Nicla Bartoli, the vice president of sales at Influencer Marketing Factory, said ByteDance reached out to her company in late February and gave a lengthy presentation about the app and how influencers can use it. It’s also listed as one of the most popular apps on Apple’s app store. in February with little fanfare, but all that changed when media organizations started paying closer attention and some TikTok influencers began promoting it.Īs of Sunday, the app had 290,000 downloads in the U.S., the vast majority of which happened in late March, according to data.ai. Lemon8 was first launched in Asian markets in 2020 and has already made headway in countries like Thailand and Japan, with roughly 7.4 million and 5 million downloads respectively, according to the app analytics company data.ai. Ltd., a Singapore-based company that shares the same address as ByteDance and TikTok. Similar to TikTok and other social media sites, Lemon8 collects user data, such as IP address, browsing history, device identifiers and other information.īoth the Apple and Google Play app stores list its owner as Heliophilia Pte. It also segments posts under different categories, like fashion, beauty and food, and allows users to explore content in other ways. Like TikTok, Lemon8’s main feed features a “following” section that lets users look at content from creators they follow, as well as a “For You” section that recommends other posts. Social marketing experts say the app is also reminiscent of the Chinese social media and e-commerce giant Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book.” Lemon8 is a photo-based app that resembles a mixture of Instagram and Pinterest, and is sprinkled with videos that look like the ones posted on TikTok. Here’s what you need to know about the company’s new app: Meanwhile, ByteDance is pressing ahead with its expansion plans. And it’s attempting to convince lawmakers it can keep user data safe. user data or push misinformation on the platform.

The app, called Lemon8, is likely to face some of the same scrutiny as TikTok, which has been dogged by claims the Chinese government could force its parent company ByteDance to hand over U.S.

NEW YORK > As lawmakers debate whether to ban TikTok nationwide, its Chinese parent company has introduced a new app that’s already getting some traction.

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