TikTok’s fate in the United States remains uncertain to this day. The app stopped working for a few hours after Joe Biden’s bill met its deadline. However, Donald Trump helped to restore it just about 12 hours later. Still, it remained delisted from Apple and Google’s app stores until today. Now, TikTok is making a return to both the Play Store and the App Store in the US.
The platform has been out of app stores in the US for weeks
One of the requirements of the “anti-TikTok law” is that app stores in the US had to delist it. This happened the day before the deadline, set for January 19, was met. ByteDance, the parent company of the short video platform, did not sell its US TikTok stake to a local company or investor as required by the bill. US authorities cited national security concerns and potential espionage or manipulation from China as motives behind the bill.
After the deadline was met, ByteDance shut down TikTok in the US. However, an executive order from Donald Trump extended it to an additional 75 days. The president has not removed the requirement to sell the US TikTok stake, though. In fact, he expects a bidding war, with Microsoft being one of the leading candidates. Still, an extension beyond 75 days is possible, Trump himself confirmed.
TikTok returns to US Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store
Meanwhile, TikTok has announced the return of the app to the App Store and Play Store in an X/Twitter post. It is possible that the delay was because both Apple and Google wanted to be sure that they would not be penalized for listing the app on their platforms. Trump previously stated that TikTok’s partners would not face sanctions if they continued to work with the firm. ByteDance had provided ways to sideload the app on Android devices through its website as a workaround.
TikTok has a massive active user base in the US of around 170 million. It was the second most downloaded app in 2024, racking up over 52 million downloads (52% from the App Store and 48% from the Play Store).
