TikTok alternative Rednote sees huge surge to top of US app store as users begin to jump ship ahead of feared ban
As the well-known app TikTok is about to shut down, Americans are turning to RedNote, a Chinese-owned app, as an alternative.
Unless its company sells it within the week or the Supreme Court steps in, TikTok may be banned in the US this week.
American app users have downloaded another app to try make up for the loss as worries about the impending ban increase.
On Monday, RedNote became the most downloaded software in America and topped the app store rankings.
Like TikTok, the app allows users to post short movies. It is named Xiaohongshu in Chinese.
Amid the wave of TikTok users abandoning the platform, several social media users were eager to express their enthusiasm for RedNote.
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X user “Rednote seems to be the move,” wrote.
“Who uses TikTok? Another said, “RedNote is the place to be.”
“Just downloaded red note (Chinese TikTok) I m loving it over here so far,” a third person remarked.
“TikTok is about to be banned in a week & every american has already migrated to rednote making it #1,” another wrote.
In addition to its live-streaming and video capabilities, RedNote has been compared to Pinterest because of its additional emphasis on e-commerce.
The app, which was developed in 2013, enables users to exchange lifestyle content and product reviews, fusing social media with online shopping.
Because RedNote is owned by a Chinese corporation, the majority of its material is in Chinese.
Due of national security concerns, ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, has until January 19 to sell the popular app to a government-approved buyer or risk being banned.
Because of the platform’s enormous popularity, the decision has generated criticism.
Approximately 170 million Americans, or nearly half of the population, utilize TikTok.
How would the TikTok ban work?
Due of national security concerns, ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, has until January 19 to sell the popular app or risk its shutdown.
Because of worries that the Chinese government would snoop on Americans and alter material on TikTok, President Joe Biden enacted legislation in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to sell the platform within nine months.
ByteDance will have to stop distributing and updating TikTok if it doesn’t sell it to a government-approved buyer by January 19.
TikTok would effectively be forced to shut down if businesses like Apple and Google were prohibited from supporting the app.
Although TikTok probably won’t be taken off phones, it will gradually deteriorate without maintenance and eventually stop working.
The Supreme Court would need to step in to prevent the statute from taking effect.
Last year, after senators expressed concerns about the possibility of the Chinese government using the app to spy on Americans, Congress imposed a prospective ban on TikTok.
TikTok has refuted the claims of security issues.
TICK TOCK
Last April, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law.
The decision must be made within a day of President-elect Donald Trump taking office as president.
The court should postpone the January 19 move, Trump said last month, to give his administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”
According to reports, ByteDance has not attempted to sell TikTok’s US assets.
Apple and Google will be obliged to remove TikTok from their stores, depriving new users of the app, if ByteDance doesn’t sell in time.
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Additionally, app store firms would not be permitted to update or distribute the software, which would eventually render it unusable.
TikTok creators are urging their fans to follow them on YouTube and Instagram in anticipation of the impending shutdown.