Threads brings new icons to iPhones amidst anniversary celebrations

Meta’s own take on Twitter (Now X) called Threads was launched on July 6 last year, and to celebrate its anniversary week, the app is doubling down on its customisation efforts. This includes a new app icon for iPhones – one of many to be launched throughout this week.

Tucked in the Profile page on Threads is the ability to select a new icon, and while users have only one icon to choose right now, there will be more in the coming week. The icons are fan-made, and Threads will unlock one new icon every day for the remainder of the week. There’s even a timer on the selection page that lets you count down to the next icon.

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The new icons are easy to choose too. Simply open Threads and head to the Profile page and find the new birthday cake shaped icon on the top right. Tap on it, and you should be able to select your new icon on the next page. Note that custom icons is only available for iPhones right now. The feature may also come to Android phones later.

A year of Threads

Threads quickly grew to fame last year thanks to a mass-migration of Twitter users moving to the platform. The app would go on to cross the 100 million users mark in just a week.

This was partly due to Twitter making some big changes at the time under the reign of new boss Elon Musk, as well as the fact that one could sign up for the new Threads app using their existing Instagram account.

A year later, Threads has 175 million monthly users, and while it’s clear that the initial excitement of a new Twitter-rival has worn off, the app continues to bring new changes and features to keep itself relevant.

While it has been a year since Twitter fell from grace, the micro-blogging platform has continued to maintain an estimated 368 million monthly active users – more than twice the number of Threads users. Rival apps like Threads and India-made Koo have struggled to garner engagement, with the latter choosing to shut shop earlier this week after an acquisition didn’t go through.

ALOS READ: 5 Threads FAQs answered for you

Social Media is unlikely to move on from a micro-blogging platform in the near future, as a space where people discuss everything from movies and TV shows to politics and climate change is always going to be needed.

It’s what apps like Threads can do moving forward that will decide whether Musk’s X sees some real competition in the space, and customisation may just be a tiny step in the right direction for that.