Is TikTok back on App Store? All we know as the short video app returns to US

TikTok, the popular social media app, is back in news as Apple and Google app stores make it available for download in the U.S., according to a Bloomberg report. The reinstating of TikTok comes in the wake of U.S. attorney general Pamela Bondi guaranteeing tech giants Google and Apple on February 13, 2025, that they would not be penalized for having the app available for their users.

TikTok was removed from iOS App Store and the Google Play Store on January 19, although users in the U.S. who already had the app on their phones could continue using it. The move only prevented users who didn’t have the app on their phones from downloading it.

TikTok’s return to the U.S. app stores is garnering lots of reactions from users and non-users alike. An X user (@arianaunext), who was glad to have the app back, wrote:

“Thank goodness, finally. I got a new phone like a week ago and haven’t had it since”

A non-user (@Kella2010) who wasn’t impacted by the news, wrote on X,

“I honestly hardly ever use it so I was never affected by it being taken off the store happy for those who enjoy it though.”

An X user (@stqrglowss) responded satirically to the news, writing:

"the stunt omg”

TikTok’s troubles in the US

A product of Chinese-owned ByteDance, TikTok has faced frequent bans. According to a Silicon Republic report published in August 2020, President Donald Trump, during his first term, cited Chinese companies’ threat to American “national security, foreign policy and economy,” and signed an executive order that would lead to TikTok and WeChat being banned in the U.S. unless they were sold off. However, a U.S. District Judge obstructed the order.

TikTok also faced challenges with the Joe Biden administration. President Biden has passed an Act that would enforce a ban on TikTok if the app was not sold off by its Chinese ownership. The enforcement was due to come into effect on January 19, a day before President Trump took office. TikTok, citing free speech violations for its US users, had disputed the law in court. However, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the law.

Empowered by the law, the US Department of Justice could impose fines on continued use of the app. As users braced themselves for a ban, there was no possibility of extending the January 19 deadline either, given that any extension stipulated that TikTok should have begun the process of divesting itself from its Chinese owner. Since ByteDance was intent on maintaining its ownership of TikTok, a ban seemed imminent.

President Trump, however, had softened up to the app, which he credited with helping him reach youth voters. A meeting between the TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Donald Trump in Florida before the president assumed office led users to believe that a solution against the ban could be in sight.

With Pam Bondi’s letter to Google and Apple, and the re-appearance of the TikTok app in stores, an end to TikTok’s woes might be near. President Trump’s executive order grants a 75-day extension to the app. For now, TikTok and its users have respite until April 5, 2025.