Meta’s fledgling “Twitter killer” Threads experienced monumental growth in downloads late last year, earning it a top 10 spot in Apple and Google’s app stores.
Despite concerns the app was declining in popularity, new data from Appfigures tells a different story. In December, Threads received 12 million downloads from Apple’s app store and 16 million from Google’s. The surge in downloads means the site tripled its month-over-month downloads for last month.
The downloads earned Threads a solid top 10 spot in both app stores. On Apple’s store, Threads is the fourth-most popular app and eighth on Google’s.
While Threads had an impressive and highly publicized launch in July with over 100 million downloads, the site quickly drew criticism for its lack of features. The barebones nature of the site quickly left users wanting more and many drifted off, hurting the site’s daily active numbers.
While there is no single explanation for Threads’ surge in downloads, many of Meta’s changes to the platform have helped boost the site’s popularity.
In late 2023, Meta pushed Threads heavily on its other apps Instagram and Facebook. Users on the more established platforms were greeted with carousel ads that featured a series of viral posts on Threads. The ads may have attracted more users, contributing to Threads’ user base growing from 100 million in October to 160 million in December, according to some estimates.
The site has also benefited from the work of independent developers who have used Threads data to construct tools that make sharing posts from the site much easier, including a Threads share button for other social media sites.
The company has also worked to add features that its users have asked for. In recent months, the site has added a desktop version, an edit button, voice memos, polls and a following feed.
Threads’ December numbers suggest that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s theory that users want a less chaotic version of X was correct. While Threads still trails the old Twitter in terms of daily active users, the site is crushing X in downloads.
According to Appfigures data, X couldn’t break through the top 30 in Apple and Google’s app stores in December, sitting at 37 and 39, respectively.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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