UpScrolled, a rising social media platform, has shot past TikTok in the Apple App Store as TikTok users criticize the app over outages, privacy concerns and questions about censorship.
TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance recently finalized a deal to create a majority U.S.-owned joint venture to avoid a potential ban, USA TODAY reports. Some users say they’ve been unable to upload anti?ICE videos, alleging censorship. However, TikTok denies that and instead points to a recent data?center power outage, according to CNN.
Here’s what to know about the UpScrolled.
What is UpScrolled? App surpasses TikTok on Apple’s App Store
UpScrolled is a free and fast-growing social media app that allows users to share messages, photos, and videos and is seen as an alternative to TikTok that’s jumped into the top ranks of U.S. app stores as users look for alternatives amid TikTok outages, privacy concerns, and questions about potential censorship.
As of Jan. 27, 2026, UpScrolled holds the No. 2 spot on the Apple App Store’s top free apps, just behind ChatGPT. TikTok does not appear in the top 25.
UpScrolled says it avoids shadowbans and algorithmic manipulation and appears to maintain a censorship?light environment guided by community rules. The company says the platform was created in response to what its founders describe as “shadowbanning and quiet censorship on mainstream platforms,” according to its website.
Who founded UpScrolled?
Founded by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist, UpScrolled is headquartered in Australia and was launched in 2025. So far, the app has been downloaded about 140,000 times, including about 41,000 downloads in just a few days, according to TechCrunch.
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