Uncertainty exists around whether or not Meta will, in the future, add support for third-party clients.
After much anticipation, Meta has now made the Threads API accessible to developers. At the beginning of March, the firm began testing the developer tools with a small number of companies. However, the company is now opening the door to a greater number of app developers and designers.
For the time being, the functionality of the Threads API is fairly restricted. Third-party applications are able to publish posts to Threads, as well as observe and manage replies and interactions with their own postings, thanks to this capacity. Up to this point, this has made it possible for Threads to integrate with social media management software such as Hootsuite and Sprout Social. In addition, the Threads API has made it possible for Techmeme, a company that aggregates technology news, to automatically post to the platform.
Brands, marketers, and power users who rely on more complex analytics and other specialized capabilities are the kind of users who make extensive use of these kinds of technologies. Interestingly, Meta also advises that creators could be interested in leveraging the new Threads API for their own “unique integrations” with the platform. This is something that Meta suggests.
There has been very little discussion regarding Meta’s future plans for the Threads API, and it is unknown whether or not the company will ever enable third-party client applications in the same way that Twitter did prior to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the service. In addition, the application programming interface (API) has the potential to play a part in Meta’s future ambitions to interoperate with the fediverse. However, Meta has maintained that its intentions to make Threads compatible with decentralized platforms are still in the early stages.