Most Popular Chinese Short-video Apps 2019

Aug 11, 2019, 05:32am2019/08/10 22:46:11 Junjie

Due to the large number of mobile users and short video’s virus spread on social media, short video industry is seeing booming growth in China. According to a QuestMobile report, the total user of short video products in China has reached more than 820 million, which means 7.2 out of 10 mobile internet users are using these apps to record, share or just enjoy videos. Let’s find out hottest Chinese short video apps in 2019.

Short video apps MAU data (source: Questmobile)

Tiktok / Douyin

Company: ByteDance
Launch Date: September 2016
MAU of June 2019: 486 Million (MAU data from MobileQuest )

short video app TikTok (Photo: apple store)

The short video platform TikTok, launched by Chinese tech giant ByteDance in 2016, has taken the world by storm. It is currently one of the most popular social media video apps globally. During the second quarter of 2019, TikTok retains the crown as the most downloaded short video app on App Store and Google Play.

Available in 34 languages, the app offers global users tons of music, amazing filters, special effects and 3D stickers to easily create unique short videos and share with friends and the world in a fast way. Influencers can also use the live-streaming function to interact with their fans.

Except for TikTok, ByteDance has other short video apps targeted different niches: Huoshan and Xigua.

Vigo video / Huoshan video

Company: ByteDance
Launch Date: December 2016
MAU of June: 106 million

Huoshan, known as Vigo video in overseas market, is one of ByteDance-backed video sharing applications. Like other products, Vigo video offers easy-to-use video shooting and editing tools along with a set of special effects, such as the real-time beautifying camera, to attract users. It allows up to 15 seconds’ video sharing and live-streaming interaction.

Xigua video

Company: ByteDance
Launch Date: May 2016
MAU of June: 131 million

Xigua Video is a personalized short video recommendation platform of ByteDance. It mainly uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help people find their favourite videos. Compared with Tiktok, Xigua Video has a clearer video classification so that users can quickly find videos that interest them the most. Unlike Huoshan, Xigua Video hosts longer videos whose length range from 2 minutes to 5 minutes.

Kwai / Kuaishou

Company: Kuaishou
Launch Date: November 2012
MAU of June: 341 million

Kuaishou is another popular photo and video sharing app in China. It is known as Kwai in the overseas market. In an early SensorTower report, Kwai closes gap with YouTube as the second highest grossing photo and video app globally in the second quarter of 2019.

In 2012, Kuaishou transformed itself from a GIF making app “GIF kuaishou” into a short video platform. Users can create photos and short videos of 10 seconds to several minutes, as well as interact with fans in real time live-streaming. Cooking, exercises, dancing and short dramas are all available here.