San Francisco: Meta’s own photo-sharing platform Instagram is reportedly slipping its standalone messaging app Threads by the end of this year.
According to TechCrunch, Instagram plans to expand its existing Threads users starting Jan.
Threads was launched as a companion app to Instagram in 2019, shortly after the company retired its other standalone messaging app, Direct.
Rather than focusing solely on the inbox experience, Threads was designed as a “camera first” mobile messaging service to post status updates and stay in touch with those you’ve referred to as your “close friends” on Instagram.
However, the app was not adopted by the mainstream. But instead of repeating the experience, Threads received little attention until a revision last year that enabled a message to be sent to everyone, not just “Close Friends” as Direct once offered.
Although the app provided a way to update or even automatically update your status based on your location, until the redesign in 2020 it was difficult to navigate between the different sections of the app, the report said.
With the update, Instagram tried to make it easier to switch between friends’ stories, the camera interface, and other parts of the experience. However, it still didn’t work as a quick way to read your messages and didn’t gain in importance because of the changes.
The app was ranked 214th in the Photo and Video category in the US App Store, an indication that it has still not caught on with a wider audience.
The shutdown comes at a time when Meta (formerly Facebook) is overhauling its messaging platforms.
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