Although an app\u2019s downloads aren\u2019t an exact proxy for usage, they can hint at where the market is headed. And in the case of the alt-Twitter wars<\/a>, the app winning the game right now is Instagram\u2019s Threads<\/a>. Meta\u2019s take on Twitter now sees triple the daily downloads of X (formerly Twitter) on iOS globally, and more than double the number \u2014 and sometimes more than triple \u2014 the number of installs on Google Play.<\/p>\n This wasn\u2019t always the case. Threads, of course, saw a massive spike in new installs following its summer 2023 public launch<\/a>, but in the months since, downloads would often spike and drop as parent company Meta tried various<\/a> strategies to send more traffic to its new app, like showcasing popular Threads within the timelines of its other apps, Facebook<\/a> and Instagram. But as boosts from these early efforts wore off, Threads\u2019 downloads would drop, returning once again to become neck-and-neck with X installs, particularly on iOS, according to data from Appfigures<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Appfigures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, things began to change near the end of last year.<\/p>\n By late December, Threads was seeing more than half a million installs per day on Google Play and iOS. The latter has since fallen a bit during the month of January but, across both platforms, Threads now consistently sees more daily downloads than X and appears to now be widening that gap.<\/p>\n For example, on February 25, 2024, Threads saw 486,803 installs on Google Play and 342,228 on iOS. X, by comparison, saw 225,408 Google Play downloads and 112,625 on iOS, Appfigures data shows. That\u2019s nearly triple the downloads on iOS for Threads and more than double the downloads on Google Play.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Appfigures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Only a few days prior, on Feb. 22, the gap was even wider. Then, Threads had 382,999 daily installs on iOS versus just 113,649 installs of X on the same platform \u2014 or more than triple. Threads\u2019 Google Play downloads were 660,882 at this time, versus just 210,475 for X on the Play Store \u2014 also more than triple.<\/p>\n Though Threads\u2019 daily install rates still rise and fall, they\u2019re now consistently above X\u2019s. Over time, this change could eventually come to play out across monthly active users, as well. If that were the case, then Threads would become the main microblogging platform of choice for most users, despite Twitter\u2019s longtime lead in this space. What\u2019s more, it would mean Meta has more editorial control over the information-sharing and news ecosystem used by journalists, researchers, academics, news junkies, and others \u2014 and Meta has said it won\u2019t amplfiy news on Threads<\/a> and won\u2019t recommend political content<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Threads had 130 million monthly active users (MAUs)<\/a> as of the company\u2019s fourth quarter. Those numbers have surely inched higher in the weeks since. Instagram head Adam Mosseri says<\/a> the Threads app is doing \u201cremarkably well\u201d in Japan, for instance \u2014 a market where Twitter had strong traction.<\/p>\n While X said it had 500 million monthly active users<\/a> as of last fall, it\u2019s unclear how many of those are automated accounts or spam. As TechCrunch reported last month, X appears to have a Verified bot problem<\/a>, where a number of blue-checked, paid accounts accidentally revealed their source by replying to X posts with some variation of \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I cannot provide the requested feedback as it goes against OpenAI\u2019s content policy\u201d\u00a0<\/em> \u2014 a boilerplate response for the AI. A search for the same query, here on X<\/a>, reveals the problem is ongoing.<\/p>\n Though Threads is not immune to this issue<\/a>, more people appear to posting this phrase organically on Meta\u2019s platform as a joke to their followers.<\/p>\n In part, X\u2019s troubles with new installs could be related to its rebranding from Twitter. Though month-over-month downloads are up by a bit in December and January, they\u2019re still much lower than before the rebranding, Appfigures points out. Threads\u2019 revenue is also up slightly in January compared with the month prior, but the firm estimates February\u2019s revenue will be lower.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Appfigures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Appfigures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for the decentralized X alternatives, like Mastodon\u2019s<\/a> official mobile app and the newly public Bluesky<\/a>, they barely register in the face of this competition, appearing as largely flat lines on the download chart. To be fair, Mastodon has a wide third-party app ecosystem, but in total, its network is hovering around 1 million monthly active users<\/a> at this time, per its own first-party data.<\/span><\/p>\n Bluesky also saw a small pop when it opened its doors to the public earlier this month,<\/a> but its momentum has since faded. On its biggest day (Feb. 7 \u2014 the day after its launch), it saw 79,685 installs on iOS and 55,711 on Google Play \u2014 nowhere near Threads\u2019 or X\u2019s numbers. Still, it\u2019s early days for this social network, which also just opened up federation<\/a> \u2014 where anyone can run their own Bluesky server. So it\u2019s possible it will gain traction over time as a decentralized Twitter\/X alternative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/past-90-days.jpg?w=680\")
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