TikTok could also be again, however that hasn’t prevented different Chinese opponents from gaining customers. In the lead as much as a ban on TikTok — which kicked off Sunday and lasted a day — a variety of different video apps rose by the ranks and now dominate the App Store’s Top Charts.
The Chinese app PinkNote (which is listed on the app shops as Xiaohongshu) grew to become the No. 1 app within the U.S. final week, adopted by video apps like Clapper, Flip, and others. On Monday, following TikTok’s restoration of service, PinkNote retained its No. 1 spot on the App Store, after having attracted some 700,000 new U.S. customers.
TikTok customers’ transfer to PinkNote was meant to ship a sign to U.S. lawmakers and Meta alike that they’d quite be a part of one other Chinese app much like TikTok than return to Instagram Reels.
Though TikTok is again on-line, the app shops aren’t but internet hosting it for obtain; app marketplaces nonetheless must abide by U.S. regulation, regardless of President-elect Trump’s assurances that he’ll lengthen the deadline for the TikTok ban.
Instead, each app shops’ high charts proceed to mirror the shift to different TikTok alternate options.
In Apple’s U.S. App Store, as an illustration, video apps together with PinkNote, Likee, Clapper, and Flip maintain the No. 1, 2, 4, and 10 spots within the Overall Top Charts as of Monday morning. Favorited, an app devoted to livestreams, is No. 15.
Social community Bluesky additionally simply added an optionally available customized video feed, nonetheless, its app has dropped out of the highest 10 place it held final week on the U.S. App Store. It’s No. 13 as of Monday morning on the App Store and No. 15 on Google Play.
Still, Bluesky gained a number of extra downloads because of the TikTok ban and now has 28.29 million customers, up from 27.5 million final week.
According to estimates from app retailer intelligence supplier Appfigures, PinkNote, Flip, and Clapper, all noticed an enormous progress spurt final week from single-digit thousand downloads per day earlier in January to tens of 1000’s of U.S. downloads on Friday.
PinkNote, in the meantime, was receiving a whole bunch of 1000’s of downloads.
PinkNote gained 818,000 new U.S. installs throughout the App Store and Google Play throughout January 2025. Because the app is localized in Mandarin, language studying app Duolingo additionally reported a 216% spike in U.S. customers attempting to study the language final week.
Currently, it’s the No. 1 app within the U.S. on the U.S. App Store and Google Play, excluding video games.
Clapper, a TikTok different aimed toward teenagers and adults ages 17 and up, gained 646,000 downloads on the App Store and Google Play within the U.S. On Friday, it added 87,000 new downloads, or 1,030% greater than the 7,000 new downloads it noticed again on January 1, Appfigures experiences. It’s now the No. 4 high app (excluding video games) on the U.S. App Store and No. 2 on Google Play.
Likee, a brief video app, is No. 2 on the U.S. App Store and No. 3 on Google Play. It noticed an enormous surge of progress, transferring from No. 202 on the U.S. App Store on Saturday to No. 2 by 3 a.m. on Sunday, Appfigures says. In whole, it noticed 283,000 downloads throughout January to date. On Google Play, it jumped to the No. 8 place throughout each apps and video games, on Sunday evening and has since dropped to No. 11. It’s at the moment the No. 3 app (excluding video games).
For Android customers, the brief video app, Scoopz, made it into the No. 4 place on Google Play whereas the brief drama app ReelShort is No. 7 on Google Play’s listing of high apps, excluding video games.
Lastly, Flip, which focuses on social commerce, grew by 580,000 downloads in January, the information signifies. (However, Flip additionally ran many TikTok adverts over the previous week, resulting in these positive aspects.) It’s No. 10 on the U.S. App Store and No. 9 on Google Play’s high charts, excluding video games.
Despite many TikTok customers’ signaling that they wouldn’t use Instagram, Meta’s app continued to carry a excessive rank on each app shops, together with No. 8 on the U.S. Apple App Store Top Apps chart and No. 5 on Google Play’s Top Apps chart as of Monday morning.
VPN apps noticed a short surge, too
After the TikTok ban went into impact, U.S. customers instantly tried putting in VPN apps to work across the restrictions to no avail. (TikTok’s cellular app remained blocked even when VPNs have been used).
Still, this briefly drove a variety of new U.S. customers to VPN apps like VPN – Super Unlimited Proxy, which grew from the No. 91 app to the No. 3 app inside 36 hours. Another app, VPN – Fast VPN Super, climbed 155 spots throughout that very same time, and Nord VPN hit No. 9 after climbing 160 spots within the high charts.
Other apps that rose a whole bunch of spots in a single day after the ban included X-VPN, Proton VPN, Free VPN .org, and Express VPN.
The app retailer charts are prone to quickly shift once more as U.S. customers understand they’ll return to TikTok and resolve to maneuver away from at the least a few of their latest backup selections for a alternative.
