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Users will be able to directly access Lemon8, ByteDance’s newer social media app, with their TikTok account, the company announced Tuesday. ByteDance says the integration will make photo-sharing more feasible, and give creators the ability to cross-share photo content between the apps.
Lemon8 will remain a separate app, but the two platforms will share a unified user login, which means that creators can use one account to login to both.
Lemon8 launched in Japan in 2020 and later expanded to markets across the U.S. and Southeast Asia. The app is similar to Instagram and Pinterest, as it lets users share slideshows, photo collections, and browse content through “Following” and “For You” feeds. Lemon8 offers users access to creative tools, filters, effects, stickers, text templates, and more.
“At TikTok, we are committed to continuously evolving our platform to better serve our creators,” the company wrote. “The integration of Lemon8 and other photo sharing channels is a testament to our commitment to enhancing creators’ experience. We believe these new tools will inspire greater creativity and community-building, benefiting everyone involved.”
The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise, as TechCrunch reported back in August 2023 that TikTok appeared to be working on an integration with Lemon8.
The feature arrives as TikTok is facing a ban in the United States. ByteDance is pushing Lemon8 as a sister app to TikTok, possibly as a way to move creators onto the new platform without having to get them to sign up for it separately.
However, it’s possible ByteDance’s other apps, including Lemon8, could get tangled up into the TikTok ban, especially since lawmakers’ main concern with TikTok is its Chinese ownership.
Of course, the recent election of Donald Trump could alter TikTok’s fate. Although Trump was the one to initiate calls to ban the app during his first term, the president-elect took a different approach during his 2024 campaign. He’s now concerned that a TikTok ban would benefit Meta, and had told voters to vote for him if they didn’t want the app to be banned.
The integration also comes as TikTok has been embracing photo content, despite originally gaining popularity with the short video format. TikTok launched the ability to add photos in 2022, and the company started testing a dedicated photo-sharing app called TikTok Notes this year.
Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University.
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