A pair of Chinese-made social apps, Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, have taken over the top two positions on Apple Inc.’s iPhone download charts in the US as users seek out alternatives to TikTok ahead of an imminent ban.

TikTok could be outlawed in the U.S. as soon as Jan. 19 over concerns about its Chinese ownership, unless it gets a reprieve from the Supreme Court or if Beijing-based parent company ByteDance complies with a federal law forcing it to sell its stake in the app.

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese social media app RedNote has been thrust into the limelight after more than half a million TikTok users recently joined the platform in protest against a likely imminent ban on the short video app in the United States.

This influx coincides with a January 19 deadline for TikTok to either divest its U.S. operations or face removal from app stores.

As a potential US ban on TikTok looms, some users of the video platform are already migrating... to other Chinese-owned lifestyle apps. Two apps owned by Chinese companies, Xiaohungshu (which translates to "little red book" and has been called Red Note) and Lemon8,