ByteDance's Lemon8 Surges up US App Charts Amidst TikTok Ban Concerns

ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, has launched another social media platform, Lemon8, which has quickly climbed the charts on the US App Store. As of Monday, it had become the No. 10 overall app, and by the time of writing, it had reached No. 9 on the Top Apps chart, excluding games. Despite being launched globally in March 2020, the app's surge up the US charts suggests a recent, significant user acquisition push, most likely aided by paid discovery or app install ads. While third-party app analytics firms don't have precise data on Lemon8's US installs or recent changes, app intelligence provider Apptopia estimates it currently has 4.25 million monthly active users. ByteDance may have promoted the app via TikTok, as several creators have recently posted about Lemon8, with many new videos appearing in the past 24 hours. Some creators' positive reviews have raised suspicions, as ByteDance has previously paid influencers to post on the app to seed its content.