Added in API level 1

ThreadFactory

public interface ThreadFactory

java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory

An object that creates new threads on demand. Using thread factories removes hardwiring of calls to new Thread, enabling applications to use special thread subclasses, priorities, etc.

The simplest implementation of this interface is just: 

 class SimpleThreadFactory implements ThreadFactory {
   public Thread newThread(Runnable r) {
     return new Thread(r);
   }
 }
 The Executors#defaultThreadFactory method provides a more useful simple implementation, that sets the created thread context to known values before returning it.

Summary

Public methods

abstract Thread newThread(Runnable r)

Constructs a new Thread.

Public methods

newThread

Added in API level 1 
public abstract Thread newThread (Runnable r)

Constructs a new Thread. Implementations may also initialize priority, name, daemon status, ThreadGroup, etc.

Parameters
r Runnable: a runnable to be executed by new thread instance
Returns
Thread constructed thread, or null if the request to create a thread is rejected