Instagram's direct messaging app sees 3.7 lakh downloads in a month

While Instagram may boast of a billion-plus users, it doesn’t have a good track record with its standalone apps. However, the latest app from Instagram seems to be be doing surprisingly well. According to a report by Sensor Tower, Threads, the new standalone app for Instagram direct messaging has been installed by 3.7 lakh users across the world.
The app which was launched on October 3 seems to be doing well in India as well.The US accounted for 43% (about 1.6 lakh) of the total downloads, India came in second in the total number of installs. Threads has been downloaded 37,400 users in India, which is 10% of the total installs.
More than half of the total downloads were from Apple App store. App Store users, as per Sensor Tower, “comprised 59 percent of all downloads during the app’s first month.” The rest of the 41% of installs came from Google Play Store.
With Threads, Instagram users can share photos, videos, messages and even Stories, taking control of its reach, unlike Instagram’s main app where it’s visible to a more broad set of people. Users can make a restricted list from the Threads app, which works on Instagram’s main app as well. The app also has a ‘Status’ feature that can be set to anything from ‘Studying’ to Procrastinating, On the move and more, just like you have in Facebook’s main app.
It is worth adding that Threads is just a dedicated app for Instagram Direct Messages feature with some new abilities. The messages sent to other on Threads will also show up on Instagram Direct Messages.
At the time of the launch of the app, Robby Stein, director of product, Instagram had explained the rationale behind a standalone messaging app. “Over the last few years, we’ve introduced several new ways to share visually on Instagram and connect with people you care about – from sharing everyday moments on Stories to visual messages on Direct. But for your smaller circle of friends, we saw the need to stay more connected throughout the day, so you can communicate what you’re doing and how you’re feeling through photos and videos,” Stein had explained in a blog post.