The launch of Threads on Instagram led to a sudden visibility for another app called Threads, which flew to the top of the App Store chart on iOS. The app, which has had this name since 2019, has led to a significant increase in downloads. It’s about an alternative messaging app to Slack. Which has never been more popular.
Threads, another app of the same name at the top of the App Store
As reported by TechCrunch (as we reported here), the launch of Threads on Instagram had a beneficial effect for several applications that had the name “Threads”. This is because the new social media Instagram, which represents an alternative to Twitter downloaded by hundreds of millions of people in a few days, has not yet made its debut in Europe.
Anyone who doesn’t know Meta’s caution in launching the app in Europe has started downloading alternative app services. Many of these were born precisely to mislead users – and therefore soon eliminated from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. But there is at least one app that has had this name for several years: it’s not a fake app, but simply another service with the same name.
Same name, different features
The app of the same name called Threads it already existed since 2019 as an alternative to Slack. It therefore acts as a messaging and communication platform for those who work. In the period from July 6 to July 12, the Threads app logged over 880,000 downloads on iOSaccording to estimates provided by Data.ai.
This is a significant increase from the limited number of downloads it had previously recorded. The Threads app even made it into the top 52 of the most downloaded apps on the App Store globally. In some European Union countries, such as Germany, Spain and Italy, it even managed to reach the top 10. This could be attributed to Instagram threads not being available in the EU and Meta has started to block people trying to access the service through a VPN.
It seems evident that the similar name between the two apps has played a key role in the confusion and growth of downloads. While the original Threads app may temporarily benefit from this unexpected exposure, a need for one may also arise clearer distinction between the two apps to avoid further confusion. In the long run, in fact, it will become difficult to market an application that has the same name as a social network with such lightning-fast success.
To avoid confusion, the company has added a badge on its homepage that specifies which is not affiliated with Instagram. The same disclaimer is also present on Twitter. The company profile states: “We have no connection to Meta, but you are welcome to stay!”.
It’s not all that uncommon for two different services to have the same name. Meta itself also had a similarly named Instagram companion app: Threads. But she closed it shortly after due to lack of success. Something that we doubt will happen with the new social network, which has shattered all download records.