TikTok Returns To Apple And Google App Stores After A Month-Long Hiatus

TikTok, the Chinese short video platform, has reappeared on the Apple and Google app stores following a month-long hiatus.

What Happened: TikTok officially announced that the app was restored to the app stores of Apple Inc. AAPL and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG on Thursday evening. The app was taken down on Jan 18, in response to TikTok’s decision to temporarily halt its services in the U.S. due to a new national security law.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, signed by former President Joe Biden in April, mandated that China-based ByteDance sell its U.S. TikTok operations by Jan 19 or risk a ban. The law also warned about strict penalties on internet service providers such as Apple, Google, and Oracle Corporation ORCL.

TikTok shut down its U.S. operations, arguing that the law infringed on the First Amendment rights of its 170 million American users. In January, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration, asserting that divestiture was required due to national security concerns over TikTok’s data collection practices and its Chinese connections.

The app resumed operations after President Donald Trump postponed the ban’s enforcement and extended the law’s deadline by 75 days.

Apple and Google made the app available in their app store once they received a confirmation letter from US Attorney General Pam Bondi that the ban would not be enforced immediately, reported Bloomberg.

Why It Matters: Despite its absence from the app stores for almost a month, TikTok had regained about 90% of its pre-law traffic by late January, according to data from Cloudflare Radar.

The return of TikTok to the app stores comes after a series of events that unfolded in the past month. Trump stated his preference for the U.S. to hold a 50% stake in a joint venture to “save TikTok.” Vice President J.D. Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz have been appointed to oversee a deal to save TikTok.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, publicly dismissed the idea of acquiring TikTok, stating his preference for building companies from scratch. His comments were made in late January, around the same time President Trump signed an executive order to postpone the enforcement of a ban on TikTok.

According to data from the Sensor Tower in January, with a monthly user base of 115 million in the U.S., TikTok surpasses Snapchat SNAP, Pinterest PINS, and Reddit RDDT. Angelo Zino, Senior Vice President of CFRA Research estimated the valuation of TikTok’s US operations between $40 billion to $50 billion.