TikTok has a Notes App, and is Shutting it Down

As its fate in the US is in limbo as it nears the end of its 75-day extension, TikTok announced that it will be shutting down its Notes app on May 8. You’re probably surprised to know that TikTok has its own Notes app to go against Instagram Notes–and that’s because the feature was only made available to select countries like Canada, Australia, and Vietnam.In its decision to retire Notes, TikTok is directing users to Lemon8, which is a ByteDance-owned company and offers the same function.

“We’re excited to bring the feedback from TikTok Notes to Lemon8 as we continue building a dedicated space for our community to share and experience photo content, designed to complement and enhance the TikTok experience,” a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement.While TikTok did not disclose the reason, it’s pretty much a given that it is due to low adoption, and that pushing them to use Lemon8 instead is more suitable with 12.5 million global monthly active users as of December 2024.



Lemon8 launched in Japan in 2020 and is similar to Instagram and Pinterest, where users share slideshows and photo collections.As of the writing this article, Lemon8 is not yet available in the Philippines. It’s worth noting that ByteDance did add TikTok integration with Lemon8 last November, ahead of the US Ban, viewing it as an alternative platform for creators in case TikTok is banned in the US for good.

.