What Is RedNote? Why This Social App Has Knocked TikTok Down the Obtain Charts

Social-media fortunes rose and fell on app shops this week.

Tens of millions of People downloaded the Chinese language social networking app Xiaohongshu as a doable U.S. prohibition of TikTok loomed. By late Friday, the app also referred to as RedNote led the Apple (AAPL) App Retailer’s listing of high, free downloaded iPhone apps within the U.S. Different well-known social media apps, together with Meta’s (META) Fb and TikTok, have been bumped from the highest 5. RedNote additionally topped the free desk in Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google Play retailer.

The Supreme Court docket on Friday upheld a legislation requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s mother or father firm, to promote the platform or face a shutdown. Elected officers see the measure as a approach to curtail nationwide safety dangers offered by a Chinese language-owned agency having knowledge on the app’s roughly 170 million American customers. U.S. teams may very well be fined for offering companies or help to TikTok as quickly as Sunday.

Enforcement, nevertheless, will possible fall to Donald Trump, who’s slated to be sworn in as president on Monday. Trump on Friday mentioned he has mentioned TikTok with the Chinese language President Xi Jinping, and desires time to evaluation the scenario. (If the ban holds, Morgan Stanley says, a number of U.S. corporations may gain advantage.)

‘Xiaohongshu’ Is Having a Second within the U.S.

In the meantime, many People flocked to Xiaohongshu, which loosely interprets to “Little Pink E book” or “RedNote” and has historically been marketed to Mandarin audio system. RedNote exhibits movies in an infinite scroll—like TikTok does—and has a devoted procuring part.

Though a few of RedNote’s navigation options are in English, different textual content stays in Mandarin. (The variety of People studying Mandarin by way of DuoLingo (DUOL) has just lately boomed, the app mentioned on X this week.) RedNote did not reply to Investopedia’s request for remark.

RedNote vaulted to the top of the Apple retailer’s listing of high free apps Monday, becoming a member of family names like Instagram, Threads, TikTok and Fb, in response to market intelligence agency Sensor Tower. Tens of millions joined RedNote through the five-day interval ended Thursday, sending the app’s U.S. obtain price as much as 10 occasions its current common, Sensor Tower mentioned.

Different video apps, resembling Flip and Clapper, together with Instagram additionally took off through the five-day interval that ended on Thursday, Sensor Tower mentioned, whereas Threads noticed a slight decline in downloads.

The variety of every day RedNote customers within the U.S. hit 13.3 million—practically 15% of TikTok’s home site visitors—on Monday, in response to Similarweb, an internet site visitors evaluation group.

By Friday afternoon, TikTok, Fb and Instagram have been off the listing of high 5 free iPhone apps within the U.S., in response to Apple’s retailer. RedNote remained the chief, and different video-centric apps had moved into the highest 5, together with Lemon8 and Clapper. (These final two apps have been additionally simply behind RedNote within the Android retailer.)

In the meantime, one other app remained within the high 10 on each shops: TikTok.