TikTok will discontinue its standalone photo-sharing application, Notes, on May 8, 2025, less than a year after launching the experimental platform in Canada and Australia.

According to app researcher Jonah Manzano, users are now receiving notifications about the impending shutdown, with the company encouraging them to transition to Lemon8, another ByteDance-owned platform that offers similar photo-sharing functionality.

Image source: @jonahmanzano

Strategic Consolidation

Social Media Today notes the decision appears to be a strategic consolidation of ByteDance’s portfolio, as Notes and Lemon8 shared features overlap. Both platforms focused on still-image content, with Notes having a slightly broader creative focus than Lemon8’s lifestyle and product orientation.

TikTok account holders with linked Notes profiles are also being notified of the platform’s closure. The company is promoting Lemon8 as the natural destination for users to “continue their creative journey,” potentially signaling forthcoming updates to accommodate the redirected user base.

Market Experimentation

The Notes platform represented TikTok’s attempt to diversify beyond short-form video and expand its cultural footprint. Social Media Today suggests the app was developed in response to the success of Xiaohongshu (RedNote) in China, an Instagram-like platform focused on lifestyle content.

ByteDance’s experimentation with different content formats comes amid ongoing regulatory challenges in various markets.