A new report from Similarweb indicates a notable shift in mobile social media usage: Threads, owned by Meta, is now being used daily by more people on smartphones than X, the platform owned by Elon Musk.
According to Similarweb’s data, as of January 7, 2026, Threads reached 141.5 million daily active users across iOS and Android, continuing a steady upward trend that has persisted for several months.
By comparison, X recorded 125 million daily active mobile users during the same period. While X still holds a clear advantage on the web, Threads’ mobile growth suggests changing user habits, particularly on smartphones.
Importantly, this shift does not appear to be a short-term reaction to recent controversies surrounding X. In recent months, users were found using X’s built-in AI tool, Grok, to generate non-consensual explicit images of women, including, in some reported cases, minors.
These incidents sparked widespread concern about deepfakes and prompted investigations by multiple governments. In the United States, the California Attorney General opened an investigation, following similar actions taken in regions such as the UK, the EU, India, and Brazil.
The turmoil surrounding X has also benefited competitors. Decentralised social platform Bluesky saw a spike in app downloads in recent days, suggesting that some users are actively exploring alternatives.
That said, Threads’ growth appears to be driven more by long-term strategy than by backlash alone. Meta has heavily promoted Threads across its larger platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, regularly surfacing Threads content and sign-up prompts to existing users. The company has also leaned into creator tools and has rolled out new features at a rapid pace.
Over the past year, Threads has introduced interest-based communities, stronger content filters, direct messages, longer text posts, disappearing content, and has even been spotted testing lightweight games. These additions appear to be encouraging more frequent, habitual use—particularly on mobile devices.
Meta’s own figures support this trajectory. In August 2025, the company announced that Threads had surpassed 400 million monthly active users, and by October 2025, it reported 150 million daily active users. Independent data from Similarweb shows that the platform’s momentum has been building for quite some time; as early as June 2025, Threads had posted 127.8% year-over-year growth, significantly narrowing the gap with X on mobile.
Regionally, X still maintains an edge in the United States, but that lead is shrinking. Similarweb notes that X now has roughly half the daily U.S. user base it did a year ago, while Threads continues to gain ground.
On the web, however, the situation looks very different. X remains far ahead, with around 145 million daily web visits as of January 13, 2026. Threads, by contrast, recorded only 8.5 million daily web visits across Threads.com and Threads.net combined. This highlights a clear divide: Threads is becoming a mobile-first habit, while X continues to rely heavily on its established web audience.
Taken together, the data suggests a gradual but meaningful shift in how people engage with social platforms—less time on the web, more routine use on mobile, and growing openness to alternatives as the social media landscape continues to evolve.
