Tiktok closed its Instagram competitor, Tiktok Notes, on May 8th. Last year, photo sharing apps were launched that were tested in Canada, Australia and Vietnam.
The company has notified users of their decision to discontinue the app, and notified them that they are directing them to Lemon8, owned bytedance. This is not surprising given that the app is very similar and offers the same kind of functionality.
A Tiktok spokesperson looks forward to continuing to bring feedback to Lemon8 from Tiktok notes to Lemon8 to complement and enhance the Tiktok experience.
Tiktok did not provide a specific reason to shut down the app, but the company may have decided to push Lemon8, which has not been adopted much in Tiktok notes and has instead had around 12.5 million global monthly active users as of December 2024.
In a notification to Tiktok Notes users, Tiktok said the decision to shut down the app was “not created lightly.” This notification encourages users to download and save Tiktok note data and “continue to share creativity with Lemon8”. Tiktok says, “Lemon8 is a lifestyle app that offers a similar experience to Tiktok Notes,” but it has “more features.”
Lemon8 was launched in Japan in 2020 and later expanded to markets in the US and Southeast Asia. The app is similar to Instagram and Pinterest. This allows users to share slideshows and photo collections and view content through the “Follow” and “For You” feeds. Lemon8 provides users with access to creative tools, filters, effects, stickers, text templates and more.
Tiktok is pushing Lemon8 as an alternative to Tiktok Notes, but Bytedance has attempted to place the app as an alternative to Tiktok itself, facing the possibility of a US ban.
Last November, the company allowed users to access lemon8 directly through their Tiktok accounts, and deployed the ability for users to share photo content with each other between apps. The move was seen as a way to move creators to new platforms without having to sign up individually, just in case Tiktok disappears.
Fast forward to today, Tiktok continues to promote Lemon 8 on the app as it faces a new ban deadline of April 5th.