Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is planning to roll out a web version of Threads, its rival to Elon Musk’s X (previously Twitter) microblogging app, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said Threads’ web version was being tested internally and would be launched soon. “It’s a little bit buggy right now, you don’t want it just yet,” he said.
While launch plans have not been finalized yet, people familiar with Meta’s (META) plans told WSJ that the launch could happen this week.
While some Threads posts can be viewed on the web, access is limited as the app has been designed primarily for mobile phone use.
Earlier this month, Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the search feature and web version for Threads would be rolled out “in the next few weeks.”
Currently, users can search for other profiles on Threads, but can’t search for posts using keywords or hashtags. Mosseri clarified that Instagram isn’t working on a hashtag feature for Threads. “We’re much more focused on the web, on search, which I think can meet a lot of the needs of hashtags.”
When Meta (META) released a basic version of Threads in early July, it seemed like a big hit right away. But usage has since tapered off, with the app losing more than half its users in the weeks following its launch.
At its peak, the app had ~50M daily active users worldwide a few days after its launch and was the fastest app to reach 100M downloads, in just five days. However, that figure has since sharply declined to less than 10M, SimilarWeb data showed.
Threads’ recently added features include a Following tab, the ability to set post notifications for accounts and labels for state-controlled media.