Threads is a mobile-only app, like Instagram. You can't actually use Threads on a desktop browser, so that's probably why this is shared as a Twitter post. Even if it were a Threads post, it would not be submittable to HN.
Still, mostly true.. read-only is just dumb. Nice to be back in 2008, when mobile-first turned into mobile-only.
The entire point of this thread was that this is a Python/Django web app, but it's not actually a web app at all, so what's the point of pointing out any of this?
I see these https://www.threads.net/t/xxx links to specific threads, but is there any top level page where you can search for stuff or browse ? https://www.threads.net just has a QR code (to install the app presumably).
Right. But this demonstrates why that's dumb. People can't even share press about their app without using a different product.
Edit: Someone kindly pointed out that you can see the content in the browser without an account from following a direct link. (You just can't have the app installed or it will open that and drop you on the login page.) This makes me a lot happier with the product!
Instagram launched in 2010 (but really gained traction only in 2011). It has been available via the web since 2012 but it took until 2015 for the web version to reach feature parity with the app version (namely posting and discovery).
Based on that, I think it's safe to assume that a full featured web version of Threads should be up within a year. Threads already has some web presence (you can view threads and profiles).
Let's imagine that I don't have an Instagram account because I don't. (I never really understood it because it just felt like a slightly differently flavored Facebook and I already had a Facebook account.) Up until this weekend, I could simply view a Twitter post regardless of whether I had an account. And while I've never been much of a Twitter user, I did find that useful as a lot of local news and weather type stuff would get posted and I could easily view them. Is there any analogy to that with Threads?
You could view a tweet if linked to it, but it would limit your ability to view a feed or navigate elsewhere. Which is similar to instagram, but insta is more aggressive with stopping you, whereas twitter gave a slightly larger grace period.
Twitter removed that behavior under Elon, then developed something even more restrictive. Great.
Neither are good, and unfortunate that tumblr has recently ish copied this (for default css at least). Real shithead behavior.
Unfortunately, Facebook looks the best out of all of them. If a restaurant posts their specials on Facebook, I can see them. Basically not true for other social sites.
Six months and it still doesn't have a basic and open web interface. Not impressive. Many apps, including HN, operate for years with only a web interface.
