As the TikTok ban could go into effect by the end of the week unless the Supreme Court intervenes, another ByteDance-owned app has risen in Apple’s App Store rankings: Lemon8.
The app, which is ranked second on the App Store, appears to be an amalgamation of several other popular social media platforms. It has photos that can be uploaded as a single image or a photo carousel, like Instagram; videos that appeal to users’ specific sensibilities and interests, such as TikTok; and an interface that allows users to interact with different types of content at once, like Pinterest.
“If those three apps got together and had a baby, it would be Lemon8,” said Jessica Maddox, associate professor of digital media technology at the University of Alabama.
The law only mentions TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, by name. However, it also says that any of ByteDance’s subsidiaries could be banned under the same law. That means the ban could extend to Lemon8, but as of Monday neither the company nor the U.S. government had addressed its future.
On TikTok, Lemon8 ads appear to have increased before the ban. TikTok has used traditional ads on its platform urging users to download it. TikTok has also sent notifications to its users suggesting they download Lemon8.
Some of TikTok’s top users post on the platform as if it were TikTok. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In short, it looks like Lemon8 is waiting in the wings to take control if TikTok becomes immediately unusable after the ban goes into effect on Sunday.
Here you will find everything you need to know about Lemon8.
What is Lemon8?
Lemon8 is a “cultural” platform, Maddox said, whose interface takes inspiration from a variety of popular social media websites, including Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok.
When users open the app, the platform says it’s “powered by TikTok,” according to the login screen. It also asks users to log in with their TikTok accounts. Users are also asked to follow everyone they followed on TikTok and who have accounts on Lemon8.
Users will also select their interests and what they would like to see before being taken to the main feed, where they will see posts including still images and videos. Once users click on posts, they can see the comment sections, which are a crucial aspect of inside jokes and humor on TikTok.
When was it released?
Lemon8 debuted in the United States and the United Kingdom in February 2023. It was first released in Japan in May 2020. It was known as Sharee there.
About a month after its release in the United States, Lemon8 entered the list of the top 10 most downloaded apps in Apple’s App Store, according to reports at the time. Usage surged after Congress questioned TikTok CEO Shou Chew about the platform’s security.
What type of content is on the platform?
When people create accounts on Lemon8, they are asked to select their interests, which range from lifestyle and food to video games, music and movies.
Some of the content appears to have been copied and pasted from TikTok. For example, influencer Jasmine Chiswelll, who became popular on TikTok for her fashion content and Marilyn Monroe-esque style, posted a video on Lemon8 sharing “100 Years of LIPSTICKS,” in which she shared samples of nude lipsticks.
Chiswell shared the same video in 2023 on TikTok, where it received 1.5 million likes. On Lemon8, it received less than 10,000 likes.
Users can also share images. While TikTok has become a place where users can share still images and where massive trends have grown around the interface, still images shared without music and just text are more like the content shown on Instagram than on TikTok .
Instead of one piece of content at a time, like on TikTok’s “For You” page or Instagram’s main feed, users see two rows of content that they must select to view. The interface is similar to TikTok’s search function. It also looks like the mobile version of Pinterest.
Could Lemon8 be banned under the new law banning TikTok?
The short answer is: yes.
So says Eric Goldman, associate dean for research, professor of law and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law.
Goldman said the law doesn’t allow much room for maneuver the way it is written.
“As long as ByteDance is owned by a ‘foreign adversary’ as defined in the statute, its subsidiaries will still be governed by the rules, Goldman said. “So I don’t see it as a really close case.”
And he added: “I have problems with the ban. “I have problems with its scope, but as a matter of legal interpretation, that doesn’t seem so debatable.”
Goldman said the law also allows a president to designate that an app is owned by an alleged foreign adversary and would therefore be subject to the same legal challenges as TikTok, including being banned.
But just because it can be banned doesn’t necessarily mean it will be banned.
How many people use Lemon8?
Data from research firm SimilarWeb showed that Lemon8 had just over 1 million daily active users in the United States, according to The Associated Press. It had 12.5 million monthly active users worldwide in December, the AP reported.
Maddox, who has been on the app since last year, said he has recently noticed an influx of users.
“Every two days I get notifications from dozens of people who follow me on Lemon8,” he said. “There’s a lot of momentum there now, and I wonder if what the algorithms are driving will probably change.”
Because Lemon8’s user base is significantly smaller than TikTok’s, ByteDance may be hoping the app will fly under the radar of potential censors.
