Ahead of the short-lived U.S. TikTok ban on January 19, so-called TikTok refugees flocked to popular Chinese social media app XiaohongshuXiaohongshuXiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book” in Chinese, is a lifestyle e-commerce and social media platform.READ MORE. In the U.S., the app was number one on Apple’s App Store from January 13 to January 23, and it’s stayed in the top spot on Google Play since January 14. New data shows that the explosion in the popularity of Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, stretched well beyond U.S. borders.
A Rest of World analysis of App Store and Google Play ranking data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower found that Xiaohongshu’s popularity skyrocketed in non-Western countries, too. In 42 of the 63 non-Western countries tracked by Sensor Tower, the app ranked in the top three spots on the charts at some point between January 13 and January 21.
Sensor Tower collects its ranking data from “publicly accessible estimates provided by the Apple App Store and Google Play [store].” While the firm doesn’t have direct insights into Apple’s and Google’s algorithms for determining rankings, the data suggests that “an app with a higher ranking is typically downloaded more than those with lower rankings.”
Based on data from the past month, Xiaohongshu started ranking as a top app on the App Store and the Google Play store in most non-Western countries around January 13, similar to when it climbed the U.S. charts. According to Google Trends, the terms “Xiaohongshu” and “RedNote” saw a boost in interest worldwide on January 13.
Prior to then, the app didn’t appear on Sensor Tower’s overall list of popular downloaded apps in most countries, likely because Sensor Tower only gathers data on the top 200 apps on the App Store and the top 660 apps on Google Play.
Ivy Yang, a China tech analyst and the founder of consulting firm Wavelet Strategy, noted that many people already use social media platforms that mimic TikTok’s features, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. “But there is still something about TikTok that is interesting and special to them,” she told Rest of World. “So they really just wanted to find an alternative. And RedNote happens to be that.”
In Ghana, for example, the app ranked number one for a full week on the App Store, starting January 14. In Kuwait, it hit number one on the App Store on January 14 and stayed in the top four spots until a sharp drop on January 21. On Peru’s App Store, it ranked in the top three spots from January 15 to January 20, peaking at number one on the day of the TikTok ban.
The flurry of activity follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld legislation requiring TikTok to be divested from its parent company, ByteDance, or be banned in the country starting January 19. Although TikTok did shut down in the U.S. starting the evening of January 18, the app was restored the next day after President Donald Trump pledged to sign an executive order to delay the ban.
During that period, Americans flocked to Xiaohongshu as both a TikTok alternative and a form of protest against the crackdown. Even though TikTok’s shutdown didn’t impact anyone outside the U.S., users around the world still downloaded Xiaohongshu in droves.
Yang suggested that speaks to the power of the U.S. market. “The importance of the U.S. as kind of the cultural zeitgeist that influences other people’s perception of a social media app, of what you can do on the app, and why you want to be on that app, is still very significant,” she said.
It also highlights TikTok’s power “in turning these little fads into a movement,” Yang said. She noted that many people first learned about Xiaohongshu because influencers checked it out ahead of the ban and then came back to TikTok to make videos about it.
While Xiaohongshu has always focused on Chinese users, the company rolled out a translation feature on January 19. Yangtse Evening Post reported that the feature has been accurately translating a multitude of languages, making it easier to use across the globe.
Yang sees Xiaohongshu’s rise as “a really great opportunity where lots of people can have this platform to engage in these direct conversations.”
“Everything we’ve seen in the past week has been really heartwarming. You realize that people are more similar than they’re different, regardless of where they live,” she said. “Just in terms of humanity, I think that’s a wonderful development.”
Xiaohongshu did not respond to Rest of World’s request for comment.
