In the days leading up to TikTok’s ban in the United States on Sunday, American users flocked to RedNote, a Chinese app that offers a similar experience to their favorite short-form video apps. The app, listed in the US App Store under the Chinese name Xiaohongshu, quickly became the No. 1 free app in the US, but after President Trump suspended the ban, RedNote’s Usage declined rapidly. RedNote had lost more than half of its daily active users in the U.S. by Monday, after reaching a high of 32.5 million daily active users on the day of the ban.
Red Note’s daily active users in the U.S. fell by 54% on Monday, pending enforcement of the ban, according to digital market intelligence firm SimilarWeb. President Trump offered TikTok a 75-day extension to the deadline, giving it more time to negotiate a deal to keep it in the US.
App intelligence provider Sensor Tower saw a similar trend this week. According to its estimates, RedNote’s average US mobile daily active users from January 20th to 22nd decreased by approximately 17% compared to the previous week (January 13th to 19th).
TikTok users initially joined RedNote en masse to send messages to lawmakers and metas alike. One report, also citing data from Sensor Tower, found that about 700,000 U.S. users flooded Red Note within two days as the ban approached. Through Thursday, SimilarWeb announced that RedNote had 3.4 million daily active users in the U.S. across iOS and Android, an increase of 133.8% from the previous week.
US users participating in Red Note indicated that government concerns about “national security threats” posed by Chinese-owned apps with access to US users’ personal data were not a concern to them. . Additionally, they wanted to show that they were choosing to join another Chinese app rather than return to Instagram to use Reels.
There are several reasons why so many US TikTok users made this decision. Some thought the ban was hypocritical given that Meta had been profiting from user data for years, many said in the video, but on the other hand, China Some simply didn’t care whether or not they had the data.
As one of the popular TikTok sounds says, “The Chinese government had access to all of my personal data, and the actions they took with that information could be used to psychologically manipulate me through algorithmic content and create fairy tales. It means making them read mean books about.”
(This sound references fantasy books beloved by readers in TikTok’s large “BookTok” community, such as Sarah J. Maas’ “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series. In other words, they did not view TikTok as some kind of threat). )
As more TikTokers joined RedNote, amazing cultural exchanges began to occur.
Users asked each other about the cost of living in their region, while users in China and the United States similarly wanted to know whether their governments accurately characterized the other’s society. For example, a US user asked about China’s social credit system, and a Red Note Chinese user asked if it was true that many Americans have to work two jobs to pay their bills. . Numerous topics were discussed, including food, health care, and the accuracy of American television movies and shows such as “Friends.”
However, RedNote’s trend as the top app in the US won’t last, at least not as long as TikTok is available. First, RedNote is localized to Chinese, which is why many people turn to Duolingo to study languages. Usage of the language learning app in the U.S. has soared by 216%. However, learning a new language can be difficult, and many users may give up over time.
Additionally, unlike TikTok, RedNote is focused on the Chinese market. TikTok benefited from being a global app, something TikTok itself pointed out when it argued in the Supreme Court why it wouldn’t be the same if it was forced to sell.
Ahead of the ban, TikTok hit a new US daily active user count of 106.8 million users on iOS and Android on Sunday, the highest jump in the past year.