TikTok is likely to be up and operating, however for some, a easy mistake nonetheless has them locked them out of the app.
The video-sharing platform went darkish on Sunday for 12 hours, inciting mass panic amongst content material creators as they obtained notifications that the app was now not out there within the US.
Whereas some customers theorized it was not the tip for TikTok, others thought it was gone for good, eradicating the app from their telephones.
A lot to their dismay, when customers gained entry once more faster than anticipated, those that deleted the app had been unable to re-download it from the App Retailer.
Determined TikTokkers begged others to disclose hacks to get the app again onto their gadgets — some even provided money to purchase a brand new cellphone with the app nonetheless put in.
“I deleted TikTok and now I can’t get it again!” one individual wrote on X. “I’ll pay somebody $5,000 for an iPhone 16 Professional Max with TikTok nonetheless put in. DM me.”
On Apple’s assist dialogue pages and Reddit boards, dozens of disgruntled iPhone customers begged for workarounds to redownload the app.
One TikTokker, who goes by Terina, stated that she deleted the app from her “important cellphone” after it stored failing to connect with the web after the restrictions had been lifted, considering that, if she deleted and redownloaded the app, it could work higher.
“There’s no solution to get it again,” Terina lamented in her TikTok video. “It’s not within the App Retailer.”
On Jan. 19 — the day the TikTok ban went into impact — Apple launched an “unprecedented” assertion concerning the availability of ByteDance Ltd. apps, resembling TikTok, on the App Retailer.
“Apple is obligated to observe the legal guidelines within the jurisdictions the place it operates,” Apple introduced, referencing the Defending Individuals from Overseas Adversary Managed Purposes Act.
The invoice, which “prohibits distributing, sustaining, or offering web internet hosting companies for a overseas adversary managed software,” has rendered TikTok — in addition to CapCut, Lemon8, amongst others — unavailable for obtain or updates in the interim regardless of entry being restored.
“If you have already got these apps put in in your machine, they may stay in your machine,” Apple acknowledged.
“However they will’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored for those who transfer to a brand new machine. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are now not potential.”
Whereas the app continues to be accessible if it was not deleted, it’s not in a position to obtain updates from builders which, over time, might make TikTok — utilized by an estimated 170 million Individuals — incompatible with Apple’s working programs and have an effect on the app’s efficiency and safety features.
It isn’t clear when the app can be out there for obtain once more. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an government order that granted an extension for TikTok to discover a purchaser, giving the platform 75 extra days.
His administration will “decide the suitable plan of action with respect to TikTok,” in accordance with Trump, who advised reporters on Monday that “TikTok is nugatory if I don’t approve it.”