Recent days have been quite chaotic for TikTok in the U.S. The platform faced a shutdown on Saturday night, resulting in its removal from the App Store by Apple. However, by Sunday afternoon, TikTok had resumed its service in the U.S., attributing this turnaround to the “necessary clarity” provided by President Trump.
Despite TikTok’s renewed availability, it continues to be missing from the App Store. Here’s a summary of this rapidly changing scenario.
A concise timeline of the TikTok events
- In April 2024, President Biden enacted a ban requiring TikTok’s China-linked parent company to divest the application within nine months, or face a potential ban in the U.S.
- The deadline lapsed on January 19, with TikTok opting to suspend its services in the U.S. on January 18 at 10:30 p.m. ET. While the company wasn’t obligated to go offline, it decided to do so voluntarily. Subsequently, TikTok’s partners like Oracle, as well as app store entities like Apple and Google, were given the responsibility to enforce the ban under federal law.
- Shortly after, Apple removed TikTok from its App Store, citing an “obligation to comply with the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates.”
- At approximately 12:30 p.m. on January 19, TikTok announced it was working to “restore service” in the U.S., stating that President Trump had given “the necessary clarity and assurance” to their service providers that there would be no penalties.
Even though TikTok has returned online in the U.S., Apple has yet to reinstate it on the App Store. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have also maintained the app’s absence from their respective platforms. This is due to Oracle and its partners opting to accept the risks of substantial fines based on Trump’s “assurance” that he would not enforce the ban.
It seems that major companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are reluctant to take such risks, as discussed this morning.
Implications for TikTok users
For iPhone users, this situation brings several implications. Firstly, if you already have TikTok installed, you can still use it as Apple did not remove the app from any device, nor did it interfere with access for existing users.
However, TikTok remains unavailable in the App Store, blocking new users from downloading the app. Users who previously deleted TikTok are also unable to reinstall it. Furthermore, TikTok cannot provide updates through the App Store; the last update was issued last week.
Most features within the TikTok app for iPhone are currently operational now that TikTok has restored access. For instance, TikTok’s shopping feature, known as TikTok Shop, is fully functional on the iPhone app, and Apple Pay is available as a payment option.
That said, the situation concerning digital purchases made using Apple’s In-App Purchase system differs slightly.
- In-App Purchases initiated before the federal ban was implemented on Saturday night remain accessible.
- However, new In-App Purchases cannot be processed in the TikTok app on iPhone, as Apple is unable to legally facilitate this under current federal regulations.
- Digital purchases via the TikTok website can still be made, and these can be accessed through the TikTok app on iPhone.
The future for TikTok is still uncertain. While I was drafting this article, President Trump was officially inaugurated. He indicated that he might extend the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 90 days and expressed interest in the U.S. holding a 50% ownership stake in a joint venture involving TikTok. Whether ByteDance is amenable to such terms remains unclear.
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