#threads

#threads

After launching almost three years ago, Meta's Threads is now reportedly attracting more daily mobile users than rival platform X. According to Similarweb data shared by TechCrunch, Threads has 141.5 million daily active iOS and Android global app users as of January 7th, compared to 125 million users for Elon Musk's mobile platform. Similarweb reports that Threads actually overtook X sometime between late October and early November after a consistent period of growth, meaning this milestone wasn't suddenly achieved in reaction to recent Grok-related controversies.

The game was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who often finds unreleased features while they're still under development. Paluzzi shared a screenshot of the basketball game, which appears to let users virtually shoot hoops by swiping their finger. The idea behind the game is likely to allow friends to compete to see who can score the most baskets, similar to other mobile basketball games.

"2026 won't deliver a clean answer about TikTok's U.S. ownership," she said. "Instead, it will reinforce a new operating reality: geopolitical ambiguity is a feature, not a bug and smart marketers plan for resilience, not resolution."

Threads is testing out a new podcast integration, which will enable you to add your podcast details to your profile in the app, which will then populate previews of your show when shared in Threads posts, via a custom thumbnail image and link. And Threads chief Connor Hayes says that this is just the beginning, with more features being developed to help podcasters build an audience in the app.

One new feature, reply approvals, will allow you to decide which replies from other users will appear on your posts - before anyone else can see them. While Threads, like other social networks, already offers tools that let you limit replies to people you follow, your followers, or people you mention, the new feature allows you to keep your replies open to all without the negative consequences of having discussions derailed.

Reply approvals will require more legwork and attention, but it allows Threads users to monitor and individually select which replies will appear publicly on their posts before anyone else sees them. Users will be presented with a list of pending replies and can make them public using approve and ignore buttons for each one. To save time, if all the replies look okay, or if they all appear to be spam from bots, the entire pending list can be approved or ignored in one fell swoop.

"Our Meta Business Partners each offer AI-enabled solutions to report the context in which ads appear, giving advertisers the transparency they need to drive results on Threads feed with confidence. These partners independently score the adjacent content, aligned with the brand safety floor and suitability framework, providing reporting that may include safety and suitability scores, content examples and associated risk levels, and impression-level data."

Threads is maintaining its download momentum, returning to the top 10 most downloaded apps while ChatGPT leads in the latest app download charts.