What’s January without a TikTok panic?
Last January, TikTok briefly went dark in the US amid a legal fight. This year, TikTok users were treated to days of app glitches caused by an outage at an Oracle data center, and a transition to a new joint-venture ownership structure in the US.
Upstart rivals have benefited from TikTok users — particularly those concerned about TikTok’s new owners’ ties to the Trump administration — seeking alternatives. The biggest winner appears to be UpScrolled, which hit No. 2 among free apps in Apple’s App Store on Wednesday.
UpScrolled launched last year and was founded by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist who previously worked at tech giants such as IBM and Oracle, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“UpScrolled is a social media platform designed to empower users worldwide — a space to freely express thoughts, share moments, and connect with others,” the platform’s website says. “We built it because people are asking for more transparency, authenticity, and trust in the platforms they use every day.”
According to estimates from the marketing intelligence firm Sensor Tower, as of Tuesday, UpScrolled had been downloaded about 400,000 times in the US and 700,000 globally since launching in June 2025. The app saw a surge in downloads beginning January 22, and Sensor Tower estimated that, as of Tuesday, 85% of UpScrolled’s downloads in the US had occurred between January 21 and 27.
As of Wednesday, UpScrolled was No. 1 in the “social networking” category in Apple’s App Store, surpassing Meta’s Threads, WhatsApp, and TikTok. It was the No. 6 free social app on Google Play for Android users, where TikTok (and TikTok Lite) reign.
How Upscrolled works
UpScrolled feels like a combination of X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok.
There’s a feed of accounts you follow, carousel posts, vertical short-form video, stories, and a discovery page with trending topics and hashtags.
One of the app’s selling points for new users is its stance on content censorship: “No shadowbans, no hidden throttling, no pay-to-play favoritism — ever,” UpScrolled says on its website.
“UpScrolled is committed to protecting freedom of expression — but with that freedom comes responsibility,” UpScrolled’s FAQ says. “We only restrict content that violates our community guidelines or broadly accepted legal and ethical standards. This includes content involving illegal activity, hate speech, bullying, harassment, explicit nudity, unlicensed copyrighted material, or anything intended to cause harm.”
Where TikTok users are flocking
Other social networks are also seeing spikes in users.
Sensor Tower data showed a recent marginal increase in Reddit and Pinterest downloads.
Meanwhile, newer apps, like Spill, are also seeing an uptick.
Spill was founded by former Twitter employees and launched in 2023. The app told Business Insider that it had seen an influx of signups in recent days. It was the No. 17 app in the social category as of Wednesday.
It isn’t the first time TikTok users have looked for new pastures.
Last year, other Chinese-owned apps, such as Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, gained traction in the US as TikTok faced legal jeopardy.
Read the full article here
