TikTok owner Bytedance has quietly launched in overseas markets the video-editing app hugely popular in its home territory under the moniker, Viamaker.
Why it matters: The Chinese version of Viamaker, or Jianying, has been among the top 10 most-downloaded free apps on Apple’s App Store in China for more than 90 days, according to data from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
- The app notched 5 million downloads in March, according to Sensor Tower.
- The app’s popularity may give a boost to Bytedance’s other video-streaming offerings, short video apps including the Chinese version of TikTok, known as Douyin, and Xigua, another popular offering.
Details: Bytedance initially launched Viamaker on April 24, according to the app’s page on Google’s Play store, which showed that its downloads exceeded 100,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
- The overseas version of the app is now available for four languages, including English, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese, according to its website.
- The Chinese version was launched around a year ago. Users can log in to the app using their Douyin account and post their video clips to Douyin from the app. Users can also share their videos on the app with other users.
- Viamaker’s video-editing interface is the same as Jianying’s, but it lacks a user account system and the video-sharing function.
Context: The app was developed by Shenzhen Lianmeng Technology, a startup Bytedance acquired in 2018 for $300 million.
- Shenzhen Lianmeng Technology was first famous for its beauty selfie camera app Faceu, which topped the China App Store’s free app chart at the beginning of 2016 and 2017, according to app store tracker Qimai (in Chinese).
- Bytedance has recently announced a major leadership reshuffle with company founder and CEO Zhang Yiming shifting to take charge of the company’s overseas business.
– This article originally appeared on TechNode.
