The app launched in Japan in 2020, and has since also expanded to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore. ByteDance has been paying creators in the UK to post on the app in recent weeks, three influencers told Insider.

The picture-based app describes itself as a "lifestyle community," and its main feed is divided into a "Following" and a "For You," like TikTok, but can be sorted by content categories like "Beauty," "Fashion," and "Food." Another page, similar to Instagram's Explore tab, includes content organized by hashtags. The app store description also mentions that trending content can be found by "searching keywords."

Back in July, Reuters reported that Lemon8 appeared to be an attempt to replicate the success of China's Xiaohongshu, a "shopping and lifestyle recommendations app."

Now Bytedance is rolling out the app in US and UK as well, maybe as a test, maybe also to be covered in the face of danger that TikTok is possibly being banned in the US or European countries.