Bluesky, the emerging social networking startup, has seen a remarkable increase of 500,000 users in just one day. This surge has propelled the app into the top five on the U.S. App Store and made it the No. 2 app in the Social Networking category, a significant jump from No. 181 just a week earlier, according to data from app analytics firm Appfigures. Notably, this growth appears to be entirely organic, with confirmation that the company has not invested in any App Store Search Ads.
The expansion of Bluesky is not confined to the United States; several other countries are experiencing significant increases in downloads, leading the app to break into the top 10 in regions such as Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan, where it holds the top position; Hong Kong, ranking second; and Canada and South Korea in fourth place, along with eighth in Singapore.
While information regarding the app’s performance on Google Play is still pending, preliminary data indicates an upward trend there as well. By 4 a.m. EST, Bluesky climbed from the 100th position on the Android app store to fifth in the Social Networking category, with prospects for further ascension.
Appfigures has yet to verify Bluesky’s stated gain of half a million users in a day, but initial estimates reveal a significant growth trajectory. The firm reports 197,000 new installs on the App Store on Thursday, a substantial rise from just 3,400 the previous day. Of those new installs, approximately 40% (80,000) were from the U.S., while Japan contributed 53,000 installs, representing 27% of total downloads. Downloads have surged by four digits in around 90 countries, as reported by Appfigures.
Several factors appear to contribute to this impressive rise. Users on X have expressed dissatisfaction with recent changes to the block feature, which now allows public accounts to have their posts viewable by blocked users, raising significant safety concerns for many users who experience harassment. Additionally, this week, X updated its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to allow the sharing of user data with third parties, including companies developing AI systems.
Moreover, X is likely still feeling repercussions from a prior ban in Brazil, which drove some users to transition to Bluesky along with their followers. Meanwhile, Bluesky seems to be capitalizing on moderation challenges faced by Threads, where users have reported unjust account bans and downranking of posts.
Despite the changes at X, the app recorded a modest increase of 17,000 downloads from Tuesday to Thursday, although it has dropped out of the U.S. App Store’s top 10, now ranked at No. 29. According to Appfigures, X is experiencing a slight downward trajectory, consistent with the overall decline of the news category in the U.S. App Store, which is down 8.4% this year.
Bluesky has previously experienced significant user spikes, notably when it opened to the public after a prolonged invite-only phase and following Brazil’s ban of X, which previously attracted around half a million new users in just two days.
Following the publication of this information, Bluesky announced it had reached a total of over 12 million users after adding 1 million new accounts.