TikTok Failed To Return To The US App Store Despite The Ban Being Lifted Nearly a week after its temporary lifting of the ban in the US, TikTok has not returned to the Apple and Google app stores. The app was removed from both stores after the US ban or sale law went into effect on January 19. The law shut down the service in the US.
According to The Verge, TikTok was back up and running in the US within about 14 hours of the shutdown. However, the app has not yet returned to the mobile app store, nearly a week after the platform was launched. Apple and Google risk paying billions of dollars in fines if they allow TikTok to continue to operate. It is unclear whether President Donald Trump’s executive order to suspend the ban will eliminate this risk.
Apple and Google have not commented on when TikTok will return or whether it will be available again. Apple and Google have issued statements about the removal of TikTok, as well as other ByteDance apps such as Lemonade and Marvel Snap. However, the companies have not commented since.
TikTok has also not commented on the matter. However, Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner posted on X on Friday evening that “we estimate that Marvel Snap will return to the App Store next week, barring any disruptions.” Second Dinner co-founder Ben Broad said in response to a question about next month’s update, “We expect it to be in the App Store before then.”
Also, old users have not received the update. This means that TikTok is not able to send updates to add new features or fix bugs such as security vulnerabilities.
The app is running normally on the devices of users who had TikTok installed on their phones before the ban. However, users who uninstalled or did not install the app are not able to use TikTok. Therefore, iPhones with TikTok installed are being sold for millions of dollars on platforms like Facebook Marketplace and eBay. Since they are not able to use the app, some users are using TikTok from the web version.
