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TikTok Copycat Zynn Removed from App Stores

By Ding Yi / Jun 18, 2020 12:52 PM / World

A TikTok lookalike has suffered the double whammy of being pulled from the world’s two biggest app stores in less than a week.

Zynn, a video sharing app funded by Kuaishou, was removed from Apple’s App Store earlier this week, just days after its disappearance from the Google Play Store, amid accusations that it had been stealing content from similar apps, according to U.S. tech news provider TechCrunch. Beijing-based Kuaishou is a major rival to TikTok owner ByteDance in China.

Clicking on links to download Zynn from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store on the app’s website now result in nothing happening.

Apart from the plagiarism allegations, Zynn, which was launched in early May, has also been criticized for its controversial reward-based growth plan, which pays users to register, watch videos and invite acquaintances to use the app.

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission last week, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley likened Zynn’s reward system to “a traditional pyramid scheme” and questioned its ties with Kuaishou, which he said is subject to the Chinese government’s directions.

Before its removal from the app stores, Zynn gained an estimated 5 million downloads on Apple’s App Store and was downloaded 700,000 times on the Google Play Store, TechCrunch reported, citing statistics from SensorTower.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

Related: EU Privacy Watchdog Sets Its Sights on TikTok


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