ByteDance’s Lemon8 is gaining traction amid TikTok ban threat as creators push the app

Have you been hearing a lot about Lemon8 lately? You are not the only one.

In the middle of looming US ban on TikTok, content creators have pushed the platform’s sister app. Lemon8 looks like an amalgamation of types of short form videos found on TikTok and the picture-perfect aesthetic on Instagram and Pinterest.

Like its popular counterpart, Lemon8 is owned by China-based ByteDancewhose collection of internationally available apps also includes video editing app CapCut and photo and art editing app Hypic. In addition, the company operates Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok that follows Beijing’s strict censorship rules.

Lemon8 launched in the US in 2023, a few years after it first appeared in Asian markets. Although it received quite a bit of media and user interest in its early days, the app has not taken off as much as TikTokwhich has more than 170 million US users.

But more people have downloaded the app in the past month, making it one of the top-ranked free apps in Apple’s app store. Lemon8’s popularity could potentially rise further depending on the outcome of one hearing in the United States Supreme Court Friday on a law requiring TikTok to cut ties with ByteDance or face a US ban.

TikTok says it plans to shut down the platform in the US before 19 January if the government prevails as it did in a lower court.

What are creators saying about Lemon8?

Influencers previously partnered with Lemon8 to promote the lesser-known app on TikTok. In recent weeks, many of them have hailed Lemon8 as the place to go if TikTok is banned by federal law. Some have also recommended it through paid sponsored posts tagged #lemon8partner showing a recent company effort to generate more users.

But there is a problem. The law, which would wipe out TikTok’s US operations if it is not sold to an approved buyer, states that the divestiture or ban requirement applies generally to apps owned or operated by ByteDance, TikTok or any of their subsidiaries. This means that even though Lemon8 and CapCut are not specifically mentioned in the statute, their future in the United States is also at risk.

Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at market research firm Emarketer, noted that the creators recommending Lemon8 may not be aware of the possible consequences for the other ByteDance apps because the law does not identify them.

The recent Lemon8 ads on TikTok could also be a sign that ByteDance is “hoping or betting” Lemon8 slips through the cracks as lawmakers and regulators focus their attention on TikTok, Enberg said. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lemon8 downloads

To boost Lemon8’s user base, TikTok announced in November that creators would be able to access a Lemon8 account with the same account they use on TikTok, a feature the company says will improve their ability to cross-post content. TikTok said the integration was designed to expand creators’ “reach and engagement potential.”

Like TikTok, Lemon8’s main feed has both a “Following” section that lets users see content from the creators they follow, and a “For You” section that recommends other posts. The newer platform also sorts posts into different categories, such as relationships, wellness and skin care.

ByteDance has not disclosed the number of global or US users on Lemon8, which is believed to be minimal compared to its trendsetting sister app. Data from research firm SimilarWeb indicates that Lemon8 has just over 1 million daily active users in the US. According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the app had 12.5 million global monthly active users as of December 24.

Sensor Tower estimates that the app saw a significant jump in global downloads in December – a 150% increase – compared to an average 2% month-over-month drop last year. The US accounted for 70% of the month’s downloads.

The largest number of US downloads were performed on December 19, according to Sensor Tower. It was the next day said the Supreme Court it would hear this week’s oral arguments over the constitutionality of the federal law that could ban TikTok.

The law passed with bipartisan support last year, after lawmakers and Biden administration officials expressed concern that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over US user data or influence public opinion against Beijing’s interests by manipulating the algorithm that populates users’ feeds.

President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Dec. 27 to pause the potential TikTok ban from taking effect until he is inaugurated and his administration can pursue a “policy solution” to the issue.