What you need to know
- Donald Trump's social media app has finally launched on iOS.
- Truth Social looks nearly identical to Twitter, which he was banned from in 2021.
- The app has already suffered a major outage, and new users are being waitlisted.
Donald Trump has finally launched his long-awaited Truth Social app this week, and early reports don't paint too a pretty picture for the social media app, even if the reviews suggest differently.
The app was created as a response to the former U.S. president being suspended from major social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. These platforms have been criticized by some for their moderation policies in the wake of political unrest amid the 2020 election and the misinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Truth Social notably looks nearly identical to Twitter, from the profile designs to the "Truth Feed," with posts that feature buttons similar to Twitter's Retweet, Like, and Share buttons.
Truth Social describes itself as a "Big Tent" social media platform that "encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology," at least according to its Apple App Store listing.
Since its debut on Sunday night, the app managed to top the charts on Apple's App Store, gaining a 4.1 rating among more than 11,000 reviews. However, that's where the praise ends, as the app was almost immediately hit with a 13-hour outage and plenty of glitches, as reported by The Washington Post. There also appears to be a mighty lengthy waitlist that tops 400,000 according to CNN.
And if you're interested in downloading the app on any of the best Android phones, it seems you'll have to wait even longer as the Android version isn't yet available and is currently listed as "coming soon."
