Earlier this year, the engineers at Meta started working on a new app called Threads. The goal of Threads was to create a decentralized app that would allow people to share content across multiple platforms. On July 5, Threads was launched on Instagram and quickly gained over 100 million users in just five days, making it the most successful app launch ever. The development of Threads required a small, agile team of engineers and close collaboration with Meta’s infrastructure teams. The app was built using Python for its backend and Swift on iOS and Jetpack Compose on Android for the mobile apps. Threads is still evolving and the team is working on making it compatible with open, interoperable social networks. The launch of Threads faced challenges, but Meta’s infrastructure and engineering foundations allowed the app to scale to 100 million users without major downtime. The future of Threads is to be decentralized and integrate with open social networking protocols like ActivityPub. The goal is to make social content as interoperable as email, allowing users to have more control over their online presence and distribute their posts across platforms. Currently, the team is focused on improving the product and adding new features. Their ultimate hope is for Threads to become the go-to place for positive conversations and the latest cultural events on
https://engineering.fb.com/2023/09/07/culture/threads-inside-story-metas-newest-social-app/