PRODUCT RESEARCH
MeloShort
This research note is kept separate from the app profile so the main page stays focused on ranking data.
One-line positioning
MeloShort is a free vertical short-drama app published by the Singapore entity HALOFUN PTE. LTD., featuring 1-2 minute episodes marketed as fully free to watch and monetized through ads, with roughly 23.8 million global downloads in 2025 (rank 15 among short-drama apps). Multiple industry reports place it, together with the same developer's ShortsWave, under Nanjing WebEye, while direct equity linkage between HALOFUN and Nanjing WebEye is not yet visible in public registry records.
Product & company
The Google Play developer and the official site both point to the Singapore company HALOFUN PTE. LTD. (ACRA UEN 202132801G, incorporated in 2021), which also publishes ShortsWave, FancyNovel, eStory and eRomance under the same account. Multiple industry reports attribute MeloShort and ShortsWave to Nanjing WebEye (Nanjing Webeye Information Technology Co., Ltd., legal representative Xu Jian, wholly owned by WEBEYE GLOBAL LIMITED of Hong Kong). Direct equity linkage between HALOFUN and Nanjing WebEye is not yet visible in public registry records, so the relationship is marked as related but still subject to further verification. The iOS version is published under an individual developer account ('Tingting Qiao'), re-skinned from the novel app NovelNow.
Business model & format
Free with IAA: the official description says all episodes are free to watch, monetized through inter-episode ads, with users able to earn in-app coins by watching ads to temporarily remove ads. The iOS version offers Premium Plus subscriptions (weekly/annual) to remove ads. It is a free, traffic-driven product with light IAP and very low revenue per download, relying on ad fill and eCPM for payback.
Growth & market
Launched on Google Play in October 2024 with 10M+ installs; about 23.8 million global downloads in 2025, ranking 15th among short-drama apps (up 41 places), with another industry estimate above 30 million. North America is a fast-growing region, emerging markets such as Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico scale volumes, and the app also reached the dual-platform download top 15 in Japan. Growth relies heavily on paid user acquisition and ad fill.
Risks & watchpoints
The entity chain is not fully closed: direct equity or contractual linkage between HALOFUN (Singapore) and Nanjing WebEye is not visible in public registry records; the link rests on store developer information plus multiple industry attributions and needs continued verification. The iOS version is a re-skin of the novel app NovelNow under the individual account 'Tingting Qiao', creating inconsistent entities across platforms and store-policy/brand-consistency risks. The privacy policy does not name a legal entity; content is mostly Chinese-audio titles with subtitles, raising copyright-compliance concerns; free-mode revenue is far below leading paid products.