ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, is preparing to launch TikTok Notes, a new app to compete with Instagram and X. Meanwhile, it has quietly released another application, TikTok Lite, in France and Spain. Available for a few months now in Japan and South Korea, it is a somewhat simplified and more data-efficient copy of its flagship product, which also exists for other successful platforms, such as Facebook and Spotify.
TikTok Lite does have one notable feature, however. Its users can earn money by using it. "You'll be able to take part in various exciting tasks allowing you to accumulate points, which can then be exchanged for rewards," the app writes in its frequently asked questions. These virtual points, available only on Android devices at this stage, are convertible into Amazon vouchers, gift cards via PayPal or currency to spend during lives (live videos).
To earn these rewards, TikTok Lite encourages its users to perform certain actions, thanks to a dedicated dashboard specifically highlighted on its home page. Log in daily, like videos, follow third-party accounts, invite friends and, above all, watch a massive quantity of videos. Each user is presented with a daily target of 3,600 coins (€0.36), equivalent to an hour spent consuming new content, with reward levels and an omnipresent on-screen gauge that fills up as viewing time progresses.
Dubbed "Coin App" by its developers, as revealed by specialist magazine The Information, TikTok Lite has the look and feel of a mobile video game, showering its players with rewards according to their activity to keep them coming back. For TikTok, it is all about building loyalty among its users, luring in new ones and bolstering its business model based on advertising and microtransactions. "Only users aged 18 or over can collect points," said a company spokesperson to Le Monde, noting that this feature is currently in a testing phase.
The approach of this new application is nonetheless questionable given that it encourages users to increase their screen time and scroll endlessly through videos. Simply watching just one video in a loop does not increase the rewards gauge. Moreover, the latter only appears on the application's "For You" and "Followed" algorithmic feeds, so videos found using a search do not earn points. The users have no choice. Only viewing content proposed by the application is rewarded.
TikTok has, however, put in place a number of safeguards. Firstly, there are features similar to those already offered by the flagship app, aimed in particular at helping internet users limit their screen time. Additionally, it is not possible to exceed a certain daily cap on rewards, and rewards cannot be changed into cash more than once a day. Above all, users wishing to take advantage of the system must prove they are over 18 by means of an ID card, facial photo or bank transaction.
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