TikTok, an app where one can create short Vine-like videos for the world to watch, was downloaded more times than Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube in the United States.

Unlike Vine though, TikTok videos are primarily about users lip-syncing to popular movie dialogues, dancing, doing funny stuff, magic tricks, and more.

TikTok has been growing at a stellar pace over the last few months signifying its increasing popularity. The app was acquired by China’s ByteDance in 2017 and then merged with Musical.ly earlier this year.

TikTok first launched in September 2016 and had around 150 million users before ByteDance merged it with Musical.ly for a combined user base of around 250 million users. It is estimated to have reached a user base of around 500 million users in June this year.

https://youtu.be/PYUnwa7SM70

In September, TikTok managed to increase its install user base by around 31 percent and reached a combined download of 3.81 million from the App Store and Google Play. With this feat, it managed to beat Facebook which had a combined download of 3.53 million. From October 2017, TikTok’s U.S. installations have grown by 237 percent.

Currently, TikTok sits higher than Facebook, Messenger, and many other popular apps on the App Store. It is only behind the likes of Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube — a clear sign of just how popular it has become. The catch? The app’s engagement rate is not as high as Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. As per Apptopia, TikTok has around 29 percent engagement rate which is significantly lower than Facebook’s 96 percent, Instagram’s 95 percent, and YouTube’s 95 percent.

A key reason behind TikTok’s increase in popularity is the heavy advertising of the app across Facebook, Google, and other advertising platforms.

Are you using TikTok on a regular basis? Or this is the first time you have heard about the app?

Download: TikTok