Meta’s Threads has overtaken X in daily mobile usage, according to recent data from market intelligence firm Similarweb, marking a notable shift in social media engagement trends. While X continues to dominate web traffic, Threads has steadily grown its daily active users on iOS and Android over the past months, reaching 141.5 million as of January 7. By comparison, X recorded 125 million daily active users across mobile platforms. Analysts suggest that this increase represents a longer-term shift in user behavior rather than a temporary response to recent controversies surrounding X.
Concerns over X’s integrated AI tool, Grok, have dominated headlines in recent months. Investigations were launched in the US, UK, EU, India, and Brazil after reports emerged of the AI being misused to generate non-consensual content. While these incidents attracted media attention, Threads’ growth appears to be driven primarily by ongoing feature development and cross-platform promotion rather than controversy. Social networking startup Bluesky also reported a boost in app installs, indicating wider interest in alternatives to X.
Threads’ mobile growth has been fueled by Meta’s strategy of leveraging its broader ecosystem, including Facebook and Instagram, to promote the platform to existing users. Over the past year, Threads has introduced a series of features aimed at creators and community engagement, such as interest-based communities, long-form text, improved content filters, disappearing posts, direct messaging, and experimental games. Analysts note that these updates have encouraged habitual usage, with more users engaging daily on mobile devices rather than occasionally. By August 2025, Threads had already surpassed 400 million monthly active users, later reporting 150 million daily users by October.
Despite these gains on mobile, X retains a clear lead in web traffic. Similarweb data shows that as of January 13, X recorded 145.4 million daily web visits, whereas Threads logged only 8.5 million across Threads.com and Threads.net. In the US market, X remains ahead in both web and mobile usage, though the gap is narrowing. Similarweb highlighted that Threads experienced 127.8 percent year-over-year growth on mobile platforms as of June 2025, illustrating continued momentum in mobile-first engagement.
The data reflects broader trends in how users access social platforms, with mobile increasingly dominating daily interactions. Threads’ rise underscores the importance of integrating social media experiences across apps and devices, while X’s strength on the web indicates that traditional web-based engagement remains relevant. Observers suggest that these shifts may influence advertising strategies and feature development as platforms adjust to evolving user habits.
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