Bluesky reaches No. 1 on the App Store as users continue to flee Elon Musk’s X

Elon Musk emerged as the undoubted winner after the election last week.

However, Musk and his social media platform X are not exactly winners on the mobile app charts. The X competitors Bluesky and Threads are enjoying growing popularity in the Apple App Store in the week after the election.

Bluesky seems to be the one big winneras many users have apparently decided ahead of Musk’s Bluesky is now the number 1 free app in the App Store in the USA. The X-Alternative social media platform also just passed the 15 million user mark, with around 100,000 people logging in daily since the election.

Threads, which is tightly integrated with Instagram and owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, is currently in second place in the App Store. Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, is a distant 27th on the charts. A significant number of X users are clearly looking for an alternative to Musk’s own platform.

The top charts in the App Store as of November 13, 2024.
Photo credit: Apple

Musk’s interest in the App Store

While Musk may not be losing sleep over it after gaining significant influence under the new Trump administration, App Store rankings have been something of an obsession for the owner of X.

musk has frequently boasted about X hit #1 in the news category in the US and international app store charts since the election. It should be noted that X doesn’t really have much competition in the news category, as most apps in this space are owned by traditional media publishers like New York Times or Fox News.

Aside from X and Reddit, most social media platforms categorize their iOS apps into the much more competitive “social networking” category. A first place finish in this category results in a first place finish overall across the App Store, as Bluesky currently holds both awards. (Another example: Meta’s WhatsApp iOS app ranks third in the Social Networking category and then 8th in the top charts.)

However,