Billionaire entrepreneur Frank McCourt Jr. talks about TikTok's future in the U.S. on “Craman Countdown.”
As a potential U.S. ban worries TikTok and its U.S. users, several social media apps have risen to the top of app store chart rankings.
Apps such as Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, Clapper, and Flip were among the top five “top free” apps in the U.S. in Apple and Google's respective app store rankings Thursday morning.
Two of these apps, Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, have attracted particular attention.
According to a recent press release from TikTok, Lemon8 allows users to “discover and share useful content related to beauty, fashion, travel, and more” through photos and videos.
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It belongs to ByteDance, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok. Parts of Lemon8's interface look similar to Instagram and Pinterest.
The Lemon8 application on a smartphone on Friday, March 31, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu has been around since 2013. The app, affectionately known as RedNote, is co-founders Charlwyn Mao and Miranda Khoo, according to its website.
The Apple App Store description says, “Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle platform that encourages people to discover and connect with diverse lifestyles, with over 300 million users sharing their life experiences every month.” It is written.
Xiaohongshu logo displayed on an Apple Inc. iPhone in Shanghai, Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Raul Ariano/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The company's U.S. rankings in Apple and Google's app stores as of Thursday morning were No. 1 among free apps.
Clapper, a US-based social media app, is “committed to bringing local and global video to everyone,” according to its website. It has features like videos, live streams, and radio.
The company said in a blog post that its features make it a “perfect candidate to replace TikTok” in the event of a ban.
Flip also appeared in the US app store's ranking of top free apps.
Flip says on its website that it is a video-based “social shopping app for discovery and shopping.” This app is currently only available in the US
The app's rise to the top of the app store charts comes at a time when TikTok users are buzzing about the possibility of the ByteDance-owned app being banned in the U.S. and what other apps are being featured. It was inside.
Instagram, YouTube, and other popular social media apps also offer short-form video features that could appeal to TikTok users considering a new platform in the event of a U.S. ban.
Photo illustration of US online social media and social networking services. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The threat of a TikTok ban stems from a law signed by President Biden last year that calls for the TikTok platform to be banned in the United States on Sunday if ByteDance does not make the sale.
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Lawyers for the government and TikTok filed oral arguments with the Supreme Court late last week in a case centered on a possible ban, and the country's highest court has since considered how to decide on it.
The law banning TikTok in the US in the absence of a sale focuses on apps and websites “operated directly or indirectly” by ByteDance, TikTok and its subsidiaries.
A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell its popular short video app TikTok in the U.S. or face a ban. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/File photo/Reuters)
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More than 170 million people use TikTok in the United States. The app, led by CEO Shou Chew, was rolled out in the US in 2018.
ByteDance, the parent company of apps like TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut, and Lark, was founded in 2012.
