Instagram wants to be TikTok with Reels, and now TikTok wants to be Instagram with Whee.
Like Instagram, Whee allows users to post and edit photos and send messages to other users. It was launched earlier this month in some countries to little fanfare; as of Tuesday, the app had been downloaded by just over 13,000 iOS devices and 10,000 Android devices, according to TechCrunch. It has yet to crack the top of Apple’s App Store’s free app rankings or rank in the top 500 social apps in any country where it’s available.
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The app has not yet been released in the U.S. For now, it is most popular in Malaysia, where it has been downloaded 2,400 times. TechCrunch also found that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and Whee, is not promoting the app in Apple’s search ads, which boost app rankings in App Store searches. ByteDance’s strategy remains unclear.
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Whee’s launch is reminiscent of another ByteDance venture, Lemon8, a Pinterest-esque photo-sharing platform that got off to a slow start but now boasts millions of downloads.
The public first heard about a possible Instagram version of TikTok back in March, when it was initially known as TikTok Photos.
Lemon8 launched as TikTok was fighting a possible ban in the US, and now that the ban is codified into law, ByteDance has pushed forward with Whee, but the ban is likely to take down all of ByteDance’s apps along with TikTok.
