The launch of Instagram’s Threads app coincidentally led to a surge in downloads for another app called Threads, which is a Slack alternative that has been around since 2019. According to estimates shared by Data.ai, the Threads app saw over 880,000 downloads on iOS between July 6th and July 12th. Prior to this period, it had only experienced minimal downloads, but it suddenly became the 52nd most downloaded app globally in the App Store. It even reached the top 10 in several European Union countries, including Germany, Spain, and Italy. This popularity could be attributed to the unavailability of Instagram’s Threads app in the EU, as Meta has started blocking users attempting to access it through a VPN.
Furthermore, the Slack alternative, Threads, saw a significant increase in traffic to its website due to its ownership of the threads.com domain. To clarify the distinction between the two apps, Threads added a badge on its homepage stating that it is not associated with Instagram. The company’s Twitter profile also includes a disclaimer, affirming its lack of affiliation with Meta.
It’s worth noting that Meta and Threads are not the first companies to share the same branding. TechCrunch mentions other companies with the same name, such as Lightyear and its various counterparts in different industries. However, the coincidence is amusing considering that Threads, the workplace chat app, was co-founded by Rousseau Kazi, a former Facebook product manager. Additionally, Meta previously operated an Instagram companion app called Threads, adding to the confusion. It seems that originality is becoming scarce in Silicon Valley.
