Threads Rolls Out Chronological 'Following' Feed on iOS and Android, Web Interface in Development

You can now enable a chronological feed that only shows you posts from people you follow on Threads — but there's a catch.

Written by David Delima, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 26 July 2023 13:18 IST

Threads Rolls Out Chronological 'Following' Feed on iOS and Android, Web Interface in Development

Photo Credit: Reuters

Threads was launched as a rival to Twitter — now known as X — earlier this month

Highlights

Threads now lets you view posts from people you are following
These posts are displayed in a chronological order in the app
Threads is also working on a web interface for the microblogging service

Threads has rolled out a new Following tab on iOS and Android that allows users to see posts from users they have followed on the platform. Meta's text-based microblogging platform that was launched as an alternative to Twitter — recently rebranded by Elon Musk to 'X' — will now allow users to see posts on the platform in chronological order. Until now, the platform offered an algorithmic feed that showed recommended posts along with posts from people they followed on the app. Meanwhile the platform has also confirmed that it is working on a web version of Threads, another feature that has been missing since the service was launched earlier this month.

A chronological feed was one of the most highly requested features on Threads, as users were unable to view the latest posts from people they were following on the platform — functionality that is available on rivals like X and Mastodon. On Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the Following feed was rolling out to users on Threads, along with support for a new translation feature.

In order to try out the new Following feed, you need to update Threads on your iPhone or Android smartphone to the latest version and wait for the feature to be enabled on your account — it appears to be a server-side switch, but several users have already been able to enable the functionality. You can turn on the new chronological timeline by tapping the home button or the Threads logo at the top of the app. The app will display two tabs, For you and Following. You can tap on the latter to see posts on Threads in a reverse chronological order.

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While Threads may have finally added one of the features most requested by users, The Verge discovered that app will automatically revert to the algorithmic feed after reopening the app. The company told the publication that the algorithmic timeline is the "default experience" when users open the Threads app, which suggests that you will need to select the Following feed on a regular basis. X, on the other hand, allows users to select the chronological timeline and remembers the user's choice.

Post by @mosseri
View on Threads

Meanwhile, Threads still lacks a web interface, weeks after the platform was launched, which means that the platform only allows users to browse posts and their timeline from the iOS and Android apps. However, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri stated on Tuesday that the platform is already working on a web version of the platform. There's no timeline on when the web interface will be rolled out, so it looks like the apps will remain the only way to access Threads for the foreseeable future.

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Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company's recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Threads, Threads feed, Chronological feed, Threads Following tab, Threads features, Adam Mosseri

David Delima

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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More