Threads is about to turn one year old, as Meta’s answer to X (formerly Twitter) officially launched on July 5, 2023. Zuck sent out a Thread in honor of the platform’s more than 175 million active users, but there’s another birthday present hidden inside the app.
Whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android like a Pixel, Galaxy, or Motorola, there’s a new reason to open Threads and visit your profile. Why? You’ll have the opportunity to unlock a bunch of custom app icons, and Meta has gamified the experience like a scratch card.
Message from @zuck
View on Threads
You want to click on the birthday cake, right?
Once you’re in the Threads app on Android or iOS, go to your profile by tapping the person icon in the bottom-right corner. From there, you may immediately notice a new birthday cake icon — featuring a single candle — between the Instagram icon and the hamburger menu. It’s right above your profile picture.
From there, you’ll see a new page in the app that says “Threads in turning one!” The app celebrates this by letting you unlock icons designed by Thread users.
To unlock, simply scratch off a shiny silver icon next to the boring old Threads icon. On day one, July 3, 2024, you’ll score a unique interpretation of the app’s logo created by @maxymachen. Once it’s revealed, you can set it as your icon, and there should be four more to unlock later. There are at least four blank icons on this page.
Threads also notes that the ability to change your icon won’t be around forever. The functionality will end on July 12, 2024.
This is definitely a fun way to celebrate a year of Threads, by posting your own scratchcard or even re-scratching or interacting with someone else. If you’re keen to score a new icon, we recommend heading over to the app – make sure you’re on the latest version – and scratching every day to reveal a new icon to eventually win them all.