Threads finally launched its API

Meta has finally launched the Threads API to developers, meaning third party businesses will be able to build their own integrations into the app.

Announced Tuesday morning in a blog post by Threads director of engineering Jesse Chen, the API (Application Programming Interface) will allow external devs to build their own apps to publish custom image, video, text, or carousel posts, analyse performance metrics, access follower demographics, and automate reply tools on Threads.

"People can now publish posts via the API, fetch their own content, and leverage our reply management capabilities to set reply and quote controls, retrieve replies to their posts, hide, unhide or respond to specific replies," reads the blog post.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced the news on Threads, writing, "The Threads API is now widely available, and coming to more of you soon."

Meta provided an open-source sample app for developers wanting to build apps using the Threads API —there's a form for interested developers to fill out. Meta also published a guide on how to use the API, which states that Threads accounts are limited to 250 API-published posts per 24 hours.

After Instagram head Adam Mossieri suggested Meta was working on the Threads API in October 2023, the company started testing it earlier this year with Hootsuite, Techmeme, Sprinklr, Social News Desk, Grabyo, and Sprout Social, announcing the beta in April.

"Threads is a fast-growing network that reflects where social is headed, and the capabilities that this API integration makes possible for our customers is taking Hootsuite’s mission of unlocking social relationships to a new level," said Hootsuite's chief marketing officer, Elina Vilk, in a press statement. "I’m excited to watch this integration drive our customers’ social media performance."

Threads has seen an undulating user journey, with a huge dip in August last year and an increase in April to a high of 150 million users. Meta's answer to Elon Musk's X has been slowly adding features since launching in July 2023; most recently, Threads added trending topics, a TweetDeck-like column view, the option to archive posts, and a Tinder-like feature letting you swipe posts to like or dislike them,

But Threads hasn't been without controversy in its first year, with the launch failing to prioritise accessibility and users reporting floods of hate speech, pro-life and transphobic posts. While the platform has tried to distance itself from political or news-based content, Threads added its own fact-checkers to combat misinformation.