Mitron, India's TikTok clone, rakes 5 million downloads in weeks
What's the story
As TikTok continues to struggle with the mess of misogynistic content and poor ratings, creators have started embracing a new short-form video-sharing platform called 'Mitron'.
The app looks more like an Indian rip-off of the Chinese video service and is already topping the charts on the Google Play Store.
Here is all you need to know about it.
App
App for creating lip-synced short videos
Launched last month, Mitron promises to be a platform to create short videos that are lip-synced to movie dialogs and songs, just like TikTok.
The app looks and works just like its Chinese counterpart and offers an upward/downward scrolling 'Home' feed of videos, a central tab 'to create, edit, and share' clips, and options to access your own profile and 'Discover' videos by hashtags.
Growth
Some creators have reached nearly 80,000 followers
Even though the app is new, some creators using it have drawn 80,000+ followers with just a few dozen videos.
It reached one million downloads in April and recently surpassed the 5 million mark, according to data from Sensor Tower and listing on Google Play Store.
Mitron has also been sitting among the top 5 'free' Play Store apps, with a 4.7-star rating.
Growth
The name and TikTok's controversies are helping Mitron
The spectacular growth of Mitron appears to be spurred by its unique name; the word 'Mitron' is what PM Modi uses to address the nation in his speeches.
Not to mention, TikTok, the app Mitron is based on, has also been embroiled in a series of debacles, which has pushed a number of Indians to ditch the app, creating more opportunities for its clone.
Issues
TikTok has over a billion downloads with poor ratings
Notably, TikTok has been downloaded by 1 billion+ people, but its ratings have plunged to 1.1 stars and monthly new users have declined to 17 million in May from 35 million in March.
This is due to two main controversies - YouTube v/s TikTok, which has led several YouTube fans to downrate TikTok, and the issue of allowing content justifying acid attacks and rapes.
Information
PM's call for 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' also not helping TikTok
PM Modi has also called the Indian public to create an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' by buying and promoting Indian goods. Now, at a time like this, an Indian competitor for Chinese TikTok (and with the name of 'Mitron') is sure to attract many.