The app was available shortly before midnight ET and was the
top free app available on the App Store early Monday. Truth Social was
automatically downloaded to Apple devices belonging to users who had
pre-ordered the app.
Many users reported either having trouble registering for an
account or were added to a waitlist with a message: "Due to massive
demand, we have placed you on our waitlist."
The app has been available for people invited to use it
during its test phase, Reuters previously reported.
Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Alphabet's
YouTube following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his
supporters, after he was accused of posting messages inciting violence.
Led by former Republican US Representative Devin Nunes,
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the venture behind Truth Social,
joins a growing portfolio of technology companies that are positioning
themselves as champions of free speech and hope to draw users who feel their
views are suppressed on more established platforms.
So far none of the newer companies, which include Twitter
competitors Gettr and Parler and video site Rumble, have come close to matching
the popularity of their mainstream counterparts.
"This week we will begin to roll out on the Apple App
Store. That's going to be awesome, because we're going to get so many more
people that are going to be on the platform," Nunes said in a Sunday
appearance on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria
Bartiromo".
"Our goal is, I think we're going to hit it, I think by
the by the end of March we're going to be fully operational at least within the
United States," he added.
Truth Social's app store page detailing its version history
showed the first public version of the app, or version 1.0 was available a day
ago, confirming a Reuters report. The current version 1.0.1 includes "bug
fixes," according to the page.
Drumming support
On Friday, Nunes was on the app urging users to follow more
accounts, share photos and videos and participate in conversations, in an
apparent attempt to drum up activity, according to a person with knowledge of
the matter.
Among Nunes' posts, he welcomed a new user who appeared to
be a Catholic priest and encouraged him to invite more priests to join,
according to the person with knowledge of the matter.
Even as details of the app begin trickling out, TMTG remains
mostly shrouded in secrecy and is regarded with skepticism by some in tech and
media circles. It is unclear, for example, how the company is funding its
current growth.
TMTG is planning to list in New York through a merger with
blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) and stands to receive
$293 million in cash that DWAC holds in a trust, assuming no DWAC shareholder
redeems their shares, TMTG said in an October 21 press release.
Additionally, in December TMTG raised $1 billion committed
financing from private investors; that money also will not be available until
the DWAC deal closes.
Digital World's activities have come under scrutiny from the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, according to a regulatory filing, and the deal is likely months away
from closing. © Reuters