The TikTok saga continues. Apple reinstated the popular app to the App Store on Thursday evening, and a short while later Google followed suit and put it back on the Play Store. The move came after Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly sent a letter to the tech giants assuring them that they will not face any penalties in relation to a law that banned the app in the U.S. last month.
Both Apple and Google removed TikTok from their respective U.S. app stores on January 18, the day before the law banning the app went into effect. Then, on January 20, newly elected President Trump signed an executive order granting TikTok a 75-day reprieve from the ban to give his administration “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.”
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 restoring the app at that time. The attorney general’s letter changed all that.
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, then Apple and Google will have to remove the app from their online stores 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. U.S.-based folks with TikTok on an iOS or Android device can now go ahead and download any TikTok updates that appeared over the last month, while anyone who doesn’t have it can now download it.
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