Threads starts testing in-app camera shortcut and drafts

Meta said Thursday that it has started to test two “most requested” features: drafts and in-app camera. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that both features are available to only a small number of people.

Users who have access to the draft can save only one post (bummer). You can write the post you might want to post later in the composer, and just swipe down to save the draft. The Threads app also shows a different composer icon in the bottom bar when there is a saved draft that you haven’t posted yet.

Along with the new drafts feature, Mark Zuckerberg posted a photo through the new camera shortcut that opens in the composer. This shortcut makes it easier if you want to quickly post a photo to Threads. But it’s not clear if you get basic edit functions like cropping the image.

This update comes at a time when X is looking to adopt Threads-styled carousels for showing images, according to app researcher Nima Owji.

BREAKING: #X is removing the grid-style photos and making them carousels, instead! pic.twitter.com/w5LIVsEtOg

— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) February 22, 2024

With more than 130 million active users on the platform, Threads is looking to introduce more tools for engagement for these users. Earlier this month, the company introduced trending topics and has started testing cross-posting functions from Facebook.