TikTok is launching an integration with social media app Lemon8, as the short-form video app faces a potential ban in the U.S. that could block its 170 million users from accessing the platform.
Lemon8, which debuted in the U.S. last year, is best described as a cross between Instagram and Pinterest. It’s currently ranked #2 in Apple’s App Store in the “Lifestyle” category and #42 in the “Free Apps” top charts.
TikTok tells Fast Company that Lemon8 accounts will integrate with TikTok next week on November 20. TikTok and Lemon8 users will be able to “share photos and experience photo content” across the apps and directly access Lemon8 with their TikTok account. While Lemon8 will remain a separate app, TikTok and Lemon8 will share a user login, meaning creators can use one account to log in to both platforms.
“This account integration gives our community even more access to create, edit, upload, share photo content with like-minded communities for creative expression and connection,” TikTok said in a company statement.
Lemon8 first debuted in Japan in 2020 and is also available in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. The photo-sharing app describes itself as a “lifestyle community . . . centered around connecting with like-minded communities.” Users can create their own “Lemons,” similar to a Pinterest board. The app’s focus on visual storytelling is credited for Lemon8’s popularity with Gen Z and younger users.
Both TikTok and Lemon8 are owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance. Last April, Congress passed a law signed by President Joe Biden that sets a January 19 deadline to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner or cease operations. (TikTok has responded that the sale is impossible.) If TikTok is unable to overturn the law, it might have to shut down.
Lawmakers say the ban is to protect national security amid concerns that ByteDance could leak U.S. user data to the Chinese government.
With the deadline looming, it seems ByteDance is pushing Lemon8 as a way to move creators between the platforms, however this could backfire if the lifestyle app is included in the TikTok ban, TechCrunch writes.
However, there is one possible twist that could save TikTok: Donald Trump.
Trump, who will be president when the January deadline rolls around, now supports keeping TikTok operating here at home. While only Congress can repeal the law, it’s possible Trump could try to save TikTok, possibly by pressuring Republicans in the legislature.