TikTok has returned to mobile app stores in the United States, though the apps are still technically banned in the US until TikTok is divested from China or the law banning it is repealed.
TikTok is once again available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It’s not clear what changed for the apps to return, and Apple and Google did not give any explanation when asked for comment by NBC News.
TikTok was briefly banned in the United States in January, when the bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) passed in 2024 went into effect. It ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok within 270 days to a group the US doesn’t consider a “foreign adversary,” and since TikTok’s ownership is unchanged, the app went offline in the US.
President Trump signed an executive order that blocked “any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days,” so TikTok is still legally banned in the United States—the Department of Justice and other legal entities are just being told to not enforce the ban. App stores could face extensive penalties if they allowed the app to be downloaded, so it’s possible Google and Apple were waiting for some other guarantees before restoring access.
TikTok’s future in the United States is still uncertain, as the 75-day window can be extended at any time with more executive orders. ByteDance still doesn’t seem interested in selling the app, or at least its US operations. Fully dropping the ban would require Congress to repeal the Act—the Supreme Court already upheld the law before the ban went into effect.
TikTok also recently started distributing the Android app as an APK on its website. iPhone and iPad devices in the US don’t support third-party app stores or sideloading applications, so TikTok can’t work around a US app store ban except by developing a full-featured web app.
Source: NBC News
