Meta’s Threads app continues to gain traction, at least in terms of total app downloads, reaching the number one spot on the iOS downloads chart for September, according to the latest info from AppFigures.
As you can see in this overview, most of the main spots remain unchanged from the previous month, though AppFigures does note that overall app downloads declined in both July and August.
But Threads has continued to get attention. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all of these downloads will result in significantly more active users, as people might try it and then move on. But it’s another indicator that Meta is, at the least, onto something with its Twitter clone app.
Of course, Threads was helped by X being banned in Brazil, which saw downloads of both Threads and decentralized social app Bluesky jump in the region. That’s probably the biggest factor which has pushed Threads higher, though in the overall download charts, Threads only jumped one spot to number 5.
So it’s not like some meteoric, unprecedented rise in increase either, but still, Threads is holding firm in the download charts, which bodes well for its overall prospects.
So where is X in this?
X ix currently 42nd in the iOS download charts in the U.S., so it’s still struggling to maximize interest following its rebrand.
Some have suggested that this is because X is not a new app, so it’s not going to get the same kind of traction as one that people haven’t already got on their phones, but that doesn’t ring true for apps like Facebook and Instagram, which remain high on the listings.
Though, as always, that’s not stopping Elon Musk from trying to reframe the data.
As I’ve explained many times, X is not a news app. and it’s only listed in the “News” category on iOS because previous Twitter management switched its classification in order to avoid negative comparisons with Facebook. But it’s not a news app, and in fact, it can’t be classified as one on the Google Play Store because it’s primarily reliant on UGC.
X is a social media app, and still a popular on at that. And with 250 million daily active users, it’s well ahead of the user counts for these actual news apps.
So the suggestion that X is a preferred source of news because of this is an utter misnomer, which Elon knows, but that’s not stopping him from seeking to re-angle whatever information he can to his benefit.
If that, in itself, doesn’t at least raise questions about his tactics, I don’t know what to tell you.
But Threads, at 200 million users and climbing, may well become a legitimate contender in the real-time social space, and a challenger for X on this front. It’s still got a way to go, and there are many communities embedded on X that don’t look like they’ll be making the switch. Combine that with Threads noted aversion to politics, and it’s not going to be easy for Threads to unseat X overall.
But maybe, after the U.S. election, when politics is less of a focus, there will be an opportunity there.
My prediction? If Trump wins, Elon and X will find new support, and new ways to prop up the business, while the constant cycle of headlines generated by Trump will ensure politics remains a key focus, driving more engagement in the app. If Harris wins, however, politics will take more of a backseat, which will work in Threads’ favor.
