TikTok‘s situation in the United States remains critical. Currently banned in India, as well as on official devices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and other countries, including European institutions, ByteDance’s social network could be banned altogether in the country.
If the Texas project, TikTok’s measure to avoid its ban, does not finally come to fruition, Lemon8 could be the way ByteDance would largely avoid the drain of users from the app. But you probably don’t know what exactly Lemon8 is or why so many influencers have been talking about it lately, so here’s everything you need to know about this eye-catching app.
What is Lemon8?
Lemon 8 is a social lifestyle app that was initially launched in Japan in 2020. The app was developed to compete with Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle app popular among young women. By 2022, Lemon8 had more than 5 million monthly active users across East Asia.
Conceptually, the app could be defined as a fusion between Instagram and Pinterest focused on posting photos and videos (especially the latter), with an interface reminiscent of what Instagram had several years ago (the good one). In addition, the app allows you to write blog-like posts, with an emphasis on lifestyle content (health, food, travel, fashion, etc.).
Why is Lemon8 so famous all of a sudden?
Although Lemon8 has been available since 2020, it was less than a month ago that it started to take off in the United States. And no, this is no coincidence. The possible banning of TikTok in the United States would have greatly accelerated ByteDance’s plans to promote this app in the country and, for several weeks now, many TikTok influencers have been talking about Lemon8 and its benefits.
With this alleged influencer marketing, ByteDance would try to introduce the app in the market so that, if things go in the worst possible way and the United States bans TikTok, the company would have a way to not lose the millions of users they have in the country.
Who is behind Lemon8?
Yes, Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, but it is not the only company involved. The app was developed by Heliophilia, a private company headquartered in the same office block as TikTok, in Singapore. Although, let’s be clear, when it comes down to it, ByteDance is the owner and mistress of Lemon8. With this “new” app, ByteDance would have three applications in the U.S. market, counting the also popular CapCut.
Is Lemon8 safe?
So far, Lemon8 has not shown any “symptoms” of doing anything illegal, nor is there any proof that it is a scam (especially knowing who is behind it, as we have said) or that it is spyware.
Of course, Lemon8 uses the same algorithm as TikTok, with all that that may imply. If the RESTRICT law, still pending in the US Congress, ever sees the light of day, the US government would not only have the ability to ban TikTok, but also any other app that was considered “a risk to national security”, so Lemon8 could suffer the same fate as its “sister” if the US sees fit.
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