We’re again once more: The 75-day extension President Trump gave TikTok this spring is over on Thursday. If TikTok’s father or mother firm ByteDance does not discover a US-approved purchaser or if the deadline is not prolonged, the app may very well be banned for US customers. But it surely’s not simply TikTok on the road — Lemon8, TikTok’s sister app, may be affected.
Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, the identical father or mother firm that owns TikTok. It is one of many prime Life-style apps in Apple’s App Retailer, and it has greater than 10 million downloads within the Google Play retailer. The app describes itself as “a way of life group targeted app.” There are some main variations between Lemon8 and TikTok it is best to know earlier than you dive into the app.
Here is what it’s good to find out about Lemon8. Notice: I reached out to ByteDance for this story, and the corporate didn’t reply for remark.
For extra on the TikTok ban, here is what to know in regards to the Supreme Courtroom’s determination, here is what may occur if a sale does not undergo and different apps customers are flocking to.
What’s Lemon8?
Lemon8 posts can comprise textual content to assist label objects within the submit.
Lemon8 is a video- and photo-sharing platform that eschews the vertical-scrolling format of TikTok in favor of a Pinterest board-style format. However what Lemon8 and TikTok do have in frequent is that each have Following and For You tabs to indicate you posts from creators you comply with and posts the app thinks you’ll like.
Lemon8’s content material is cut up into six subject tabs, plus a seventh tab referred to as All. The opposite tabs are Trend, Magnificence, Meals, Wellness, Journey and House. These tabs will be discovered throughout the highest of your display, and tapping into these tabs reveals you really useful and prompt posts.
Posts will be swipeable picture collections like in Instagram, or TikTok-style movies. Some creators add textual content to their pictures to label clothes or a product. Some may even embrace the worth of the merchandise within the textual content.
How is Lemon8 completely different from TikTok and different apps?
Lemon8 is completely different from different apps when it comes to what’s posted and the way it’s offered.
Lemon8 has a number of influencer adverts and product suggestions. It is tough to inform what’s and is not sponsored content material, and this seems to be the norm throughout the app. TikTok additionally has sponsored content material, however normally these are marked as such within the bottom-left nook.
Memes are not catching on in Lemon8.
There aren’t a number of memes or jokes on Lemon8 in comparison with different apps, both. You will discover memes on Lemon8, however varied hashtags related to “memes,” like “funnymemes” and “catmemes,” have fewer than 1 million views (versus tons of of hundreds of thousands on Instagram). This may very well be as a result of Lemon8 continues to be catching on within the US, however my suspicion is Lemon8 is not meant for memes. It is meant to be extra of a guidebook that can assist you obtain a sure way of life or aesthetic.
There’s additionally a number of writing in Lemon8. For instance, submit captions may embrace directions for a recipe or a deeper breakdown of an outfit. TikTok captions can have helpful data, however these captions are extra about connecting posts to hashtags to get extra views and do not essentially add new data to the TikTok submit. Lemon8 makes use of captions in an analogous option to Instagram posts, however Lemon8 captions have one key distinction from Instagram: templates.
Lemon8 templates may help you shortly make, or provide you with an concept of what to incorporate in, captions.
Lemon8 allows you to use templates on your posts that can assist you shortly format and to offer you an concept of what to caption your submit. There are caption templates for trend, purchasing finds, magnificence, meals and journey.
Lemon8 jogs my memory of a mashup between the magazines Martha Stewart Residing, Muscle & Health and Journey + Leisure. You will discover some helpful suggestions in Lemon8 that can assist you obtain a desired aesthetic or discover some trip inspiration, however it’s not clear what’s and is not an advert.
What are individuals saying about Lemon8?
Individuals’s response to Lemon8 is seemingly optimistic up to now. One TikTok creator posted a video calling Lemon8 “Pinterest, however interactive.” One other stated Lemon8 is a mix of Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok.
Nevertheless, this positivity may very well be artificially inflated. ZDNet experiences that many TikTok posts about Lemon8 have described the app with related language, making some imagine ByteDance paid these creators.
And a few Lemon8 creators’ claims make this idea sound extra viable. One Lemon8 creator advised Insider that ByteDance paid them to submit on the app. Two different Lemon8 creators confirmed Insider emails that outlined the app’s fee construction.
Who owns Lemon8?
ByteDance, the Chinese language tech firm that owns TikTok, additionally owns Lemon8. In line with ZDNet, ByteDance is positioning Lemon8 to be an Instagram rival as extra customers cease utilizing, or abandon, Meta’s app.
In line with the Wall Road Journal, a leaked inside memo from Meta confirmed that Instagram engagement was declining. ByteDance executives may very well be hoping to capitalize on this by giving Instagram customers an alternate app within the type of Lemon8. And whereas Lemon8 was launched globally in 2020, the app’s latest development may present ByteDance’s gamble is paying off.
Will Lemon8 be banned alongside TikTok?
Since Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, which additionally owns TikTok, it is potential that the app shall be banned alongside TikTok.
The regulation requiring the sale of TikTok may very well be utilized usually to different apps which are owned and operated by ByteDance and its subsidiaries. When TikTok shutdown operations within the US in January, Lemon8 was shutdown alongside the app. If TikTok shuts down once more, Lemon8 probably will as properly.
Do you have to obtain Lemon8?
Even with a shutdown looming, Lemon8 is free, so you may obtain and take a look at the app now earlier than the sale deadline. Simply know the app’s posts resemble educational guides greater than memes to share, and lots of posts really feel like ads.
What’s Lemon8’s privateness coverage?
Lemon8’s journey tab can provide you inspiration on your subsequent getaway.
Most of Lemon8’s privateness coverage appears commonplace for social media apps. It states Lemon8 collects private and placement data to give you a greater app expertise. Some collected data contains your IP tackle and searching historical past. However a part of the app’s privateness coverage may elevate eyebrows.
“The private data we acquire from it’s possible you’ll be saved on a server situated outdoors of the nation the place you reside,” the coverage reads. The corporate has servers all over the world, in keeping with the coverage, so your data may very well be saved in any of them.
That is completely different from how Lemon8’s sister app TikTok shops some person’s knowledge. The corporate shops US-based person knowledge in Oracle servers. TikTok CEO Shou Chew stated ByteDance staff in China can entry this knowledge, however with “strong cybersecurity controls and authorization approval” overseen by a US-based safety workforce.
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