New TikTok app Lemon8, a hybrid of Instagram and Pinterest

Lemon8, from the creators of TikTok, is a new video and photo sharing social media app focused on fashion, beauty, food and travel. Here we find out what is it and what is behind it.

What is Lemon8?

When it already seemed that the creators of social networks could not surprise users with anything new, a new application appeared that caused a hype in the United States and several other countries.  The algorithm of Lemon8 is simple and there is nothing revolutionary in it: photos here are combined with fashion content and TikTok-style instant videos. 

"Lemon8 is a place for young creatives to share a diversity of content from fashion, makeup, food, and travel, to homewares, pets, and anything else you can imagine", says the app description on the page of one of the two main app stores. Lemon8 is intended for young people around 20 years old, the so-called zoomers, born and raised in the age of the Internet, and contains TikTok-style videos and Instagram-style photos, and offers a variety of templates, stickers and filters to present your content. Users are encouraged to actively use hashtags to spread their content. 

Why "Lemon8"?

As conceived by the creators, the word "lemon" gives rise to thoughts of a refreshing lemonade, and the number 8 looks like a sign denoting eternity.

Who created Lemon8?

The Apple App Store and Google Play Store indicate that Lemon8 was developed by Heliophilia Pte., Ltd., headquartered in Singapore. The company's address matches the address of ByteDance, the publisher of TikTok, which leaves us in no doubt that the two social networks have the same owner, although there is no information about Lemon8 on the ByteDance website.

In which countries is Lemon8 available?

Lemon8 was first launched in Japan, Taiwan and a number of other Asian countries in 2020, and became available for Android and iOS devices in the UK and US in February 2023 (users in these countries can already download it, but will be able to post content only from May, and so far only selected influencers publish their posts on it). Since then, its user base has been growing at a rapid pace. According to Apptopia, in the first ten days of April alone, it was downloaded 650,000 times in the United States. Since its launch, it has been installed more than 17 million times worldwide. So far, the application has not appeared in European countries.

Will there be ads and monetization in Lemon8?

Obviously, by adding photos, the creators of Lemon8 want to target the Instagram and Pinterest audience even more, and the themes of the Lemon8, spinning around fashion, have been chosen in order to attract advertising. This app is becoming another tool in the arsenal of advertisers who promote brands on social networks. A number of influencers were invited to be the face of the launch of the new app in the US.  They tag where they bought a particular item or accessory, as well as indicate the price.

While there is no information about whether it will be possible to earn money in the application, just like there are no ads . Recall that so far there is only advertising for the application itself.  Perhaps already in May we will see all these options in the app.