TikTok is officially retiring TikTok Notes, its standalone photo-sharing app, less than a year after its launch. The app, which was only available in select countries, will be discontinued on May 8, 2025, with users encouraged to transition to Lemon8, another ByteDance-owned platform with a similar focus on still-image content.
The decision to shut down TikTok Notes comes as little surprise, as the platform never gained significant traction. Upon its launch in April 2024, Notes appeared to be an attempt to compete with Instagram and replicate the success of Xiaohongshu, a popular lifestyle-focused app in China. However, with Lemon8 already occupying a similar niche, TikTok seems to have decided that maintaining both apps was unnecessary.
A notification sent to users confirms the app’s closure, stating that those looking to continue their “creative journey” should explore Lemon8 instead – a statement that could hint at future updates to Lemon8 if the app sees a major upswing in users. Users with linked TikTok Notes accounts are also being informed of the impending shutdown.
While Notes’ removal is unlikely to have a major impact, it reflects TikTok’s ongoing experimentation with different content formats, espeically given the limited time it has left before a final decision is made regarding its ban in the U.S. The company has continued to evolve beyond short-form video, testing new ways to expand its influence in the social media landscape. However, the lack of widespread adoption suggests that TikTok Notes failed to differentiate itself enough to justify its existence.
