Tag: TikTok Ban

TikTok is back on the App Store and the Play Store in the U.S.

Posted on by faz_business


Apple and Google on Thursday evening restored TikTok to their respective app stores in the U.S. on Thursday, several weeks after they removed the short video platform following a national security law that banned it in the country.

The companies has also removed other apps owned by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance — video editor CapCut and social media app Lemon8 — and on Thursday restored them as well.

Former U.S. President Joe Biden had passed the law last year, calling on ByteDance to sell TikTok to a company that wasn’t owned by a Chinese entity by January 19. The law was spurred by concerns that the company’s ties to Beijing threatened national security, and would have imposed severe financial penalties on app store operators if they didn’t comply. The Supreme Court had upheld the law on January 17.

But right after he assumed office, current U.S. President Donald Trump on January 20 signed an executive order aimed at delaying the law, and gave a 75-day extension to ByteDance to find a seller.

TikTok promptly restored services in the country, but Apple and Google kept the app out of their stores since there was some confusion regarding the penalties that would be imposed since the law had only been deferred.

For users in the U.S., those who had uninstalled TikTok were not able to reinstall it, but those who didn’t have been able to use it. Earlier this month, TikTok urged Android smartphone users to sideload the app.

Since then, Trump has said that he would like the U.S. to own a 50% share in TikTok through a joint venture with other tech companies. He also inaugurated a sovereign fund that could participate in TikTok’s dealmaking.

Last month, CNBC reported that TikTok’s traffic was restored almost 90% from the pre-ban time according to Cloudflare Radar data. However, rival social networks are trying to bank on this uncertaintly. Both X and Bluesky launched dedicated vertical video feeds while Meta announced a video editing app that would rival Capcut.

According to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower, TikTok was the second most-downloaded app in the country last year, with 52 million downloads.

Apple lists all apps it removed alongside TikTok in the U.S.

Posted on by faz_business


Amid the TikTok shutdown, in a rare move, Apple published a statement and a support document listing all affected apps that are inaccessible in the U.S. The iPhone maker typically doesn’t publish information for when it blocks apps.

Notably, other ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Lemon8 — which surged in the last few months — and Marvel Snap, are also part of the blocked apps. Here is the full list of apps that Apple has removed:

  • TikTok
  • TikTok Studio
  • TikTok Shop Seller Center
  • CapCut
  • Lemon8
  • Hypic
  • Lark – Team Collaboration
  • Lark – Rooms Display
  • Lark Rooms Controller
  • Gauth: AI Study Companion
  • MARVEL SNAP

In the support document, Apple noted that the company is following the law by blocking all these apps.

“Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025,” the company said.

The document also highlights that people who are visiting the U.S. and have the App Store set to a non-U.S. region won’t be able to update the app or purchase in-app items for these apps.

TikTok and other ByteDace apps are banned as a result of a bill passed last year that would force the company to sell the short video app or face a ban. Last week, the Supreme Court upheld that law, resulting in Apple and Google blocking the app late on January 19.