TikTok's Instagram Rival, Whee, Fails to Gain Traction

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TikTok recently launched a new social app called Whee, which is similar to Instagram. Whee allows users to take and share photos with friends, as well as use photo filters and messaging. However, the company's plans for Whee are unclear, and the app has not gained much traction since its launch.

According to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures, Whee has only gained 13,000 total global downloads on iOS and around 10,000 Android downloads. The app's top markets include Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Peru, and Indonesia, but even in these markets, the number of downloads is relatively small.

What's more, Appfigures says that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has not advertised Whee via Apple's Search Ads, which are crucial for helping apps rank highly when users search for apps using specific keywords. Additionally, user feedback from those who have found Whee is also fairly tepid, with the app receiving an overall rating of 3.6 out of 5 globally, across 31 App Store ratings.

This is not the first time ByteDance has tried to launch a social app outside of TikTok. Earlier this year, the company launched another Instagram-like app called Lemon8, which has also failed to gain traction. ByteDance also operates another popular video app called CapCut, often used for making TikTok videos, as well as a BeReal rival called TikTok Now, although the latter was shut down after less than a year.

It's unclear whether Whee will follow the same playbook as Lemon8. However, if TikTok influencers start promoting Whee in the future, it's likely they were paid to do so.

Image Credits: TikTok/Whee