I'd like to know if the non-React parts of the iOS app are UIKit or SwiftUI.
How the new Threads app is made
161–170 of 251 posts
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can just imagine it, “spend $500/month with Twitter Pay and you get a green checkmark, promoting your tweets even above the already promoted blue checkmark tweeters”
Meta isn’t that stupid. Messing with the verification system is one of the blunders that put Twitter in the position where Threads could eat its lunch.
Instagram offered the same system (pay for blue check) shortly after twitter. But yes, they didn't revoke anyone's existing tick or make it a prerequisite for future "notable" people.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
HN is downright quiet on the topic, with only 21 posts over 20 comments since the launch (2023-07-05), 4 posts per day. Compare that to the Reddit blackout posts which seem to be closer to 8 posts per day. Only 8 posts with over 100 comments, whereas it's hard to find even a single Reddit blackout post at less than 100 comments. My friends in every other community are buzzing about Threads, but here on HN someone com…
I think it's more that the HN crowd cannot stand to think, much less utter the phrase "you've gotta hand it to Mark Zuckerberg and crew." That's at least the feeling I have to get over when I praise Threads.
The portion on HN users that are happy Facebook users would be interesting to know.
My perception is that a lot here have accounts (though less than the portion of society at large), but few use them much.
Not sure how to get actual data on this though.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#164I'm kind of amazed at how saturated the news is with stories about Threads. And not just tech news, but also every mainstream news site has at least one or more "submarine" marketing articles promoting Threads. Meta Marketing Team: You're not fooling anyone into thinking these are grassroots and viral, but honestly, well done with the media saturation. Meta's clearly got all the right channels on full-blast. It's rea…
It’s been downloaded close to 100 million times at this point and has blown past every growth record to date. I think it’s completely logical for every mainstream news site to mention it. I honestly can’t imagine a source like the New York Times not having an article. Twitter’s threatened lawsuit alone merited coverage.
Until your comment I didn’t think about that Streisand Effect Elon Musk brought on by filing that lawsuit over Threads. And his tweeting about it.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not about what functionality is missing, it's about what's there. 250 MB to show you a list of text posts and comments? Why is it so big? What does it do to warrant that?
It apparently needs to spy on your Apple Watch heartbeat and every other sensor on your phone.
This isn't far from the truth. Have you seen the list of App Store data collection permissions it requests? For what amounts in functionality to little more than a terminal session to a BBS? Holy shit. I verified it's longer than TikTok's which is widely assumed to be a hostile state-backed surveillance tool at this point.
For Threads, the following may be "collected and linked to your identity":
Health & Fitness
Purchases
Financial info
Location
Contact info
Contacts
User content
Search history
Browsing history
Identifiers
Usage data
Sensitive Info - whatever the hell that is [1]
Diagnostics
And my favorite, "other data" I.e. it collects so much we don't even have a category for it
[1] Apple's definition includes: racial/ethnic data, sexual orientation, pregnancy or childbirth information, disability, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, political opinion, genetic information, or biometric data
I'm sure there's a valid reason for all this...
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#166amazing how massive they made it with so little functionality classic shitware
Outside of purity, why care about this? The functional requirement of a social media app is that it has a large and active user base, and this needs to take priority over non-functional requirements like install size.
Since it was built with a lean team on a tight deadline, I can see why install size has taken a back seat. Only so many hours in a day and focusing on execution timelines and product market fit is 100x more important.
I want an app that solves a problem; not focus on a purity test.
Even beyond that, as an experienced engineer like yourself, you know sometimes you make compromises you don't necessarily agree with. Trashing others people work comes across as immature.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#167I'm kind of amazed at how saturated the news is with stories about Threads. And not just tech news, but also every mainstream news site has at least one or more "submarine" marketing articles promoting Threads. Meta Marketing Team: You're not fooling anyone into thinking these are grassroots and viral, but honestly, well done with the media saturation. Meta's clearly got all the right channels on full-blast. It's rea…
I had the same thought when I saw our local tv weather people praising the threads app this morning. Some powerful PR bazooka must have gone off.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
It apparently needs to spy on your Apple Watch heartbeat and every other sensor on your phone.
This isn't far from the truth. Have you seen the list of App Store data collection permissions it requests? For what amounts in functionality to little more than a terminal session to a BBS? Holy shit. I verified it's longer than TikTok's which is widely assumed to be a hostile state-backed surveillance tool at this point. For Threads, the following may be "collected and linked to your identity": Health & Fitness Pur…
Those aren't permissions it requests, it has no permissions by default. Instead it's the broadest interpretation of data it could gather from any of its features and dependencies (an app granting a permission grants it to all frameworks as well). But they will have to ask about all of them, especially health data. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a broad, general list they imported from other Meta apps in the rush to ship.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#169I'm kind of amazed at how saturated the news is with stories about Threads. And not just tech news, but also every mainstream news site has at least one or more "submarine" marketing articles promoting Threads. Meta Marketing Team: You're not fooling anyone into thinking these are grassroots and viral, but honestly, well done with the media saturation. Meta's clearly got all the right channels on full-blast. It's rea…
HN is downright quiet on the topic, with only 21 posts over 20 comments since the launch (2023-07-05), 4 posts per day. Compare that to the Reddit blackout posts which seem to be closer to 8 posts per day. Only 8 posts with over 100 comments, whereas it's hard to find even a single Reddit blackout post at less than 100 comments. My friends in every other community are buzzing about Threads, but here on HN someone com…
Threads was on the front page for an entire day or two. A sizable percentage of the entire lifetime of the App.
Twitter and Musks other ill-adventures will continue to dominate HN though. Zuckerberg is not part of the HN in-crowd and will draw about as much water as his other services.
Re: How the new Threads app is made
#170doing a writeup like Jane Manchun Wong on an app that Jane Manchun Wong worked on
off-topic, but since she's joining Meta to work on Threads, I guess we proooobably won't be getting as many of her info-dumps? kind of a bummer, love her stuff
I would be surprised if that wasn't explicitly written into her employment contract.