Threads closes in on X as mobile app race heats up; Bluesky lags despite surge

Meta's social media contender Threads is rapidly closing the gap with Elon Musk-owned X in the battle for mobile app dominance, reports TechCrunch.

According to new data from market intelligence firm Similarweb, Threads reached 115.1 million daily active users (DAUs) across iOS and Android in June 2025, marking a staggering 127.8% year-over-year (YoY) growth. In contrast, X reported 132 million DAUs, representing a 15.2% decline over the same period.

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The numbers mark a significant turning point in the race between the two social media giants. Threads, which Meta launched last year as a text-focused alternative tightly integrated with Instagram, appears to be eating into X's user base - particularly among mobile users. Threads remains ad-supported, Meta's only monetization strategy for the app so far.

Meanwhile, decentralized platform Bluesky - once hailed as a breakout alternative to X - grew its mobile user base by an impressive 372.5% YoY. However, the app still remains a minor player in terms of scale, with just 4.1 million daily active users globally.

Despite surpassing 37 million registered users, Bluesky's growth momentum has slowed down after an initial post-U.S. election spike, when many users left X following Musk's growing political ties with President Trump.

Lately, Bluesky has faced backlash over becoming an overly left-leaning echo chamber, potentially pushing some disillusioned users toward Threads. While Bluesky holds long-term promise due to its decentralized, user-configurable infrastructure, the current competitive field is clearly dominated by Threads and X, the report added.

However, the head-to-head battle is playing out quite differently on mobile versus web. On mobile, Threads is catching up fast. But on the web, X maintains a commanding lead with 145.8 million average daily visits worldwide in June - far ahead of Threads' 6.9 million. Bluesky, for comparison, recorded 5.3 million daily web visits globally.

In the U.S. market, web traffic paints a more complex picture. Bluesky outperformed Threads in average daily web visits, with 2.4 million compared to Threads’ 985,200. X continued to dominate with 33.1 million daily U.S. web visits. On mobile, Threads had 15.3 million daily actives in the U.S., versus 22.9 million for X. Bluesky remained far behind, logging just 1.1 million daily mobile users in the U.S.

Threads’ mobile-first strategy is paying off, as Meta focused on app functionality early on before expanding its web presence. In contrast, Bluesky may be attracting curious visitors to its website without successfully converting them to active app users.

Meta recently reported 350 million monthly active users for Threads in its earnings report. As a private company, X is not obligated to disclose metrics, but Elon Musk previously claimed the platform has 600 million monthly actives, the report added.

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