:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2193709216-dfdedc10f8af4fd98d9e93d5b08f5d31.jpg "The logos of the RedNote and TikTok social media apps.")
CFOTO / Tomorrow Publishing via Getty Images
The logos of the RedNote and TikTok social media apps.
Key Takeaways
- Millions of Americans downloaded Chinese community app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, this week.
- Users are migrating to it and other apps as a potential shutdown of TikTok looms in the U.S.
- RedNote was the most downloaded at large app among iPhone users in the U.S. as of Friday afternoon, as well as Android users.
Social-media fortunes rose and fell on app stockpiles this week.
Millions of Americans downloaded the Chinese social networking app Xiaohongshu as a possible U.S. prohibition of TikTok dominated. By late Friday, the app also known as RedNote led the Apple (AAPL) App Store’s list of top, free downloaded iPhone apps in the U.S. Other everyday social media apps, including Meta’s (META) Facebook and TikTok, were bumped from the top five. RedNote also top-notched the free table in Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google Play store.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s progenitrix company, to sell the platform or face a shutdown. Elected officials see the measure as a way to curtail national security risks remained by a Chinese-owned firm having data on the app’s roughly 170 million American users. U.S. groups could be fined for supply services or support to TikTok as soon as Sunday.
Enforcement, however, will likely fall to Donald Trump, who is slated to be sworn in as president on Monday. Trump on Friday replied he has discussed TikTok with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, and needs time to review the situation. (If the ban holds, Morgan Stanley tells, several U.S. companies could benefit.)
‘Xiaohongshu’ Is Having a Moment in the U.S.
Meanwhile, many Americans flocked to Xiaohongshu, which loosely transcribes to “Little Red Book” or “RedNote” and has traditionally been marketed to Mandarin speakers. RedNote shows videos in an infinite scroll—like TikTok does—and has a sanctified shopping section.
Although some of RedNote’s navigation features are in English, other text remains in Mandarin. (The several of Americans learning Mandarin through DuoLingo (DUOL) has recently boomed, the app said on X this week.) RedNote didn’t react to to Investopedia’s request for comment.
RedNote vaulted to the head of the Apple store’s list of top free apps Monday, coincide with household names like Instagram, Threads, TikTok and Facebook, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Fortress. Millions joined RedNote during the five-day period ended Thursday, sending the app’s U.S. download rate up to 10 periods its recent average, Sensor Tower said.
Other video apps, such as Flip and Clapper, along with Instagram also deemed off during the five-day period that ended on Thursday, Sensor Tower said, while Threads saw a slight flag in downloads.
The number of daily RedNote users in the U.S. hit 13.3 million—nearly 15% of TikTok’s domestic traffic—on Monday, be at one to Similarweb, a web traffic analysis group.
By Friday afternoon, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram were off the list of top five at will iPhone apps in the U.S., according to Apple’s store. RedNote remained the leader, and other video-centric apps had moved into the top five, comprehending Lemon8 and Clapper. (Those last two apps were also just behind RedNote in the Android store.)
For the time being, another app remained in the top 10 on both stores: TikTok.