Billionaire entrepreneur Frank McCourt, Jr. discusses the future of TikTok in the United States on ‘The Clams Countdown’.
Many social media apps have appeared high on the App Store chart rankings as a potential US ban looms over TikTok and its US users.
Apps like Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, Clapper and Flip made the top five of Apple and Google’s respective app store rankings for “top free” apps in the US on Thursday morning.
Two apps – Xiahongshu and Lemon8 – have been in the news in particular.
lemon8 According to TikTok’s recent press release, it 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 Chinese tech company Behind TikTok, ByteDance. Lemon8 appears to have some interface similarities to Instagram and Pinterest.
The Lemon8 application on a smartphone in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu has been around since 2013. According to its website, the app, nicknamed RedNote, is co-founded by Charlwyn Mao and Miranda Q.
Its description on the Apple App Store states, “Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle platform that inspires people to discover and connect with diverse lifestyles, where more than 300 million users share their life experiences every month. ”
Apple Inc. in Shanghai on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Xiaohongshu logo seen on iPhone. (Raul Ariano/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Its US ranking was No. 1 among free apps on the Apple and Google app stores as of Thursday morning.
based in usa social media app According to its website, Clapper is “focused on providing local and global video to all people”. It has capabilities like video, livestream, and radio.
It said in a blog post that its features make it “the perfect candidate to replace TikTok” if banned.
Flip has also made its presence felt in the US App Store rankings for top free apps.
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Flip says on its website it is “a social shopping app for discovery and shopping” with videos. The app is currently live only in the US
The app’s high ranking on the App Store charts comes as TikTok users are discussing a possible ban of the ByteDance-owned app in the US and what other apps they are taking up.
Instagram, YouTube and other popular social media apps also offer short-form video capabilities that may appeal to TikTok users considering new platforms in the event of a US ban.
A photo illustration of US online social media and social networking services. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The threat of a ban on TikTok stems from a law signed by President Biden last year that provides for the platform to be banned in the US on Sunday if ByteDance does not divest.
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Lawyers for the government and TikTok presented oral arguments in a case focused on a possible ban Supreme Court late last week — and the country’s highest court has since been considering how to rule on it.
The legislation seeking to ban TikTok in the US if there is no divestiture focuses on apps and websites “directly or indirectly operated” by ByteDance, TikTok and subsidiaries.
A US federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law requiring China-based ByteDance to sell its popular short video app TikTok or face a ban in the United States. (Reuters/Dado Ruvik/File photo/Reuters)
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More than 170 million people use TikTok in the US. Headed by CEO Shaw Chew, the app launched in the US in 2018.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, Lemon8 and other apps like CapCut and Lark, was founded in 2012.
