TikTok is discontinuing Notes, its photo-sharing app that was positioned as a rival to Instagram.
According to an in-app notification sent to users, Notes will officially stop working on May 8th, and all related features will become unavailable.
Launched in April last year, TikTok Notes allowed users to post photos with captions and browse a personalized “For You” feed filled with recommended content. The app was initially rolled out in a limited capacity, with testing confined to Australia and Canada.
TikTok acknowledged that the decision to discontinue Notes “was not made lightly.” In its statement, the company encouraged users to explore Lemon8, another social platform under the umbrella of TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
Lemon8, which shares similarities with Instagram, supports both photo and video posts, with a particular focus on lifestyle topics such as beauty, fashion, travel, food, and pets. While TikTok had been promoting Lemon8 ahead of its temporary U.S. shutdown, the app was also affected by the ban.
A TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch, “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 engage with photo content in a way that complements and enhances the TikTok experience.”
With Notes shutting down, it remains to be seen whether Lemon8 can step up as TikTok’s answer to Instagram in the evolving social media landscape.
