ByteDance's Lemon8 gains traction amid TikTok ban threat as creators push the app

This photo shows the logo and application page for the social media site Lemon8, in New York, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) Richard Drew

Hearing a lot about Lemon8 lately? You're not the only one.

Amid a looming U.S. ban on TikTok, content creators have been pushing the platform's sister app. Lemon8 resembles an amalgamation of the types of short-form videos found on TikTok and the picture-perfect aesthetic of Instagram and Pinterest.

Like its popular relation, Lemon8 is owned by China-based ByteDance, whose collection of internationally available apps also includes the video editing app CapCut and the 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 U.S. in 2023, a few years after it first popped up in Asian markets. Though it garnered some media and user interest in its early days, the app hasn't taken off as much as TikTok, which has more than 170 million U.S. users.

But more people have downloaded the app in the past month, making it one of the top-ranking free apps on Apple's app store. Lemon8's popularity could potentially soar further depending on the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court hearing Friday over a law requiring TikTok to break ties with ByteDance or face a U.S. ban.

TikTok says it plans to shut down the platform in the U.S. by Jan. 19 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 under federal law. Some have also been recommending it through paid sponsored posts tagged .lemon8partner, showing a recent corporate push to generate more users.

But there's a hitch. The law, which would wipe out TikTok's U.S. operation if it's not sold to an approved buyer, states the divest-or-ban requirement applies generally to apps that are owned or operated by ByteDance, TikTok or any of their subsidiaries. That means even though Lemon8 and CapCut are not explicitly named in the statute, their futures in the U.S. also are in jeopardy.

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

The recent Lemon8 ads on TikTok also may 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 enhance 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 features both a "following" section that lets users look at content from the creators they follow and a "For You" section that recommends other posts. The newer platform also sorts posts into different categories, like relationships, wellness and skincare.

ByteDance has not disclosed the number of global or U.S. users on Lemon8, which is believed to be miniscule compared to its trend-setting sister app. Data from the research firm SimilarWeb indicates Lemon8 has a little over 1 million daily active users in the U.S. According to the market intelligence company Sensor Tower, the app had 12.5 million global monthly active users as of Dec. 24.

Sensor Tower estimates the app saw a significant jump in global downloads in December -- a 150 per cent increase -- compared to an average two per cent month-over-month decline last year. The U.S. accounted for 70 per cent of the month's downloads.

The largest number of U.S. downloads were performed on Dec. 19, according to Sensor Tower. That was the day after the Supreme Court said 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 concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or sway public opinion towards Beijing's interests by manipulating the algorithm that populates users' feeds.

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Dec. 27 to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until he is inaugurated and his administration can pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.