UpScrolled surge amid TikTok backlash has seen the Australian social app climb to number two in the Apple App Store’s social media category on Monday, placing it ahead of TikTok, which ranked third. Launched in July of last year by Issam Hijazi, a former IBM employee who also worked as a consultant at Oracle, the platform reported that its servers were briefly overwhelmed by an influx of new users this week. Since Thursday, UpScrolled has averaged about 14,000 daily downloads, roughly 29 times its pre-surge average of about 460 installs per day; between Thursday and Saturday it recorded about 41,000 downloads and reported lifetime installs of around 140,000. UpScrolled states that it does not censor content, does not shadowban, does not prioritize political or commercial agendas, and does not boost posts through paid promotion; posts from followed accounts appear in chronological order while the discovery feed ranks content by engagement.
UpScrolled was launched in July of last year by Issam Hijazi, who is named as the app’s founder. Hijazi previously worked as an employee at IBM and also worked as a consultant at Oracle. The published account identifies these elements of Hijazi’s professional background in connection with the app’s founding. The article does not provide additional details about Hijazi’s responsibilities at IBM or the nature and duration of his consultancy work at Oracle. These points summarize the available information on UpScrolled’s launch timing and the founder’s prior employment.
UpScrolled’s platform experienced a brief period this week when its servers were overwhelmed by a rapid influx of new users, causing intermittent errors and access problems. The company acknowledged the strain in platform messages, stating, “Crazy load on our servers. So exciting! haven’t slept in two days folks lol,” and noting the volume of incoming traffic. In a subsequent message UpScrolled wrote, “Sorry about the errors and glitches. We are increasing our capacity to handle the load. We expect things to become more stable in the next 12-24 hours.” The communications described both the immediate server load and the company’s operational response to expand capacity. No further technical details or timelines beyond the 12- to 24-hour stabilization expectation were provided in the available account.
UpScrolled states that it does not censor content, does not shadowban users, does not prioritize political or commercial agendas, and does not boost posts through paid promotion. The company says visibility on the platform relies on user engagement. The article presents these points as the app’s stated approach to content moderation and content visibility. The article does not provide additional details about how these policies are implemented or enforced.
Posts from accounts that a user follows appear in chronological order. The discovery feed ranks content by engagement. The article sets this distinction between a chronological followed feed and an engagement-ranked discovery feed without further elaboration. The article does not provide technical details on the engagement metrics or the ranking algorithm.
Since Thursday, UpScrolled has averaged about 14,000 daily downloads, about 29 times higher than its pre-surge average of roughly 460 installs per day. Between Thursday and Saturday the app recorded about 41,000 downloads. The platform’s lifetime installs were reported at around 140,000. The article does not provide a daily breakdown beyond these aggregate figures. The article does not specify whether these install figures cover both iOS and Android platforms.
RedNote recorded about 292,000 U.S. downloads in its first three days; UpScrolled’s first three days totaled about 41,000, or roughly 14% of RedNote’s three-day total. Randy Nelson, Head of Insights and Media Resources at AppFigures, said, “UpScrolled’s increased adoption appears to be more organic, driven largely by word of mouth on TikTok and X before any major media coverage.” He also said, “That said, it’s still too early to project even the app’s near-term performance, but we’ll be tracking it in order to provide that data as soon as possible.”
The UpScrolled surge mirrors a spike in interest seen last January ahead of Trump’s second inauguration, when users flocked to RedNote. RedNote recorded about 292,000 U.S. downloads in its first three days, while UpScrolled’s first three days totaled about 41,000, or roughly 14% of RedNote’s three-day total. The latest migrations follow turbulent years for TikTok in the U.S. The article does not provide further detail on the specific events or timelines that constitute those turbulent years.
Randy Nelson, Head of Insights and Media Resources at AppFigures, commented on UpScrolled’s adoption. He said, “UpScrolled’s increased adoption appears to be more organic, driven largely by word of mouth on TikTok and X before any major media coverage.” Nelson also said, “That said, it’s still too early to project even the app’s near-term performance, but we’ll be tracking it in order to provide that data as soon as possible.” The article does not include additional expert analysis or independent projections beyond Nelson’s statements.
UpScrolled recently rose to number two in the Apple App Store’s social media category, ranking ahead of TikTok, which was third. The surge in users briefly overwhelmed UpScrolled’s servers, with the company reporting heavy load and stating it was increasing capacity to stabilise the platform within 12–24 hours. Since Thursday the app has averaged about 14,000 daily downloads, roughly 29 times its pre-surge average of about 460 installs per day; between Thursday and Saturday it recorded about 41,000 downloads and reported lifetime installs of around 140,000. UpScrolled states that it does not censor content, does not shadowban, does not prioritise political or commercial agendas, and does not boost posts through paid promotion; posts from followed accounts appear in chronological order while the discovery feed ranks content by engagement. Observers noted that the UpScrolled surge mirrors a spike in interest seen ahead of Trump’s second inauguration when users flocked to RedNote, and Randy Nelson of AppFigures said, “UpScrolled’s increased adoption appears to be more organic,” while adding that “it’s still too early to project even the app’s near-term performance.”
