iOS App of the Week: TikTok

Hit or Miss Meme

There is finally a worthy successor to Vine for those who haven't turned to Instagram or Facebook for their mobile video memes. While it was officially launched in 2016, TikTok has started to catch mainstream attention thanks to its Hit or Miss and I'm Already Tracer memes.

In 2017 TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, snatched up the popular social media app musical.ly, helping it corner the short-form mobile video market in the US. The app has since reached 500 million monthly active users worldwide, and it was one of the most downloaded apps on the Apple App Store in the first half of 2018.

TikTok allows users to create 15-second lip-sync videos. The app features a wide variety of songs from different musical genres, built-in special effects, filters and stickers for users to choose from. Videos can be set to "public" for other users to duet or post reactions. Public videos can also be viewed on the main page of the app, and users can choose to follow certain creators, vote for their favorite videos, and leave comments.

The app's short-form format along with its deep library of music is popular with teenagers spawning a variety of silly viral videos and even its own TikTok celebrities. The app has helped propelled some songs to fame, and has caught the attention of internet celebrates, such as PewDiePie, who have helped push the app into the mainstream.

TikTok is available for free on the Apple App Store. iPhone and iPad owners can use the app without creating an account, or sign up using an existing Facebook, Twitter, Google account or a phone number or email.