
An iOS paradise
Falling daily active users aside, Threads’ Cameron Roth – a developer on the team – introduced the update in a Threads post, noting that it was only available for iOS users for the time being. He didn’t mention when a similar update would be hitting Android devices, either, though we can safely assume one isn’t far behind.
Those new features, captured above, include a “follows tab”, foreign language translations, and the fixing of a few bugs with some improved load times thrown in for good measure. Contain that excitement – this isn’t like the follow tab of yore (Twitter). In reality, it’s a much sadder affair.
Where Twitter’s follow tab includes a way for users to only see posts from those accounts they follow in chronological order, the Threads follows tab is different. You’ll find it on the app’s activity page, weirdly, where it’ll show you a list of your most recent followers. It won’t be a change from the content being shoved down your throat on the front page.
It’s a change, but a small one. Before, users could find the same information in the app’s ‘all’ tab. World-changing stuff, this, Zuck.
Read More: Not happy with Threads? Don’t delete it just yet, or else
Additionally, users can now subscribe to one another, if they don’t want to “follow” them. All that’ll do is send a notification to subscribed users any time that account posts.
And finally, Roth also said Threads should run better generally, with a faster load-in time and smoother scrolling across the app. Not bad for a first update attempt, but it’s still missing some of the features needed to make this a big hitter across app stores – like a real following feed, the ability to search for posts, and a localised direct message feature.