Facebook on Thursday announced the launch of Threads, a new messaging app for Instagram users. The app will be available for iPhone and Android and should be hitting app stores later in the day.
Threads is a camera-focused app that allows Instagram users to share their status or quickly send photos and videos to people they've added to their list of close friends.
"For your smaller circle of friends, we saw the need to stay more connected throughout the day, so you can communicate what you're doing and how you're feeling through photos and videos," the company said in a blog post. "That's why we built Threads, a new way to message with close friends in a dedicated, private space."
The app borrows several elements from Facebook competitor Snap, whose Snapchat app focuses usage on sending photos and videos through private messages. Threads was first reported by The Verge in August. Snap shares fell in reaction to Facebook's announcement Thursday afternoon. They were down as much as 7%.
This isn't the first time Facebook has launched a Snapchat clone or a spinoff Instagram messaging app.
In 2012, Facebook launched an app called Poke that mimicked Snapchat, and it did it again in 2014 with an app called Slingshot. Neither app took off. Facebook tried once again in 2017 with Direct, a spinoff Instagram app focused on messaging that the company announced plans in May to shut it down.
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