Threads, Facebook’s second attempt at a standalone direct messaging app for Instagram users, drew more downloads than its predecessor in its first month on the market, but was far from an instant success, Sensor Tower found.

Facebook launched Threads on 3 October, billing it as a new channel for Instagram users to privately share content with their close friends. It debuted as a successor to Direct, Facebook’s previous attempt at an Instagram companion app, which was scrapped in May less than two years after launching in December 2017.

In its first 30 days, Sensor Tower said Threads was installed by around 374,000 iOS and Android users worldwide, with the US accounting for 43 per cent (nearly 161,000) of the total.

While the total was higher than the 124,000 downloads Direct garnered in its first 30 days, Sensor Tower noted Threads debuted with much broader availability. Notably, Direct was not initially available in the US.

So far, Sensor Tower said Threads is following the same path as Messenger, the standalone messaging app for Facebook users, which took several years to gain traction.

“While Messenger now enjoys an average of 66 million new mobile downloads monthly, it took nearly three years, and the removal of messaging from the Facebook app entirely in August 2014, to convince users to make the switch,” it noted, adding “Threads may yet find its footing”.