The US ban on TikTok has likely been avoided (again). On Tuesday President Trump signaled his intent to add a 90-day extension to prevent the ban from taking effect on June 19. The extra time is meant to give the Chinese-owned app an opportunity to find a US-approved buyer.
TikTok was shut down for less than 24 hours in January, in anticipation of a ban upheld by the Supreme Court. Access to TikTok was restored after the app received an extra 75 days to find a US buyer, and in April the deadline was extended by 90 days. Now the deadline will likely be extended by another 90 days.
However, if you're one of the nearly 150 million Americans who actively use TikTok, you may be wondering where else you can find your fix of short-form content. Could another Chinese-owned app be the answer?
We've put together a list of seven other short-video creation apps you can check out.
Screenshots by Shelby Brown/CNET Instagram Reels Reels is a video feature on Instagram that lets you film, edit and post video clips in the app. Clips must be between three and 90 seconds long. To get started, make sure you've got the latest version of the Instagram app on iOS or Android. You can find Reels by swiping right to open the camera and tapping Reels. (Read our full Reels tutorial here.) If you've used Vine or TikTok, Reels should feel familiar to you. On the left side of the screen, there's a slew of filters, songs to add, timed text options and other effects. You can easily swap and post to your Instagram page or story as well. Plus you can save a Reel to your drafts to keep working on it later. See at Instagram
Facebook Facebook Reels Much like its Instagram counterpart, Facebook Reels allows users to post video clips up to 90 seconds long. Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, you can automatically share Reels you post on your Facebook account to your Instagram account and vice versa. The Facebook app is available on iOS and Android. See at Facebook
YouTube YouTube Shorts YouTube offers a TikTok-style video feature called YouTube Shorts. Shorts allows creators to film quick, catchy videos at a maximum length of 60 seconds. YouTube also provides tools to edit multiple video clips together, as well as speed controls, timer and countdown options for recording hands-free. The YouTube app is available on iOS and Android. See at Youtube
Snapchat Snapchat Spotlight Snapchat's Spotlight feature, which delivers short-form video like TikTok, has grown in popularity since its introduction in 2020. Snapchat reported last month that the total time users spent watching Spotlight content increased more than 125% year-over-year. The company gives creators an extra incentive to use their platform: if their content gets enough views, Spotlight creators can get monthly rewards called Snap Crystals, which can be redeemed for cash. For more information on how to get rewarded on Spotlight, see the official guidelines. The Snapchat app is available on iOS and Android.
Xiaohongshu Xiaohongshu/RedNote Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, is a lifestyle app owned by Xingyin Information Technology, a private company based in Shanghai. It's been described as a cross between Pinterest and Instagram. It's also been described as the "Chinese version of TikTok," which makes it ironic that some US users are now considering it a possible TikTok alternative. See at Xiaohongshu
Lemon8 Like Xiaohongshu, Lemon8 is a Chinese-owned company. In fact, it's owned by TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and TikTok is now encouraging its US users to migrate to Lemon8. Lemon8 has drawn comparisons to Pinterest, with videos focused on lifestyle topics such as food, home and wellness. It's hard to imagine that the US government's security concerns with TikTok won't eventually extend to its sister app. For now, though, Lemon8 is a viable alternative. See at Lemon8