What is Lemon8 and How Do You Use It?

Lemon8 is a lifestyle social media app owned by Heliophilia, based in Singapore. While the platform’s main focus is on static content such as images and carousels, users can also share 1-minute videos through the app. 

Lemon8’s in-app features and user experience have led many people to define it as “what would look like if Instagram and Pinterest had a baby”. It is undeniable that the app shares many similarities with Instagram and Pinterest. However, a quick look at the app’s features easily reveals several resemblances to TikTok and Canva as well.   
 

With its focus on specific categories like beauty, fashion, home life, food, and such, Lemon8 is designed to present a certain type of aesthetic where users can share details about their purchases and tag specific products and brands, prices, and links. 

Even though Lemon8 has been introduced in the US and UK very recently, the platform was already a big hit in Japan and Thailand. 

The platform has gained significant popularity due to its emergence as a prominent competitor to Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), a widely popular app in Eastern markets. In China, Xiaohongshu dominates both the social networking and e-commerce sectors, and Lemon8 aspires to replicate this success in Western markets.
 

To bolster the platform’s popularity, Lemon8 has strategically engaged in partnerships with creators. The frequent use of the #Lemon8partner hashtag in post captions indicates that Lemon8 compensates influencers for their content, effectively jumpstarting the platform’s growth.

Lemon8 and Instagram exhibit similarities in various aspects, making them both vibrant platforms for users to express artistic flair through compelling visual content. 

Lemon8’s focus on photos and carousels resembles Instagram’s early days to a great extent, with hashtags, location tags, comments section, and video-sharing features being among the features that add up to the two platforms’ similarities. 
 

However, Lemon8 is more driven towards bringing a new dimension to influencer and user experience by embracing trends and aesthetics and creating a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere. 
 

Given that Lemon8 shares the same parent company as TikTok, the platform’s algorithm would be closer to TikTok’s rather than Instagram’s. Another difference is the in-app editing tools, such as the cutout tool and various category templates offered by Lemon8.

Yes! You can download the Lemon8 app on AppStore and Google Play, but don’t be surprised if you can’t find it yet, as it is not available to download in every country at the moment.

While Lemon8 may seem like a new sensation, the app has been around for a while! Lemon8 made its debut in Japan in 2020, marking its initial venture into the world. Since its Japan launch in 2020, Lemon8 has been expanding its reach across various countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

The app ignited a frenzy in Western markets three years later, captivating users in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Various sources reported that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance owns Lemon8, hence the app’s growing popularity among influencers and smaller accounts on TikTok. 

This connection creates an enticing opportunity for content creators to diversify their income streams and potentially earn money on TikTok through Lemon8’s partnerships.

The regions where Lemon8 is currently available include Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, the USA, and parts of the UK. 

If you want to take your place in the Lemon8 community and are upset that you don’t see your country on this list, you will be glad to know that the app will expand into other regions as it evolves and grows more in popularity.

Is Lemon8 on the verge of toppling TikTok from its throne? Not quite! While TikTok has become a worldwide sensation with its immense popularity, it’s important to note that Lemon8 is not positioned as a direct replacement for the beloved app. In fact, Lemon8 speaks to a distinct purpose and caters to a different audience model.

We all know that TikTok is renowned for its bite-size video content - and it has a vast array of video enhancing tools, including features like text-to-speech, voiceover on TikTok, and an extensive music library to serve the platform’s purpose. 

Given that both platforms are launched by ByteDance, it is not surprising that Lemon8 embraces a similar concept of delivering bite-size tutorials and inspirations but with a delightful collection of templates and designs, providing a simple yet captivating user experience.

Many social media users have observed that Lemon8’s design evokes a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of the early 2010s Instagram. 

However, both platforms have their own unique space in the social media landscape. Rather than seeking to replace Instagram, Lemon8 carves out its own distinct niche, appealing to users who appreciate a different user experience and a touch of nostalgia.

As Lemon8 is being promoted among TikTok influencers and users, it has cultivated a predominantly Gen-Z audience. The app’s popularity within the TikTok community has resulted in a significant presence of young and trend-savvy individuals who contribute to the user base of Lemon8. 

Individuals who are aged 13 and above can sign up for Lemon8 and browse lifestyle tips, inspirations, vision boards, and aesthetic boards alike.

Even though how users can earn money on Lemon8 is not explicitly outlined at the moment, as Lemon8 continues to evolve, it may introduce opportunities for creators to monetize their presence and expertise in the future.
 

Just like every other social media platform, Lemon8 thrives on the value offered by content creators. So, if you want to give Lemon8 a go, we suggest that you stick to creating original content and stay clear from like and share spam techniques that might arise during the process (similar to the TikTok share bot, view bot, and like bot). 
 

Instead, focus on building genuine connections with your audience and other creators and try cross-promoting your Lemon8 page on other platforms if you want to grow on Lemon8 and start making an income on the app in the future. 

As Lemon8 is still in its early stages, there is no precise way of guessing how the algorithm works without experimenting for a longer period of time. Here’s what we can say about the Lemon8 algorithm at the moment:

• For You Page: The Lemon8 algorithm functions by first prompting users to specify their interests, such as fashion, beauty, or other categories. Based on these preferences, the app formulates a personalized “For You” page tailored to each user’s taste and preferences. This way, users are presented with content that aligns with their interests and enhances their browsing experience.
• Static Visuals: Static visuals like photos and carousels perform exceptionally well on the platform.
• Hashtags and Trends: In addition to content format, hashtags play a crucial role in the Lemon8 algorithm. Certain hashtags gain prominence and trend on the app during specific periods. Aligning your content with these trending hashtags and categories can help you attract a larger audience and boost your visibility on Lemon8.
• Post Titles: Clear and descriptive titles that effectively convey the essence of the post tend to draw more attention from the audience on Lemon8. By incorporating appropriate keywords in your post titles, you can make sure that the visibility of your posts increases and enhance the chances of reaching a wider audience.

The categories in the Lemon8 app include the following:
 

• Fashion
• Beauty
• Food
• Travel
• Home

If you are a content creator whose niche falls under these categories, you will probably have the best time creating content for Lemon8 and connecting with like-minded people who share similar interests with you. 
 

The great news is, from fashion, makeup, and workout music to travel and lifestyle music, Snapmuse’s royalty-free music library has every kind of usage area fit for your Lemon8 content!

Start exploring our extensive and dynamic royalty-free music and sound effects catalog today by browsing through different genres and moods to take your content to the next level.

No, Lemon8 doesn’t have ads at the moment, but it is very much likely that the developers can introduce ads into the platform in the near future.

If you are familiar with how to download TikTok videos, you might think that Lemon8 has a feature for its users to save videos to their local gallery as well. 

However, while the platform doesn’t currently provide a built-in feature to download videos directly from the app, there is not yet a third-party tool like SnapTik (which allows users to save TikTok videos without the watermark) available to save videos from Lemon8 either. Regardless, if you want to know more about SnapTik, you can check out our article on What is SnapTik? by following the link.

Concerns about the safety of a new app or software are completely understandable. So, is Lemon8 a safe platform? Like any reputable social media platform, Lemon8 collects and shares certain information with third parties for various purposes. 
 

The platform utilizes the information collected about you, such as your personal details, location, device information, app activity, and photos and videos, to provide a range of services. This includes responding to inquiries, offering user support, personalizing the content you receive, enabling interactions with other users, and facilitating the platform’s messenger service.

Using Lemon8 is a fun and easy process that allows you to create, explore, and share captivating content. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started on this exciting platform:

1. To create a Lemon8 account, download the app and open it on your device.
2. Enter your birth date, and preferred pronouns, and choose the categories you are interested in. 
3. You can sign up for Lemon8 with your email and phone number or link Lemon8 to your Google, Apple, Facebook, or Twitter accounts. 
4. Type in the username you prefer. 
5. Select your profile picture. 
6. Hit “Done”, and voila! You have successfully created your Lemon8 account, and now you are ready to get into some in-app exploring!  

1. Click the profile icon at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
2. Tap “Edit Profile”. 
3. Here, you can type in your name, fill up your bio with the keywords for your niche, and adjust the visibility setting for your preferred pronouns. 
4. We also recommend that you connect your TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and personal website to your Lemon8 account from the “Additional Info” menu.

To let Lemon8 know a little more about you and your interests and to get familiar with the post format popular within the app, it is a good idea to take a tour on the For You page before starting to post your content. To do this:

1. Click the “Home” button at the bottom left corner of your screen.
2. Browse the “For You” page by choosing one of the categories at the top menu. If you prefer to view content shared across every available category, you can tap the “All” button in this step as well. 
3. To personalize your Lemon8 feed, you can interact with shared posts by liking them, leaving comments, following other people within the community, and saving the type of posts you would like to see more on your For You page.

Excited to create your first post on Lemon8? Let’s get started! 
 

1. Start by going to the “For You” page and tapping the yellow '+' button at the bottom of your screen.
2. Choose Your Photos or Video: From here, you can take new photos with your device’s camera, or choose up to 10 existing photos or a video (60 seconds max) from your local gallery. As a side note, it is not possible to include photos and videos in the same post at the moment. 
3. Editing Tools: Once you have selected your photos, you can go on and experiment with the tools available on the editing page, such as templates, retouch, tags, text, stickers, and cut out.
4. Templates: One amazing feature of the Lemon8 editing page is that the diversity of the use of the tools allows you to customize the design of your content without leaving the app! For example, you can browse the “Trendy” templates or filter them down by your niche to see which template suits best for your niche. 
5. Retouch: The retouch tool is where you can find your photo filters categorized by portrait, film, fashion, food, life, landscape, and so on.
6. Text: The text feature comes with three sub-menus. You can either use a ready-made template, browse fonts by usage areas (title, text, and decoration), or customize the color, direction, bend, and alignment of your text to achieve that aesthetic style you are rooting for in your content creation like a pro.
7. Tags: If you want to feature the brand and the price of the products in your photos, the tags section is what you are looking for on Lemon8.
8. Stickers: The stickers tab is where you can find the labels and arrows people are constantly using in their Lemon8 posts. The flame icon gives you access to the trending stickers, and you can view your most used stickers by clicking the clock icon right next to the trending stickers.
9. Cutout: The cutout tool is probably the most used editing tool on the platform right now. You can use this feature to remove the background and cut out yourself or the objects/products you want to include in your posts for cover pages, guides, vision boards, and so on. The easiest way is by starting with the “Smart cutout” option and perfecting the edges with the “Stroke” and “Eraser” tools.
10. Once you are done, tap “Next” and add your headline, caption, and hashtags. Here, you can click the “Caption ideas” button to see caption templates by categories, which is really cool! 
11. You can hold and drag your photos to change the order of your photos, and click the “View” button at the top right corner of the screen to take a look at how your photos will look once you share your post.
12. If you want to save your photos to your local gallery, check the “Download all photos” option. 
13. Happy with the results? If yes, you are ready to hit “Post” and share your content on Lemon8!

If you want to share a video on Lemon8, here’s what you will need to do:
 

1. Start by going to the “For You” page and tapping the yellow '+' button at the bottom of your screen.
2. Filter your gallery by clicking “Videos” from the top menu to get access to your videos easily.
3. Choose the video you want to upload and hit “Next”. 
4. At this step, you can only clip your video and add music.
5. Once you are done, click “Next” and add your headline, caption, and hashtags.
6. Hit “Post”. And voila! You just posted your video on Lemon8!
    

Lemon8 doesn’t have many in-app video editing tools right now, so it might be a good idea to edit your video in a different editing app to make sure your video matches the aesthetic style of your existing Lemon8 content.

Don’t forget that music is what sets the tone for your content, and as Lemon8 is relatively new in the US and the UK compared to other regions, you can definitely stand out with your videos with the right music.