With TikTok doubtless simply days away from being banned within the US, the app’s customers are pushing some beforehand little-known apps to the highest of Apple and Google’s shops. The app that has thus far appeared to learn essentially the most is a Chinese language social media app referred to as “RedNote” or Xiaohongshu, which interprets to "little purple ebook."
The TikTok-like app for shortform video is presently the primary app in Apple’s App Retailer and is within the thirty fourth spot in Google’s Play Retailer. RedNote has been gaining recognition as many TikTok creators have begun posting about their experiences attempting out the Chinese language app. In the meantime, over on RedNote, quite a few creators have shared movies about welcoming “TikTok refugees” to the service.
The app is about up very very similar to TikTok, with the power to vertically scroll by way of feeds of shortform movies based mostly in your pursuits. A lot of the app’s interface is in Chinese language, so it may be a bit complicated to navigate, although there are some useful movies on TikTok that specify easy methods to change the app’s language to English.
Whereas RedNote appears to have come out of nowhere, the app has been well-liked in China for years. CNBC reviews that the greater than decade-old app is seen as a challenger to ByteDance’s Douyin and e-commerce large Alibaba, with about 300 million customers.
RedNote isn’t the one app that’s been boosted by anxious TikTok customers. One other ByteDance app, Lemon8, can be trending in each Apple and Google’s shops, the place it’s within the second and first spot, respectively. However whereas TikTok itself has at instances boosted the app, Lemon8 will doubtless face the identical destiny as TikTok ought to the Supreme Court docket aspect with the Biden Administration, which appears doubtless.
One other video app referred to as Flip, which describes itself as “the place social meets purchasing,” can be trending in each app shops. The app, from Los Angeles-based People, Inc., options shortform movies and an in-app storefront. It’s presently ranked quantity 14 in Google’s retailer and quantity 4 in Apple’s. The corporate was valued at greater than $1 billion final yr, in line with Crunchbase.
One other app that has seemingly benefited from the approaching TikTok ban is one thing referred to as “ReelShort.” Whereas the app’s identify appears like a play on Instagram’s reels and YouTube Shorts — each of that are effectively established TikTok clones — the app appears to be much less of a TikTok clone and extra of a wannabe streaming platform. The app options bite-sized clips of longer “films” with weird titles like “The Heiress Blacklisted her Husband” and “In Love with the Alpha.” ReelShort is quantity seven within the App Retailer quantity two in Google Play.
Whereas it’s unlikely any of those apps will stay well-liked for lengthy, the truth that so many comparatively unknown apps have risen to the highest of the app shops so shortly is one more signal of how influential TikTok’s customers and creators will be. It additionally highlights how banning TikTok alone gained’t curb the affect of Chinese language tech corporations within the US.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/chinese-social-media-app-rednote-is-the-number-one-app-as-tiktok-ban-looms-235929802.html?src=rss