Instagram Releases Threads, a New Photo Sharing App for You and Your Close Friends – Pros and Cons

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Instagram Releases Threads, a New Photo Sharing App for You and Your Close Friends - Pros and Cons

Instagram’s family of apps has just increased by one. Facebook has added a new companion app, Threads, that helps users stay connected with close friends.

So you are tired of being bugged by strangers on Instagram and just want a space for you and your close friends to share more personal moments? That’s where Threads, a camera-first messaging app for chatting with closest friends comes in.

Although it’s a standalone app, Threads works as a companion app to Instagram. You log in with your Instagram details and import your list of “Close Friends” from Instagram.

Sometime last year, Instagram launched a new feature called Closed Friends, that lets you create a list of specific people you consider close friends for your Stories sharing.

So, when you log on the Threads app, this curated list of people are the only ones allowed to reach you there. So you can share photos, videos, messages, and Stories with this smaller group that you choose.

Instagram Releases Threads, a New Photo Sharing App for You and Your Close Friends - Pros and Cons
Instagram’s new Threads app

Beyond photo sharing, Threads also offers you two brand new features called Status and Auto Status. You can share custom statuses with your close friends to let them know what you are up to at the moment – something you might not be comfortable sharing with thousands of people on the main Instagram app.

Auto Status on the other hand shares context information based on sensor data from your phone. The feature once turned on, lets you share “bits of context on where you are without giving away your coordinates.” The feature can also update your friends when your phone’s battery is very low.

Threads’s Auto Status Feature.

This feature could be met with mixed reviews, as many think Facebook, the parent-company of Instagram, already gives out too much data. But if you are indifferent about it, then it could become a fun feature.

Threads is obviously built for interaction with close friends, so if you are one that uses Instagram to advertise your business (professional use), it probably won’t be of much use to you. Except, of course, you want to share your posts with only your fellow professionals and closest friends.


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