Chinese social media app RedNote tops App Store charts ahead of TikTok ban

RedNote, a Chinese social media app also known as Xiaohongshu, has risen to No. 1 on the Apple App Store as the U.S. TikTok ban looms. The app offers a mix of photos, short videos and text posts across its 'Follow', 'Explore' and 'Nearby' feeds.

Scrolling through RedNote's Explore page reveals English posts scattered among posts in Chinese. Many American users call themselves "TikTok refugees" in videos, while others write in text posts that they're looking for a new community because of the impending TikTok ban. Some even pose questions to Chinese users, like "What are some popular memes in China?"

RedNote, which launched in 2013 as a shopping-focused app, now has more than 300 million monthly active users and surpassed $1 billion in revenue last year, according to Bloomberg.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether to uphold the law banning TikTok or force its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance, to sell TikTok to a U.S. company. The Supreme Court has set a deadline of January 19 for a decision.

TikTok users may be flocking to RedNote right now, but the ban also affects other Chinese-owned apps, including RedNote, WeChat, and other ByteDance-run apps like Lemon8 and CapCut.