TikTok alternative Skylight soars to 380K+ users after TikTok U.S. deal finalized

In the wake of TikTok's recent ownership changes in the U.S., Skylight—a rising alternative in the short-form video app landscape—is experiencing significant user growth. The platform, which operates on open-source technology, has surpassed 380,000 users, showcasing its appeal during a tumultuous weekend for its competitor. Launched last year and financially supported by notable investors like Mark Cuban, Skylight is designed to mirror TikTok’s vertical video format. Utilizing the AT Protocol, which also powers the decentralized platform Bluesky, Skylight has made impressive strides, reporting over 150,000 videos uploaded by users. The app enables a variety of features including video editing, user profiles, likes, comments, and sharing, alongside custom feeds curated by community members. The surge in Skylight's popularity is evident, with reports of 1.4 million video plays occurring in just one day, reflecting a threefold increase in activity. Sign-ups have surged by more than 150%, along with a 50% rise in returning users and a 40% increase in average video plays. Notably, the app has also seen a doubling in the number of posts created. This rapid growth correlates with rising apprehensions over TikTok's new ownership structure and related technical issues. TikTok's establishment of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was designed to comply with U.S. regulations, allowing the app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to hold less than 20% of the new entity. The deal was prompted by escalating U.S.-China tensions, raising fears about potential national security threats due to data collection and algorithmic influence. Amidst these changes, users have voiced concerns over TikTok’s updated privacy policy, which now includes permissions to track GPS coordinates and references to tracking immigration status. Although this language had previously existed, its renewed attention spurred calls for users to delete the app, leading some to explore alternatives like Skylight. Skylight's CEO, Tori White, noted that the app gained approximately 20,000 new users over the weekend alone. So far this month, the platform has recorded around 95,000 monthly active users. White attributes this growth to Skylight’s commitment to an open and customizable experience, contrasting it with TikTok’s more restrictive approach. Despite its progress, Skylight trails behind TikTok, which boasts 200 million monthly active users in the U.S. Nevertheless, White remains optimistic, emphasizing the importance of creator autonomy and user empowerment in their platform’s design. "We've seen the downsides of a single entity controlling content feeds. Our goal with Skylight is to ensure that creators and users have an irrevocable right to their presence on our platform," she stated.