Threads use is down to about 6 minutes a day — plummeting from 21 minutes when it first launched

• When Meta launched Threads earlier this month, users were eager to join the Twitter clone.
• But they don't seem as keen on sticking around.
• Users are only spending 6 minutes on the app a day — down from 21 minutes, according to Similarweb data.

Threads is losing daily users just as fast as it gained them.

The daily average time US users spend scrolling through the buzzy new app is down to less than a third of what it was at its peak, according to data from Similarweb, which based its estimates on usage of the app on Android phones.

On July 7, two days after the app's launch, users were on Threads for around 21 minutes a day on average. But this total slid as the week progressed, with users averaging just over 6 minutes of daily activity on July 14, Similarweb estimated.

Threads' daily active user count on Android devices dropped over 50% — from 49 million to 23.6 million — in the same time frame, Similarweb reported.

When Elon Musk implemented rate limits on Twitter users earlier this month, Meta seized the opportunity to launch Threads, which it had been working on for months, at least.

But by rushing the release of the app to capitalize on Twitter's latest controversy, Threads launched a bare bones platform.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri addressed the app's release in a Threads post last week.

"It felt like we had to get it out there to get a sense for if people were even interested sooner rather than later," he said.

The initial response was still a great success: Threads garnered more than 10 million users just seven hours after its launch, according to Mark Zuckerberg. Five days later, Mosseri said Threads topped over 100 million signups.

But Meta must find a way to convince users to keep coming back if it wishes to upend rival platform Twitter.

Threads is still missing many features integral to Twitter, such as hashtags, an explore page for trending topics, and a distinct website version of the platform.

In a Threads post last week, Mosseri said the company will prioritize adding "obvious missing features," such as tools that allow users to scroll through a personalized feed of those they follow, and a way for users to search for posts and edit their own. 

"We're clearly way out over our skis on this, but the team is pumped to start shipping improvements this week," Mosseri added in the post.

Part of this effort manifested in updates made to the app Tuesday. In a Threads post, Cameron Roth, a software engineer for Instagram and Threads, announced a slate of new bug fixes and upgrades to the platform's feed and follow features.

When asked about the Similarweb data, a Meta spokesperson referred to a Threads post Mark Zuckerberg wrote on Tuesday, in which the CEO said he was "very optimistic" in the development of the app's community.

Mosseri echoed Zuckerberg's early enthusiasm in a Saturday Threads post, also sent to Insider by a Meta spokesperson. In it, Mosseri said the app's "growth, retention, and engagement are all way ahead of where I expected us to be at this point."