Twenty-six days after it was expelled from US app stores, Tiktok returned to the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Apple and Google have taken back the Chinese-owned video after receiving a letter from US prosecutor Pam Bandi assuring the companies that they will not be fined for hosting it, Bloomberg First reported Thursdayaud.
Google confirmed to Wired that it brought back Tiktok, but was not immediately elaborated on the reason. Apple, Tiktok, and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bondi was sworn in office last week.
The return ends a few weeks for Tiktok. The platform disappeared from US app stores And darkened for users nationwide on January 19, hours before the ban came into force. It sprinkled back to life Later that day, after Tiktok executives received their own assurances from then-president-elect Donald Trump, he will give more time to reach a resolution. If you already had the application on your phone, it worked usually before that same afternoon.
After President Donald Trump took office on 20 January, one of his first Executive orders Gave Tiktok. “I instruct the Attorney General not to take any action to perform the action for 75 days of today to allow my management to determine the appropriate course forward,” the order reads.
Google and Apple, however, continued to keep Tiktok outside their markets, meaning that new users could not install it. This is because the law experiencing Tiktok’s ban – the protection of Americans against foreign opposing control applications Act (PAFACA) – says that US technology companies cannot “distribute, maintain or update” any Bytedance programs, Tiktok’s parent company. Those who face the perspective of strong fines. That means not just Tiktok, But a dozen programsEven popular offers such as Lemon8, Capcut, and Marvel Snap, were inaccessible to download for more than three weeks. (Those programs also returned to the app stores on Thursday.)
While Tiktok was unavailable, users searching for it on the iOS App Store were greeted with the following message: “Tiktok and other Bytedance programs are not available in the country or region you are in.” A “Learn more” link sent users to a long article explaining why the app disappeared and reminder that they will not get updates as long as the ban was in place. The Google Play Store, meanwhile, said “Downloads for this app is paused due to current US legal requirements.” Seekers were directed to competing programs, some of whom saw Bump in usage.
PAFA Allows The president to extend the deadline to ban Tiktok 90 days ago if he testifies to the congress that “significant progress” was made an agreement to sell the application to a non-Chinese company.
Just before taking office, Trump proposed that the United States could have 50 -percent ownership of Tiktokwithout specifying what he intended. The president is said to be Recently tapped Vice President JD Vance to lead the negotiation between Bytedance and potential buyers. One Reported scenario would involve Oracle and a group of other investors taking control of the platform.
