After just one month of release, Zynn, a nearly button-for-button clone of TikTok, has become the number one free app in Apple’s App Store and in the top 10 on Google’s Play Store.
Zynn differentiates itself from TikTok with one key twist — it pays users to sign up, watch videos, and convince others to follow suit.
The core interface is identical, and both are oriented around watching short portrait-orientation videos. The big distinction is a countdown timer with a dollar sign in the middle that hovers over every video on Zynn.
The UI is essentially a dumbed down TikTok.
It looks like they ripped most of the initial videos too - most accounts are not from one creator, but related to a specific theme. The dates are also weird, some videos have been around since Feb/March. pic.twitter.com/GIhTSuiz8u
— Turner Novak (@TurnerNovak) May 27, 2020
As you watch videos, the timer fills up and gives you points, which you’re supposed to be able to redeem later as cash or gift cards.
Zynn is the extension of a rivalry over video apps in China. Zynn’s creator, Kuaishou, is a well-funded startup that runs one of the biggest video apps in the country.
The app is second only to Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Kuaishou used the same technique of paying viewers to grow in China.
The company ultimately makes money by selling ads, so long as it brings in more money than it pays out. In the US, Zynn doesn’t currently appear to be running ads.
