HomeAUApple and Google add TikTok back to their US app stores.

Apple and Google add TikTok back to their US app stores.

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Google Play has restored TikTok to the US app store, following promises by President Donald Trump to save the app and an executive action delaying the enactment of a ban on the wildly popular social media platform.

Bloomberg and CNBC also reported that Apple will restore the app to its app store today.

TikTok was available on app stores as of today, according to CNN attempts to download the app on different phones.

The TikTok app logo is shown on an iPhone on January 17 in Houston. Google Play said it restored TikTok to the US app store on February 13.
The TikTok app logo is shown on an iPhone on January 17 in Houston. Google Play said it restored TikTok to the US app store on February 13. (CNN)

TikTok’s uncertain future stems from a law signed last April by then-President Joe Biden, which gave China’s ByteDance 270 days to sell the app to an owner from the United States or one of its allies or face a ban, based on US national security concerns.

The day before the blackout, the Supreme Court upheld the ban.

TikTok shut down for roughly 14 hours in January but attributed its quick return to promises made by the then president-elect Trump to keep the platform working in the US.

But its 175 million users still ran into at least one problem: the app was, as of that January weekend, unavailable on Apple and Google Play stores, along with Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance.

Apple previously said in a statement it removed TikTok from the app store because of the ban, but the app remained available for customers who already downloaded it.

Tech companies faced consequences

Trump signalled before taking office that he would sign an executive action delaying enforcement of the ban and TikTok had credited him for the reason the app came back.

“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on January 19.

He added that he would not hold TikTok’s technology partners — including Apple, Google and cloud computing company Oracle — liable for continuing to make the app available until he signed the order.

President Donald Trump speaks as Tulsi Gabbard is sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump had vowed to save TikTok. (AP)

The law required only that TikTok’s technology partners — including Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s content in the United States, and Apple and Google, which host the app on their app stores — stop supporting the app or face fines of up to $US5000 ($7900) per person who has access to the platform starting on Sunday.

Trump took office the next day, on January 20.

He signed the executive order later that day, giving TikTok another 75 days to find a new owner.

Trump’s promises to save TikTok

The action says the 75-day delay would help the Trump administration attempt to “determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans”.

Trump told reporters that he changed his mind on TikTok because he “got to use it.”

“And remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked what changed his mind.

“If China is going to get information about young kids out of it, to be honest, I think we have bigger problems than that.”

He also told reporters the action that he signed on TikTok gave him the right to either “sell it or close it”.

“I have the right to either sell it or close it, and we’ll make that determination,” Trump added.

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