- Tiktok is now available again in the App Store and Google Play Store in USA
- This follows a 75-day delay to the ban of the app that saw the service paused on January 18
- It is not entirely clear if an agreement will be obtained to ensure that Tiktok’s continued availability
Tiktok has been made available in the App Store and the Google Play Store again in the US after the app was delisted when a ban was held by the Supreme Court came into force on January 18.
This means that you can download Tiktok for free again, whether you are on an iOS device like iPhone 16 or an Android hand set, such as Google Pixel 9 or Samsung Galaxy S25.
The app, which boasted more than 150 million users in the US from March 2023, was banned nationwide due to concern about users’ privacy and interference from elements of the Chinese state.
However, President Donald Trump has made it something of a personal mission to keep Tiktok available in the United States; He signed an executive order to postpone the ban by 75 days during his first days back in office and ultimately hopes to force the sale of at least 50% of Tiktok’s US business to a US owner.
Although Tiktok was able to resume the service on January 19, the app has been missed in app stores so far.
As Guardian notes, the wait between Trump’s delay of the Tiktok ban and the app’s return to digital stores may have come as a result of Apple and Google’s desire for insurance that they would not be prosecuted for hosting it.
Tiktok is owned by the Chinese media company ByteDance, which is not owned by the Chinese state or the Chinese Communist Party, but is Subject to the laws and regulations introduced by both. This has been a point of contention in American politics since Tiktok became prominent in the late 2010s.
Ironically, the idea of banning Tiktok was originally fled by President Donald Trump toward the end of his first term of office – because of national security concerns, Trump signed a executive order to force city dancing to dispose of the service but this was overturned by A court’s injunction and the lap of the incoming Biden Presidency.
Tiktok is back – what now?
So what for the world’s fifth most used social media platform?
If the current arrangement is valid, bytance will divest half of Tiktok to American ownership or face when the app is banned.
However, Trump signaled recently that an extension to the deadline could be on the cards. As Pakinomist narrator, Trump suggested to journalists in the oval office that an extension would be considered, but that he did not think it would be necessary.
Trump added that he would “make it worth it for China to do,” and suggested that a partial sale of Tiktok to the United States would be in the interest of the Chinese state.
Bytance has so far remained firm in that Tiktok is not for sale.
However, Trump also seemed to have his time frames confused during the same press conference, referring to a not yet unexplained period of “90 days”.
Few potential buyers have stated any kind of serious intention to buy Tiktok. According to AP, the current small list of investors Frank McCourt and Kevin O’Leary, former Finance Minister Steven Mnuchin and Internet personality Jimmy Donaldson (better known as Mrbeast).
There has also been mumbling that suggests that Elon Musk can step in to buy the place, but this is a quieter rumor.
In the end, it is difficult to predict whether Tiktok will stay too good as this depends on mutual agreement between a potential buyer, the US government, city dancing and the Chinese state.
Accident for tiktok -phone retailers
One of the most biting effects of the Tiktok ban was the emergence of a used market for smartphones with the app still installed.
As noted by Game Rant, Tiktok phones were listed on eBay for as much as $ 25,000 (about £ 20,000 / AU $ 40,000) in the wake of the ban, and apparently targeted users who had no other access to the app.
While it is difficult to assess how many-if these phones are actually sold, one can imagine that Tikkok’s performance at official app stores will cause a larger price collapse for these ridiculously expensive used devices.
At least that’s what I hope for – nobody in their real mind should sell or buy a smartphone for this kind of money.
In any case, whether you have one of the best phones that money can buy or keep it simple with one of the best cheap phones, Tiktok is available again. What are you doing from this whole situation? Do you think Tiktok stays too well? Tell us that in the comments below.
