Do you see much about Lemon8 on your timeline? You’re not the only one

With a looming US ban on TikTok, content creators have pushed ahead with the platform’s sister app.

Like its popular cousin, Lemon8 is owned by China-based ByteDance, whose collection of internationally available apps also includes video editing app CapCut and photo and art editing app Hypic. The company also operates Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sibling, which follows Beijing’s strict censorship rules.

Lemon8 resembles a fusion of the types of short videos found on TikTok and the picture-perfect aesthetics of Instagram and Pinterest.

It launched in the US in 2023, several years after it first appeared in Asian markets. Although the app garnered some media and user interest in its early days, it hasn’t caught on as well as TikTok, which has more than 170 million U.S. users.

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

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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.

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

But there’s a catch. The law, which would shut down TikTok’s U.S. operations if it is not sold to an approved buyer, says the divestment or ban requirement generally applies to apps owned by ByteDance, TikTok or one of their subsidiaries or operated by them. This means that even if Lemon8 and CapCut are not specifically named in the statutes, their future in the US is also at risk.

Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at research firm Emarketer, noted that the developers recommending Lemon8 may not be aware of the potential impact on 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” that Lemon8 falls through the cracks as lawmakers and regulators turn their attention to TikTok, Enberg said. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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

Like TikTok, Lemon8’s main feed has both a “Following” section, where users can view content from the creators they follow, and a “For You” section, where other posts are recommended. 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 U.S. users of Lemon8, which is considered minuscule compared to its pioneering sister app. Data from research firm SimilarWeb shows that Lemon8 has just over 1 million daily active users.

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

According to Sensor Tower, the most downloads in the US occurred on December 19th. That was the day after the Supreme Court said it would hear oral arguments this week on the constitutionality of federal law that could ban TikTok.

The law passed with bipartisan support last year after lawmakers and Biden administration officials raised concerns that Chinese authorities were forcing ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or influencing public opinion by manipulating the algorithm that populates users’ feeds could influence Beijing’s favor.

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