UpScrolled Sees Spike in Downloads After TikTok’s U.S. Ownership Change

Following TikTok’s recent U.S. ownership shift, a growing number of users are exploring alternative social platforms and one app benefiting from that momentum is UpScrolled.

The social network, which promotes itself as politically neutral, has surged in popularity over the past week. UpScrolled currently ranks 12th overall on Apple’s App Store and sits at No. 2 in the social networking category.

UpScrolled combines elements users already know from platforms like Instagram and X, allowing people to post photos, videos, and text updates, discover new content, and exchange direct messages.

Launched last year by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist, the app was created to give users a space to “freely express thoughts, share moments, and connect with others.” According to the company, its goal is to build a platform owned by its users not controlled by opaque algorithms or external agendas.

“UpScrolled is the foundation for a digital ecosystem that puts power back into the hands of the people  not the corporations,” Hijazi says on the company’s website. “It’s more than just an alternative to Meta, X, or TikTok. It’s a reimagining of what social media should be transparent, accountable, and built so creators, communities, and businesses can thrive independently.”

Available on both iOS and Android, the app is now dealing with a rapid influx of new users and says it’s actively scaling its infrastructure to keep pace.

Data from market intelligence firm Appfigures shows UpScrolled recorded roughly 41,000 downloads between Thursday the day TikTok finalized its U.S. deal and Saturday. That accounts for nearly one-third of the app’s lifetime installs. Since Thursday, UpScrolled has averaged about 14,000 daily downloads, representing a 2,850% increase compared to prior activity.

To date, the app has been downloaded around 140,000 times, with approximately 75,000 installs coming from the U.S.

The company acknowledged the sudden demand in a lighthearted Bluesky post:

“Well, this is new… You showed up so fast our servers tapped out,” the team wrote. “We’re a tiny team building what Big Tech stopped being. Right now we’re scaling on caffeine to keep up with what YOU started.”

The surge follows TikTok’s announcement that it signed a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to form a majority American-owned joint venture. Under the agreement, ByteDance holds less than a 20% stake, while Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX each control 15%. Some users have expressed concerns that the new ownership structure could introduce political influence, particularly tied to former President Donald Trump.

In the days after the deal, TikTok faced criticism from users who alleged political content suppression. Among those raising concerns were Senator Chris Murphy and singer Billie Eilish, who claimed posts critical of ICE were being limited. Others reported difficulty finding information about protests in Minneapolis following the killing of Alex Pretti by border patrol agents.

TikTok has said those issues were the result of an ongoing data center outage that temporarily affected app functionality.

Additional concern emerged after TikTok released an updated privacy policy allowing the collection of GPS location data. That move prompted some users to call for deleting the app altogether and switching to alternatives like UpScrolled, which promises not to shadowban content and to give every post “a fair chance to be seen.”

UpScrolled isn’t alone in seeing a post-takeover boost. Skylight, an open-source TikTok alternative, reports it has surpassed 380,000 sign-ups and continues to grow.