Lemon8
{{Short description|Social media app owned by ByteDance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}{{Infobox software
| name = Lemon8
| logo = Lemon8 icon.png
| screenshot =
| screenshot size =
| caption =
| developer = ByteDance
| released = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2020|5}}
| ver layout = stacked
| discontinued = No
| latest release version = {{multiple releases
|branch1 = iOS/iPadOS
|version1 = 7.7.5
|date1 = {{Start date and age|2025|01|08}}
|branch2 = Android
|version2 = 7.8.0
|date2 = {{Start date and age|2025|01|03}}
}}
| operating system =
| replaces =
| language = English, Indonesian, Japanese, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese
| genre = Video sharing
| license = Proprietary
| language count = 6
| language footnote =
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
Lemon8 is a social media app owned by Heliophilia Pte. Ltd., a Singaporean company connected to the Chinese internet company ByteDance. It was launched in 2020 and modeled after Xiaohongshu.
History
The app was first launched in Japan in May 2020 under the name Sharee,{{Cite news |last1=Maheshwari |first1=Sapna |author-link=Sapna Maheshwari |last2=Kircher |first2=Madison Malone |date=2023-03-29 |title=TikTok's Owner Pushes a New App, While Under Washington's Glare |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/technology/tiktok-lemon8-content-creators.html |url-access=registration |access-date=2023-04-03 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=2023-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410151209/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/technology/tiktok-lemon8-content-creators.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Sara |last2=Curi |first2=Maria |date=2025-01-07 |title=TikTok pushes users to Lemon8 as ban looms |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/07/tiktok-lemon8-ban-sponsored-posts |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=Axios |language=en |archive-date=2025-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250109220751/https://www.axios.com/2025/01/07/tiktok-lemon8-ban-sponsored-posts |url-status=live }} and hit 1 million downloads in March 2022. It launched in the United States and United Kingdom in February 2023,{{Cite news |last=Lorenz |first=Taylor |author-link=Taylor Lorenz |date=2023-04-01 |title=Lemon8 is a Chinese-owned app. Can it survive the hype cycle? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/01/lemon8-bytedance-social-media/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412230225/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/01/lemon8-bytedance-social-media/ |archive-date=2023-04-12 |access-date=2023-04-03 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} resulting in it becoming one of the most-downloaded apps on App Store in the United States a month later following influencer marketing campaigns.{{Cite news |last=Cuthbertson |first=Anthony |date=2023-03-29 |title=Lemon8: TikTok parent company's latest app hits top 10 in US charts |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/lemon8-app-tiktok-ban-latest-bytedance-b2310105.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403081040/https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/lemon8-app-tiktok-ban-latest-bytedance-b2310105.html |archive-date=2023-04-03 |access-date=2023-04-03 |work=The Independent}}
In November 2024, Lemon8 began to be integrated with TikTok, allowing users to link their profiles between the services and find their followers.
Content
Lemon8 has been compared to Instagram, Pinterest, and Chinese app Xiaohongshu (also known as RED or RedNote outside of China),{{Cite web |date=2025-01-14 |title=字节出海：偷师小红书，超越小红书-36氪 |url=https://36kr.com/p/2996141830708871 |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=36kr.com |archive-date=2025-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120111015/https://36kr.com/p/2996141830708871 |url-status=live }} with a particular focus on lifestyle content targeting women (such as beauty, food, and home decor).{{Cite news |last1=Whateley |first1=Dan |last2=Biino |first2=Marta |date=2023-03-31 |title=With TikTok's future in limbo, its owner is hiring a team in New York to woo creators for a new app |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/lemon8-building-us-creator-team-as-tiktok-sister-app-surges-2023-3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403005039/https://www.businessinsider.com/lemon8-building-us-creator-team-as-tiktok-sister-app-surges-2023-3 |archive-date=2023-04-03 |access-date=2023-04-03 |work=Business Insider}}{{Cite web |date=2022-07-14 |title=TikTok maker ByteDance takes aim at lifestyle leader Xiaohongshu with new app |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-maker-bytedance-takes-aim-lifestyle-leader-xiaohongshu-with-new-app-2022-07-14/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231117111304/https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-maker-bytedance-takes-aim-lifestyle-leader-xiaohongshu-with-new-app-2022-07-14/ |archive-date=2023-11-17 |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Fischer |first=Sara |date=2023-04-10 |title=TikTok sister app Lemon8 surges in U.S. |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/04/10/tiktok-lemon8-downloads-video-photos-app |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=Axios |language=en |archive-date=2025-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250113114831/https://www.axios.com/2023/04/10/tiktok-lemon8-downloads-video-photos-app |url-status=live }}
Ownership
While Lemon8 is credited as being a product of Heliophilia Pte. Ltd., a private company registered in Singapore, that company shares the exact same address as TikTok's offices in the country. TikTok's global general counsel has also spoken on behalf of Lemon8.{{Cite news |last=De Wei |first=Low |date=2023-03-31 |title=What Is Lemon8 and What Are Its Links With Under-Fire TikTok |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-31/what-is-lemon8-and-what-are-its-links-with-under-fire-tiktok |access-date=2023-04-03 |work=Bloomberg |archive-date=2023-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401015317/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-31/what-is-lemon8-and-what-are-its-links-with-under-fire-tiktok |url-status=live }}
File:Lemon8 being pulled from Google Play Store.png while the ban was in effect]]
The U.S. launch of Lemon8 coincided with scrutiny over ByteDance and TikTok's operations in the country; lawmakers expressed concerns with Lemon8 due to its connection with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Lindsay Gorman, head of technology and geopolitics at the German Marshall Fund and a former tech advisor for the Biden administration, has stated "it has to do with gathering information on users and it has the same ownership structure, being a child of ByteDance, so I think the same issues are going to come up".
In January 2025, ahead of oral arguments in the United States Supreme Court over an act of Congress that would prohibit ByteDance or its subsidiaries from operating social networking services in the United States, TikTok began to increasingly carry sponsored posts that advertise Lemon8 to U.S. users. The ads promoted Lemon8 as a "backup app", emphasizing its TikTok account integration and implying that it was a platform "where the government is not 100% controlling what we see". On 19 January 2025, after the act was found constitutional, Lemon8 was included in a suspension of service for all ByteDance-owned apps in the United States.{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Wes |date=January 19, 2025 |title=TikTok is coming back online in the US |url=https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/19/24347280/tiktok-ban-shutdown-ends |accessdate=January 19, 2025 |work=The Verge |archive-date=January 19, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119173752/https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/19/24347280/tiktok-ban-shutdown-ends |url-status=live }} In January 2025, Texas governor Greg Abbott prohibited Lemon8 on all government devices.{{Cite web |last=Lathan |first=Nadia |date=2025-01-31 |title=Texas governor orders ban on DeepSeek, RedNote for government devices |url=https://apnews.com/article/texas-deepseek-apps-ban-3828a4743e9919398dfac0ba9d4a5c25 |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Associated Press |language=en}}
References
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