Meta's Threads app has quietly moved ahead of Elon Musk's X in a crucial area. The battle is happening right in people's pockets. New data reveals Threads now has more daily active users on mobile devices than its rival.
Mobile Numbers Tell a Clear Story
Analytics firm Similarweb provided the latest figures. In early January 2026, Threads hit 141.5 million daily active users on iOS and Android phones. During the same period, X recorded 125 million mobile users.
The trend shows a significant shift. Threads has been climbing steadily over the past year. Its user base grew by 37.8 percent. Meanwhile, X's mobile audience shrank by nearly 12 percent in the same window.
This is a convincing trajectory for a platform that launched in July 2023. Many people initially dismissed Threads as Meta's opportunistic move to capitalize on X's turmoil. The new data suggests the strategy is working.
Desktop Usage Presents a Different Picture
Here is where the situation gets more complicated. X still dominates Threads on desktop computers. It draws around 150 million daily web visits. Threads manages a barely-there 9 million visits on the web.
This gap hints at something important about user behavior. X remains the go-to platform for people who treat social media like work. Journalists, professionals, and the chronically online still prefer X for desktop use. Threads, meanwhile, feels more like something you check quickly between Instagram stories.
The US Market Shows a Tight Race
In the United States specifically, X holds onto a narrow lead. It has 21.2 million daily mobile users versus Threads' 19.5 million. But the growth rates tell a different story.
Threads grew 42 percent year-over-year in America. X managed just 18 percent growth. At that pace, the gap between the two platforms will not last long. Threads is catching up fast in this key market.
Meta's Playbook for Threads Growth
Meta's strategy for boosting Threads is pretty transparent. The company is using Instagram's enormous reach to funnel users toward Threads. Constant cross-promotion between the apps is a key tactic.
Meta has also been throwing new features at the wall to see what sticks. The company introduced direct messages and disappearing posts. It launched topic-based communities and even tested in-app games. The goal is to keep users engaged and coming back.
X Faces Controversies and Challenges
Threads' rise comes during a particularly rough stretch for X. The platform faces multiple controversies that could be helping Zuckerberg's app.
X's Grok AI chatbot recently generated non-consensual deepfake images. Some of these images depicted minors. This triggered investigations from California's attorney general. Regulators in the UK, EU, India, and Brazil are also looking into the matter.
Other alternatives to X have not fared much better. Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter clone, saw its daily mobile users drop sharply. Similarweb data shows a 44.4 percent year-over-year decline to just 3.6 million users.
The Big Question Remains
Whether Threads can actually replace X remains unclear. The desktop usage gap is substantial. User habits are deeply ingrained.
But for now, Mark Zuckerberg's mobile-first strategy is landing punches. Threads is gaining ground where Elon Musk did not see them coming. The battle for social media dominance continues to evolve.
