ๅญ—่Š‚่ทณๅŠจๆŽจๅ‡บ็•ช่Œ„ๅฐ่ฏด๏ผŒไฝ†ไบงๅ“่ฎพ่ฎกๅ‡ ไนŽๆ˜ฏ็ฑณ่ฏป็š„็ฟป็‰ˆ โ€“ Jiemian

What happened: Bytedance has reportedly released a reading app, โ€œFanqie Xiaoshuo,โ€ which translates literally as โ€œTomato Novel,โ€ according to media outlet Jiemian. The app offers a wide array of novels for free but includes pages of ads within the books. As of writing, it ranked fourth among free reading apps on Appleโ€™s China App Store. Records Jiemian obtained from app database website Qimai.com showed that the developer previously developed a reading app with a name that translates to โ€œTomato Readingโ€ with a bundle IDโ€”the identification code for apps in Appleโ€™s ecosystemโ€”that is related to Bytedance. The record has since disappeared from the website, and the company had no comment, according to Jiemian.

Why itโ€™s important: The addition of a novel-based platform further expands Bytedanceโ€™s product lineup. Although the app received a number of bad reviews for frequent ads and low-quality content, the fact that it is ranked so highly two months after first appearing on the App Store indicates that it is quickly gaining users. Bytedance has recently made major moves to diversify its business, such as establishing an internal platform to support its live-streaming services and acquiring a Shanghai-based mobile games company.

Tony Xu is Shanghai-based tech reporter. Connect with him via e-mail: tony.xu@ovau.ip-ddns.com

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