Billionaire entrepreneur Frank McCourt, Jr. discusses the future of TikTok in the United States on “The Claman Countdown.”
Several social media apps are ranking high in app stores as a possible US ban looms over the heads of TikTok and its American users.
Apps like Xiaohongshu, Lemon8, Clapper and Flip held a spot in the top five of Apple and Google’s respective app store rankings for “best free apps” in the United States as of Thursday morning.
Two of these applications – Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 – were particularly highlighted.
Lemon8 allows users to “discover and share useful content related to beauty, fashion, travel, and more.” » through photos and videos, according to a recent press release from TikTok.
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It is owned by the Chinese technology company behind TikTok, ByteDance. Some of Lemon8’s interfaces appear to have similarities to Instagram and Pinterest.
The Lemon8 app on a smartphone in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu has been around since 2013. The co-founders of the app, dubbed RedNote, are Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu, according to its website.
“Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle platform that inspires people to discover and connect with a range of diverse lifestyles, where over 300 million users share their lifestyle experiences every month,” its description on the website reads. Apple App Store.
The Xiaohongshu logo seen on an Apple Inc. iPhone in Shanghai on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Raul Ariano/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Its U.S. ranking on the Apple and Google app stores as of Thursday morning was No. 1 for free apps.
US-based social media app Clapper “focuses on bringing local and global videos to everyone,” according to its website. It has video, live streaming, and radio-like features.
It said in a blog post that its features made it the “ideal candidate to replace TikTok” in the event of a ban.
Flip also made an appearance in the ranking of the best free apps in US app stores.
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It’s a “social shopping app for discovering and shopping” with videos, Flip said on its website. The app is currently only available in the United States
The apps’ high rankings in app store rankings come as TikTok users are up in arms over the potential ban of the ByteDance-owned app in the United States and other apps they use.
Instagram, YouTube and other popular social media apps also offer short-form video features that could be of interest to TikTok users considering new platforms in the event of a U.S. ban.
A photographic illustration of social media and online social networking services in the United States. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The threat of a TikTok ban stems from a law signed last year by President Biden that aims to ban the platform in the United States on Sunday if ByteDance does not complete a divestment.
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Lawyers for the government and TikTok presented oral arguments in a case centered on the potential ban before the Supreme Court late last week – and the nation’s highest court has since been considering how to take a decision on this subject.
The law to ban TikTok in the United States if there is no divestment focuses on apps and websites “operated, directly or indirectly” by ByteDance, TikTok and its subsidiaries.
A US federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to sell its popular short video application TikTok in the United States, or face a ban. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/File photo / Reuters)
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In the United States, more than 170 million people use TikTok. The app, led by CEO Shou Chew, rolled out in the United States in 2018.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, Lemon8 and other apps like CapCut and Lark, was founded in 2012.
