Threads Adds Time Management Options

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Threads has added some new time management options in the app, which will alert you when you’ve spent a certain amount of time scrolling through your feed, and might want to take a break.

As you can see in this example, posted by app research Jonah Manzano, Threads’ new “Time Management” option, available in your “Account Settings,” will show you how much time you spend on Threads per day, with additional tools to set a daily time limit, and sleep mode, which can be set at different times on different days.

So it’s essentially the exact same Time Management options that you have on Instagram, but for Threads instead, which is gaining more users, and seeing more time spent in the app.

Indeed, Threads is now up to 400 million monthly actives, and 150 million daily active users, as it becomes more of an active hive of real-time discussion, on a range of topics. Meta also reported that it saw an overall 10% increase in time spent on Threads in Q3, which it claims is reflective of its improving content recommendation algorithms showing more people more relevant posts every time they log into the app.

Though it could also be a reflection of overall momentum. As more people join the app, more people are subsequently posting, and that then draws more people in to see what’s being said. That growth momentum is definitely working in Threads’ favor right now, and it does seem like it could well become the top app for real-time discussion at some stage.

So, with all that in mind, it makes sense that Meta’s also added a Time Management option, so that people with less self-control can remind themselves to take a break. Though they also need to have enough self-control to actually adhere to those warnings, which could be a flaw in the process, but either way, it’s a good addition for Meta to include, whether it’s effective or not.

More users have reported seeing the new option, so it seems like it’s getting a broader rollout this week.