TikTok is Working Again in the U.S., But Still Removed From App Store

Well, that didn’t last long. Less than a day after TikTok became temporarily unavailable in the U.S., the app is now functional again. In an in-app notice, TikTok says the app has been restored “as a result of President Trump’s efforts.”

Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the social media platform would be banned. That law went into effect today. TikTok is still owned by ByteDance, so Apple removed the app from the App Store in the U.S., pursuant to the law.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump today said that he “will issue an executive order on Monday” that allows for more time before the U.S. law banning TikTok is enforced. Trump said the order will “also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”

Trump will be sworn in as the 47th U.S. President on Monday, and Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly plans to attend the inauguration.

Based on Trump’s promise, Apple may or may not be safe to restore availability of the TikTok app on the App Store in the U.S., after pulling it on late Saturday. Apple has yet to re-list the app, and it may be waiting to see how the situation unfolds. Apple potentially faced billions of dollars in fines had it kept TikTok available in the App Store in the U.S., so it is obviously navigating this situation extremely carefully due to the risks.

In a support document published today, Apple said it 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,” wrote Apple.

The outgoing White House administration declined to intervene.

TikTok remains available in the App Store in other countries.Tag: TikTok
This article, “TikTok is Working Again in the U.S., But Still Removed From App Store” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Related posts

Latest posts

Mail app for macOS will soon get an overdue AI upgrade

Apple demoed an AI-charged Mail experience months ago, but delayed one of the crucial tricks for Macs. It seems a macOS update will finally serve it in April.

I compared the two of the most powerful mobile chipsets — here’s what happened

The Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 are two of the most popular smartphone chips. I compared them head-to-head.

Qualcomm expands Snapdragon 8 Elite lineup with new 7-core variant

The lower-tier offering comes as Qualcomm is rumored to be working on midrange and overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite variants.

Instagram tries to capitalize on TikTok uncertainty with new ‘Edits’ app

Meta's building quite the reputation for trying to steal users while their competitors are down.

Stuffcool Giga is the Indian brand’s best 65W power bank yet

Stuffcool makes dozens of power banks, and the 20,000mAh Giga is its best yet. This 65W power bank is significantly

The best OnePlus 13R cases for 2025

The OnePlus 13R is the newest and most advanced OnePlus midrange phone around. Keep it safe with one of these great cases.

TikTok goes dark in the US with a bunch of other ByteDance apps

TikTok has shut down in the US, and the app is no longer available to download on mobile. The company has now pinned its hopes on President-elect Donald Trump.

Forget DLSS 4 — this app already does multi-frame generation

DLSS 4 promises multi-frame generation to RTX 50-series GPU, but this app includes the feature for any graphics card.

Everything you need to know about AI agents and what they can do

Agents are specialized language and reasoning models that can work independently to automate repetitive tasks without direct human oversight. Here's everything you need to know about the "next big thing" in generative AI.

Gurman says waning iPhone SE stock could point to a new model

Dwindling stock of the current model means the iPhone SE 4 could be just around the corner, according to Apple analyst Mark Gurman.