Threads: Meta's rival to Twitter drops on app store, expected to launch July 6

Washington: Meta appears ready to launch Threads, a micro-blogging application designed to rival Twitter, on July 6, according to its App Store listing.

Threads appeared for pre-order on Monday in the Apple App Store, where it indicates users will be able to begin downloading on July 6.

"Say more with Threads - Instagram’s text-based conversation app," the text on the app store says. "Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things - or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world."

The move comes the same day Elon Musk's Twitter announced that all users must be "Verified" to access TweetDeck.

Over the weekend, Musk outraged many Twitter users by imposing limits on the number of posts that can be read per day. In order to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation, Musk said verified accounts are limited to reading 6,000 posts per day and unverified accounts 600 posts per day.

Meanwhile, talks are underway for Musk to engage in a mixed martial arts "cage" match with Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, The New York Times reported, citing Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship sports franchise. (UNI)