The TikTok app has not returned to the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store, ever since it went dark in the US with a ban looming over its head. That means fresh downloads are not possible on Android and Apple smartphones. Things have finally eased, at least for Android fans.
The official TikTok website now lists the software package that lets users download the app directly, instead of an app repository such as the Google Play Store. Third-party websites have hosted the app’s software bundle for a while, but that route usually comes with the risk of malware.
If you are browsing TikTok’s web version on mobile, click on the hamburger menu in the top-left corner of the screen, and in the side panel that opens, scroll down and tap on the download option.
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A safer approach
At the moment, you can download the full version of the app, or the Lite version, which takes up less storage space. The biggest advantage of installing the TikTok app from the company’s official web dashboard is that it’s safe and doesn’t come with any safety caveats.
If it’s your first time downloading an app from a web browser, you might have to grant a one-time trust permission to install the package from that source. Once you agree, the TikTok application will be installed on your Android phone without any issues.
The only hassle is that if an app is not available via the Google Play Store, it becomes cumbersome to seed the latest updates. That means missing out on, or slowing down, new features and security patches to plug vulnerabilities.
There is no clarity, however, when TikTok will return to Google or Apple’s app repositories. One reason could be the massive penalty. App stores and service providers could be fined up to $5,000 per person for violation.
With a few thousand downloads, you are looking at fines worth millions of dollars. TikTok is in the safe zone. For now. Merely a day after a nationwide ban was enforced, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that delayed a blanket US ban for 75 days.
What happens next?
It is unclear what happens once that deadline arrives. There are rumors of a US-based entity taking over TikTok’s local business, with names like Oracle, Microsoft, and even Elon Musk appearing in reports.
A sale may not be as seamless as a simple transfer of ownership for local operations. In fact, the parent company, ByteDance, might possibly put the whole endeavor on cold ice, leaving the US market for good.
“But Beijing is increasingly likely to take a hard-line approach, letting TikTok’s U.S. operations die rather than approving a sale as it holds out for a “grand deal” with the Trump administration that includes larger concessions on trade and tech policy, according to one of the people and analysts,” says a report from The Washington Post.
On the audience side, the frenzy is real. While Android users have finally received some official respite, there is no such relief in sight for iPhone users. Apple doesn’t allow app installation from any source other than its App Store, unless you live in the EU.
That leaves iPhone users in the US without a path for downloading TikTok. The situation got so desperate that used iPhones with the TikTok app pre-installed popped up on online sales platforms for as high as fifty thousand dollars apiece.