Meta has begun rolling out a native direct-messaging inbox on Threads, allowing users aged 18 and older to exchange one-on-one messages with mutual followers without switching back to Instagram. The company said it will add group chats and additional inbox filters later, part of a broader effort to give Threads a distinct identity and deepen user engagement on the text-based social network, now in its third year. The feature launch coincides with fresh data from market-intelligence firm Similarweb showing Threads is rapidly approaching X’s mobile audience. In June, Threads recorded 115.1 million daily active users across iOS and Android, a 128 percent jump from a year earlier, while X drew 132 million, down 15 percent. Bluesky, another up-and-coming rival, tallied 4.1 million daily users. Threads’ growth underscores Meta’s progress toward diverting advertising budgets and attention away from Elon Musk’s platform. Meta is also upgrading its flagship WhatsApp service, testing threaded replies in iOS betas to make busy group chats easier to follow. The parallel improvements suggest the company is intensifying efforts to tighten the integration—and competitiveness—of its family of social and messaging apps.