TikTok App Returns to Apple and Google App Stores in the US

The social network TikTok was initially expected to be banned in the US from January 19, as China’s ByteDance failed to reach an agreement to sell its business. After a few hours of disruption, the platform resumed operations in the US, but the TikTok app only returned to the Apple and Google app stores last Thursday evening.

Image source: Unsplash, Solen Feyissa

On his first day as US President for the second time, Donald Trump ordered a 75-day delay in the ban on TikTok in the country until April 5. During this time, it is planned to find a deal with ByteDance that would allow the American side to gain control over TikTok’s activities in the US. Trump spoke in favor of creating a joint venture in which the US government would own at least 50% of the shares. Even Elon Musk, a close associate of Trump, was mentioned among the likely buyers of TikTok’s American business, but the billionaire denied such rumors.

Yesterday evening local time, American users were able to download and install the TikTok app again from the official Google and Apple app stores. While the Android platform still allows for the possibility of installing apps from third-party sources, allowing such restrictions to be bypassed, the Apple ecosystem is more categorical in this regard. This circumstance has even led to the emergence of speculative offers on the secondary smartphone market, where iPhones with TikTok installed began to be sold in the US for thousands of dollars.

As CNBC notes, TikTok’s nearly month-long absence from official app stores for American users has not prevented the social network from returning about 90% of its user traffic from the level before January 19 of this year, when the ban on downloading and installing TikTok came into effect in the United States.