RedNote App Review | Can this Chinese app replace TikTok?

As TikTok’s life hangs in the balance, users are scrambling to find instant entertainment alternatives in unknown corners of the internet. While Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have kept their login pages open for TikTok refugees, another contender has risen: Chinese XiaoHongShu.

Here’s what we think about the app that literally means ‘Small Red Book’.

Sign-up process

RedNote is available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store with over 10 million downloads in the former. The sign-up process is slightly complicated as the app is meant for use within China, so sourcing the OTP message and creating an account requires a few attempts. In addition, most profile creation options were in Chinese, so without knowledge about the language, it is difficult to make full customisation options immediately. Despite these hiccups, getting started and customising feeds was simple enough, and we quickly began interacting with the app’s more native users.

Data privacy

While much ado has been made of hypothetical Chinese spies stealing American users’ data, a cursory glance at the data privacy information for RedNote on the Google Play Store shows that the Chinese social media app collects far less data than Meta’s Instagram.

App experience

Think of RedNote as a platform that offers the attractive visuals of Instagram, the topical updates of X, the shopping experience of Amazon, and even some Google Search functions. Rather than seeing RedNote as a basic TikTok clone, Chinese users have explained that new users can do anything here from shopping for products and looking up hotel/event reviews to joining hobby group chats and launching polls.

Tapping the ‘Translate’ button under posts and comments will be a major activity for foreign users, but many RedNote users kindly upload bilingual captions, graphics, comments, or even robotic voiceovers to aid their non-Chinese audience.

The atmosphere of the app itself is charged, like watching two seas rushing to meet each other, as Chinese users and American users (who are comically called ‘TikTok refugees’) introduce themselves, exchange their views on each other’s governments, and share travel tips for their respective countries. They post pictures of pets, school lunches, nearby views, and other instances of daily life. Americans are trying out goji berries, warm footbaths before bed, and drinking hot water, while Chinese users request homework help, practice their English, and marvel at their international peers’ BMI.

On our end, RedNote taught us how to make stove-charred oranges and spicy steamed egg custard, which were wonderfully soothing during the cool winter evenings. Upon joining a RedNote group chat for those interested in Chinese cuisine, we were warmly welcomed and supplied with video tutorials for cold cures and vegetarian appetisers.

Between India and China, users tried to heal rifts and break down stereotypes about each other. Chinese users questioned the validity of the caste system/vegetarianism and shared pictures of themselves draping sarees. Indian users encouraged Chinese peers to visit their neighbour and recognise its ethnic diversity instead of viewing the nation as a cultural monolith.

Some native RedNote users have embraced their new international followers, greeting them with videos in English or even introductory Chinese lessons. However, others are irritated by the changing dynamics of the app, the spike in foreign users with drastically different posting habits, and varying views regarding online etiquette.

Within fifteen minutes of setting up our account, we were scrolling through a well-curated ‘For You’ feed of static posts, as well as separate feeds for topics such as reading, food, fashion, music, science, travel, and even more. Apart from this, there was a feed full of just livestreams, a dedicated ‘Following’ feed, as well as a feed titled ‘Nearby’ that shows hyper-local content to the user. This could be a handy way to meet new people or join nearby events, but works largely for Chinese residents.

RedNote’s many algorithmic feeds (called “channels”) were a delight to peruse when compared to Instagram’s cluttered and erratic grid-based feed where Reels, video posts, photo posts, and carousels with no thematic connection to each other are all vying for your attention. Even your main Instagram feed is a mix of accounts you are following as well as those you aren’t, leading to irritation and a higher likelihood of missing your friends’ updates as you face a barrage of ads or recommended content.

Not so on RedNote, where Chinese language tutorials, cooking vlogs, watercolour speed-painting sessions, fashion diaries, bookshelf tours, household tutorials, and science photography are neatly compartmentalised so you can switch between topics based on your mood. Some new RedNote users went so far as to claim that the algorithm immediately “figured out” they were gay or transgender, and filled their feed accordingly.

Cultural misadventures do take place: a Chinese user kindly asked Black users for soul music recommendations, but accidentally used a slur to describe the genre of music they wanted to hear. Others have warned Americans not to try out every single Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) cure they come across on RedNote, due to potential health risks and side-effects. Some Indian users have complained about racist comments mocking their homes or cultural practices. RedNote also strictly regulates explicit media, while Instagram is more lenient when it comes to porn-adjacent material. Others have complained about homophobia and transphobia on the Chinese app, or LGBT+-related content being removed.

RedNote’s short-form videos, similar to Reels, did not always work for us when using Wi-Fi, but were fine when the device ran on 4G. They involved a fair share of time-wasting media such as coordinated dances, quirky workout videos, shopping hauls, etc.

Coming to our own posts, we were pleasantly surprised to see how far our media travelled with just 1-2 followers. While even high-quality posts and Reels struggle for oxygen on Instagram due to its algorithm, RedNote is far better at boosting media from new accounts, and users are more likely to react or engage. Even posts that go viral see a larger proportion of positive, or at least constructive, comments when compared to similarly viral posts on Instagram.

Finally, in the RedNote settings, users have the ability to toggle sliders and tweak their algorithm by topic, so that they can create a feed where their favourite topics are strongly reflected when compared to others. By contrast, Instagram’s content preferences menu looks positively ancient.

Verdict

Meta’s Instagram, despite harvesting huge volumes of personal data from its users, has produced an algorithmic multimedia feed that often feels irrelevant, is littered with ads, takes time to roll out key creator features, and favours larger content creators with huge followings.

On the other hand, RedNote takes far less data from its users, but has managed to create multiple engaging and fun-filled feeds catering to a user’s range of interests and diverse passions. Even tiny accounts enjoy exposure for their efforts while it is easy to find help, join group chats, learn new things, and make international friends. There is also significantly less “brain rot” content on RedNote when compared to TikTok and Instagram.

Though it is an app that serves Chinese-speaking users and throws out a number of glitches when activated abroad, RedNote is well worth a try, just to experience a social media feed that refreshes your mind instead of numbing it like TikTok or Instagram.