You may have downloaded the wrong Threads. A four-year-old app with the same name has seen a surge in popularity since Instagram launched its Twitter clone.
Screenshot from App Store
- Earlier this month, Meta launched its Twitter-like app Threads, which already has over 100 million users.
- A workflow app with the same name also saw a surge in downloads and web traffic, TechCrunch reported.
- The "other" Threads has added disclaimers to its website and on the App Store.
If you accidentally downloaded the wrong Threads app, you're not alone.
Meta launched its wannabe "Twitter Killer" app, which it calls Threads, earlier this month, prompting millions of people to rush to the App Store. More than 10 million users joined Threads in its first seven hours, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, and Instagram's CEO Adam Mosseri said the platform accrued over 100 million users in just five days.
But it's not the only app that's growing: Some people appear to have downloaded the wrong Threads app.
The "other" Threads is a four-year-old app that markets itself as a "Slack replacement designed for makers." The digital workspace features messaging, as well as integrations with the likes of GitHub, Zoom, and Monday.
In the week following the launch of Meta's Threads app — which is formally called "Threads, an Instagram App" — the other Threads witnessed its downloads leap from a "few" to over 880,000 on iOS globally, TechCrunch reported, citing data from Data.ai. On the Google Play Store, it has been downloaded more than 1 million times.
The app performed particularly well in countries where Meta's Threads has not yet been released, like Spain, Italy, and Germany, TechCrunch reported.
The website of the non-Meta Threads also saw a boost in traffic, according to TechCrunch. Users who visited Threads.com, eager to access Meta's new platform via their desktops, likely soon realized that the URL belonged to the workplace communication app, not the Big Tech company. The website for Meta's Threads is Threads.net, but all it displays currently is a QR code that instructs viewers to download the app.
On the website of the non-Meta Threads, there's now a sticker that reads "We are not associated with Instagram," and a similar disclaimer appears in the App Store.
On its Twitter page — likely to be the only Threads account welcomed on Elon Musk's platform — the non-Meta Threads advises visitors that it has "no affiliation with Meta" but that they're "welcomed to stick around!"
The disclaimers haven't kept users looking for the Meta app from leaving one-star reviews in the App Store, where people called the older Threads a "scamp app" and "an app trying to trick people."
Rousseau Kazi, the cofounder and CEO of Threads, told TechCrunch that he's not surprised Meta chose the word for its new platform considering "threads" is "an internet native term."
Kazi, who actually worked at Meta when it was still known as Facebook, also praised Zuckerberg and Mosseri for their mentorship during his time with the company.
Kazi and Threads did not respond to Insider's request for comment, but the company told TechCrunch that it has the company's name trademarked and declined to answer whether it has plans to take legal action against Meta.
Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.