Photo and video sharing service Instagram on Thursday announced the launch of Threads, a new camera-focused messaging app designed to help users connect with close friends.

Instagram said in a post on its blog : “Over the past few years, we’ve introduced many new ways to share visual on Instagram, and to connect with important people – from sharing everyday moments on stories to visual messages on Direct. But for the small circle of friends, we’ve seen that more communication is needed throughout the day, so you can communicate what you do and what you feel through photos and videos.”

To that end, Threads comes as a new way to communicate with close friends in a dedicated space. The company explained that Threads is an independent application designed with privacy, speed and close connections in mind. The user can – through it – share photos, videos, messages, stories, and more with a list of close friends on Instagram.

Instagram said the user can control who they can access on Threads and can customize the experience to focus on important people. The company added that the app allows the user to messaging with a list of close friends, and will receive an inbox, and custom notifications.

Like Snapchat, which Instagram and Facebook have been cloning its most interesting features, Threads opens directly on the camera, in order to speed up the sharing of photos and videos via the app, and also provides the user with the ability to add shortcuts, in a way Allows sharing of the moment with just two taps on the screen.

Instagram said: The Threads app offers a new feature called Status where users can see what close friends are doing by choosing an icon, including Study, and Leadership.

Launched from yesterday around the world, the new Threads app is available on Android through the Google Play Store and iOS through the App Store.

Source : Instagram