Threads gets its first big update, but Android users have to wait

The cover screen for the Instagram Threads social app on a Motorola Edge+ (2023)
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Threads by Instagram gets an AI-based translation feature, amongst other new features.
  • The said translate button sits right next to the existing heart, comments, repost, and share buttons.
  • There is no mention of the new update for Android users yet.

After Adam Mosseri, the Instagram head, announced new rate limits to tackle spam on the Threads app, Cameron Roth, a developer who handles the iOS side of things of Threads, has shared some features coming to iOS users with a new update.

According to Roth, Threads is receiving a host of new features like translations, which deliver AI-powered translations similar to what we see on Instagram. Roth explains that the new translate button will reside next to the existing heart, comments, repost, and share buttons.

The Threads app is also getting a new "follows tab," which is not the most requested feature though it sounds familiar. For context, the most requested feature is a dedicated "following" tab, as seen on Instagram, which allows users to see posts only from the users they wish to follow. The "follows tab" as part of the new update is, however, just a new tab in the activity section, which shows the accounts the users follow, not their posts.

The other highlights of the new update include the ability to subscribe to unfollowed users, and the activity feed scrolling is believed to be having improvements. Further, users can access tappable reposter labels, open Instagram followers list, and more. Roth notes that the update also includes a crash and a handful of bug fixes.

Threads iOS features

(Image credit: Cameron Roth/ Threads)

He further notes the new update should be rolling out to iOS users starting Wednesday, and unfortunately, there isn't any mention of the update for users on Android devices yet. iOS users will have to restart the app to view some of the announced features or wait a couple of days since it's a server-delivered flag that is believed to take a while to release the new features fully.

Vishnu Sarangapurkar
News Writer

Vishnu is a freelance news writer for Android Central. Since 2018, he has written about consumer technology, especially smartphones, computers, and every other gizmo connected to the internet. When he is not at the keyboard, you can find him on a long drive or lounging on the couch binge-watching a crime series.