TikTok banned in India: What’s next?
TikTok, also known as Douyin in China, is a media app for creating and sharing short videos. Owned by ByteDance, the media app was launched as Douyin in China in September 2016 and introduced to the overseas market as TikTok one year later.
TikTok had quite the craze in the India market, so much so that it was the biggest overseas market for the Chinese video-sharing app. Before TikTok became famous, Musical.ly was leading the market of short video platforms. But as of August, 2018, ByteDance announced the shutdown of Musical.ly and the dawn of TikTok. But it didn’t seem to be making a good impression in the eyes of the ‘cultured’ or the government. Why you may ask? Well, if it wasn’t for the sheer amount of time that teenagers were wasting on this app, the obscene videos people record and share on other social media platforms definitely did the trick. Yesterday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asked Google Play Store and Apple to block all domestic downloads of the app. Another reason for the ban can also be the failure of the parent company ByteDance, to comply with our country’s rules, which require user-content apps with over 5 million users to open Indian offices, as quoted by ministry officials.
Okay, so TikTok’s down. Here are 5 alternatives
We know this by now, social media is a place which constantly keeps updating. If an app like TikTok has gone down, then before we know there will be a rise of some other such app. That is the vicious cycle of social media. They know how to capture the minds of our youth and they do a pretty good job at it. Anyway, so, what about the substitutes that are already available in the market? I’ll list down a few below:
- Dubsmash:
This one was quite the rage before Musical.ly took over the market. This is probably one of the oldest music video apps for Android and iOS-based devices. The app already has over a hundred million downloads and can very easily pick up right where it left off after the demise of TikTok in our country. The app displays videos in the style of Snapchat stories that are divided into two news feed sections so you can follow the channels you like and keep track of the latest videos posted by your friends. Besides enabling you to post music videos on your Dubsmash profile, the app lets you share your videos to other social media networks and you can save each video you produce with this app to your camera roll.
2. Funimate:
This one also has over five million downloads and is probable as a strong contender to replace TikTok. This app lets its users create slow-motion videos, compile several video clips into a compilation, make video loops and much more. Funimate features more than twenty advanced video effects and other similar features that TikTok offered.
3. Cheez:
Another app with over 5 million downloads. Other than making lip-syncing videos, this app offers its users to earn rewards by gaining more likes, comments and shares, while one can also earn rewards by watching videos or commenting on the posts they like. It also features a game called DanceOff, which is considered to be the first mobile dancing game. Users can also post topics and start battles or even join different challenges online.
4. Triller:
This one’s more famous than the last two apps and possesses over ten million plus downloads. Celebrities like Kevin Hart or Selena Gomez use Triller to record and edit their social media videos as all the app the requires you to do is record the footage, and the auto-editing algorithm will do the rest for you. However, Triller is not a networking platform, as it is only a video editing app that doesn't have a community aspect. The app's file sharing options, on the other hand, enable its users to post videos they created to their social media accounts.
5. Like - Magic Video Maker & Community:
To my surprise, this unheard of app has over a hundred million downloads. Though, it is only available on Android platforms. The app features a vast amount of dialogue materials as well as a Music Magic filter that applies effects to videos based on the change of music volume or intonation. It also packs a whole host of editing features like all the other apps on the list, including trimming or speeding up the video, filters etc, and also allows the user to share their videos directly to other social media apps.
6. Vigo Video:
Another giant in the video sharing market with over a hundred million downloads. It has all the same features like any other app on this list including the community side of things. It is also known as Hypstar and is available on both, Google Play Store and Apple Store.
Bonus: If you’re not really into trying something new, you can still always go back to the originals — Snapchat and Instagram and share your fun, frivolous exploits there.
The government can try their best to ban or limit the usage of such apps, but there will always be a new entity in the market to take its place. As a matter of fact, users can still download and use TikTok via an apk file, which is just a Google search away ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
