What to know:
- Kalshi users are betting on which app will reach the No. 1 spot on the App Store, resulting in over $150,000 in trading volume on the prediction market.
- The TikTok ban and the launch of Trump’s memecoin ($TRUMP) propelled TikTok alternatives, VPNs, and Moonshot to the top of the iPhone’s App Store rankings.
- Apps like RedNote and Likee experienced massive growth as “TikTok refugees” moved to new platforms.
The current top five apps on the iPhone’s U.S. App Store charts owe much of their success to President Donald Trump’s influence. His initial push for a TikTok ban in 2020 set the stage for the recent ban, while the launch of a Trump-backed memecoin has shot one app into the top five.
Just like users were betting on the TikTok ban, Kalshi users also bet on the Top U.S. iPhone app. With over $150,000 trading volume, we are seeing users wager on which app will reach the No. 1 spot on the U.S. chart as part of Kalshi’s most popular daily markets.
As a result of the ban, alternatives to TikTok like RedNote have skyrocketed to the top of the App Store charts and users are predicting these apps will stay on top. To be fair, while the app is back and available to use, the app is not back on app stores, in accordance with U.S. law.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the top apps in the U.S. as we head to into weekend.
ChatGPT
App Store: 3.9 Stars | 5.4K Ratings
After RedNote was at the top of the charts for many days, ChatGPT skyrocketed in front on Thursday. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that uses human-like communication. It has been used to create travel itineraries, social media captions, and so on.
Interestingly, the app’s rise to the peak also may be a result of Trump. The President announced the $500 billion Stargate Project, a massive investment in infrastructure aimed at advancing artificial intelligence technology.
The announcement sparked a heated feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Musk called Altman a “swindler,” fueling a public clash between the two tech titans.
This high-profile feud, coupled with the government’s investment, may have contributed to ChatGPT’s rapid climb to the top of the charts.
Altman literally testified to Congress that he wouldn’t get OpenAI compensation and now he wants $10 billion! What a liar. https://t.co/YpHvcm0WZa
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2025
RedNote
App Store: 4.9 Stars | 183K Ratings
RedNote is a Chinese app that is massively popular in China. It is known as “China’s response to Instagram,” and before the TikTok ban was comprised of mostly Chinese users. Now, there has been a massive influx of new American users.
More than 700,000 new users joined the app in two days, and it has been at the No. 1 spot on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store since Jan. 14, 2025.
The company enlisted an American marketing company agency and is working with American influencers to encourage TikTok users to switch to RedNote. The marketing brief obtained by WIRED asks influencers to emphasize RedNote’s “ international appeal” and “how fun and engaging the app is.”
The app added an English-Mandarin translation feature to make it more accessible. The surge is driven by “TikTok refugees” who want to make a point by using a Chinese app.
However, while TikTok is not available in China, RedNote is because they comply with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) free speech restrictions. In some ways, this is potentially a larger security and censorship concern than TikTok is.
Likee
App Store: 4.5 Stars | 532K Ratings
Likee is another TikTok alternative app. The app has skyrocketed in popularity going from the No. 202 position in the App Store to the No. 2 position over the weekend.
Likee is owned by a Singaporean company named Likeme Pte. Ltd and has been available on the app store since January 2017. In 2020, Likee reported 150 million users, which has likely increased since the TikTok ban.
However, similar to TikTok, the app has been criticized for privacy reasons. Along with TikTok, it was one of more than 50 apps banned by the Indian government in 2020.
VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy
App Store: 4.6 Stars | 1.9M Ratings
A VPN is a Virtual Private Network. Essentially, it encrypts your data, hides your IP address, and creates a secure connection between your device and the internet.
Besides security, you can also use it to bypass geographic restrictions. While TikTok may have been banned in the US, it was not banned in many other countries. As a result, many Americans downloaded the app and switched their location to another country.
With the surge in TikTok alternatives on the App Store charts, we are seeing an increase in VPNs. VPN – Super Unlimited Proxy is the highest ranking one currently with another VPN app holding the No. 8 spot.
However, if TikTok continues to be available in the U.S. and returns to the app stores, these apps are unlikely to maintain such a high position on the charts.
Clapper
App Store: 4.6 Stars | 37K Ratings
Clapper is a Texas-based company founded in 2020 when Trump originally brought up the idea of banning TikTok. The app is ad-free and allows users to monetize their content.
According to Business Insider, Clapper saw an influx of 2 million users in the last week. Similar to RedNote, #TikTokRefugees was trending on the platform last week. However, the influx of users did cause issues for the app.
Clapper does differentiate itself from TikTok in an important way. Clapper has a 17+ age restriction for the app. While the app doesn’t allow nudity or sexually explicit content, it does feature more mature content.
On the platform, users can receive gifts and sell subscriptions to their content. Clapper takes a commission from these sales.
It’s official: Clapper is up and running! 💫🎉🧡
— Clapper (@theclapperapp) January 19, 2025
Our servers have adjusted to all the new users, so you can get back to your scrolling. 🤳
Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, DM us @ClapperCreator on Clapper. #clapperapp #tiktokban #clapper
Moonshot
App Store: 3.9 Stars | 5.4K Ratings
Only launching six months ago, the app has skyrocketed to the No. 5 position on the App Store thanks to the $TRUMP memecoin.
The official website listed Moonshot as the recommended app to purchase $TRUMP. The Moonshot team reported $400 million in volume and more than 200,000 new users in 12 hours.
Since Trump’s inauguration soared to more than $10 billion in market value, which may have led to even more traffic to Moonshot. This is impressive growth for an app in its first six months and they can largely thank Trump for their meteoric rise.
Today marks 6 months since launch.
— Moonshot (@moonshot) January 18, 2025
In the last 12 hours, we were featured on $TRUMP’s website as THE way to buy, processed nearly $400m in volume, crushed fiat onramp records by orders of magnitude, and brought 200k+ new people onchain.
We have an extremely high load right now…
Remarkably, all six of these apps owe their rise, in part, to Trump’s influence. His initial push to ban TikTok in 2020 set the stage for the 2025 ban, which directly led four TikTok alternatives and a VPN to prominence. The fifth, Moonshot, owes its surge to the introduction of Trump’s memecoin, $TRUMP. Trump’s massive investment in AI created a chain reaction that fueled ChatGPT’s ascent to the top of the charts.