The TikTok saga continues. Apple has just returned the popular app to the App Store. The decision was made after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to the tech giant, Bloomberg reported shortly before Apple reinstated the app.
Both Apple and Google removed TikTok from their respective U.S. app stores on January 18, the day before a law banning the app went into effect.
Then, on January 20, newly elected President Trump revealed he’d instructed the attorney general to refrain from enforcing the law for a period of 75 days to give his administration “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.”
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The suspension gave Apple and Google an opportunity to return TikTok to their respective app stores. However, apparently concerned that Trump’s executive order may not have provided sufficient legal protection, both companies decided against reinstating the app at that time.
Many U.S. lawmakers have long been critical of TikTok’s Chinese ownership, claiming the Chinese authorities could force the app’s parent company, ByteDance, to hand over the personal data of some 170 million Americans who use the app.
The law at the center of the TikTok debacle was signed into effect in April 2024. It gave ByteDance a nine-month window to sell the app to a non-Chinese company, a move that lawmakers believe will help to protect American data. Trump’s suspension of the law ends on April 5. If the issue has not been resolved by then, further action by the government or the courts will determine if the ban is reinstated. If it is, Apple will have to remove the app from its online store again.
ByteDance have been vehemently protesting against the law, claiming that user data is securely stored, and that banning it violates free speech rights.
Despite its absence from app stores, U.S. users have still been able to use TikTok. But the longer an app stays off an app store, the longer it goes without updates, which could impact its performance over time. Those with TikTok on an iPhone can now go ahead and download any updates that appeared over the last month, while anyone who doesn’t have it can now download it.
It’s not clear if Google will follow Apple and return TikTok to the Play Store. TikTok recently began offering a way for Android users in the U.S. to sideload the app so that users can get the latest version.