Former US President Donald Trump’s social media app, that he hopes will rival Twitter, officially launched on Monday, The Associated Press reported.
The app, called Truth Social app, was offered for download from the Apple App Store to a limited number of subscribers who had preordered. Others who were added to a waiting list are to be given access over the next 10 days.
The app is not yet available on Android platforms but its website indicates that it is coming soon to the Google Play store.
The site encountered technical glitches shortly after its launch, with reports that subscribers were shut out for hours, according to AP. Others had trouble signing on. The site is not expected to be open to anyone who wants to download it until next month.
“Due to massive demand, we have placed you on our waitlist,” read a message to some of those trying to access the platform, adding, “We love you.”
According to Apple’s rankings, Truth Social was the top free app in the US on Monday morning, besting apps such as the “Talking Ben the Dog” children’s game, streaming service HBO Max, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
Trump announced in October that he would be launching the new social network which purports to "stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech."
The app's launch comes 13 months after Trump was banned from prominent social media networks following the riots on the US Capitol.
Facebook banned Trump from its platform in the wake of the riots on the US Capitol on January 6 and then referred its decision to the independent Oversight Board, a panel of experts and civic leaders from around the world that was established last year.
The Oversight Board later upheld the suspension of Trump, but also said Facebook should determine a "proportionate response" that is consistent with rules applied to other users of the platform.
“Our main goal here is to give people their voice back,” Trump Media CEO and former GOP Congressman Devin Nunes said Sunday on Fox News. He added that the app offers “the opposite of some Silicon Valley tech oligarch freak telling people what they want to think and deciding who can or cannot be on the platform.”
Nunes said the app should be “fully operational” by the end of March.