RedNote, Flip, Clapper and Likee claim the top of the App Store as TikTok comes back online

21 Jan 2025

TikTok may be back, but that hasn’t prevented other Chinese competitors from gaining users. In the lead up to a ban on TikTok — which kicked off Sunday and lasted a day — a number of other video apps rose through the ranks and now dominate the App Store’s Top Charts. The Chinese app RedNote (which is listed on the app stores as Xiaohongshu) became the No. 1 app in the U.S. last week, followed by video apps like Clapper, Flip, and others. On Monday, following TikTok’s restoration of service, RedNote retained its No. 1 spot on the App Store, after having attracted some 700,000 new U.S. users. TikTok users’ move to RedNote was meant to send a signal to U.S. lawmakers and Meta alike that they would rather join another Chinese app similar to TikTok than return to Instagram Reels.