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You can now download TikTok from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the US. The app has returned to both stores nearly a month after a nationwide ban took effect on Jan. 19.
According to Bloomberg, Google and Apple restored the app after US Attorney General Pam Bondi issued letters assuring them they wouldn’t be fined for hosting it. Until now, both companies risked losing $5,000 per user in penalties.
Despite the AG’s assurance, Google plans to keep the app in its store only until President Trump's 75-day extension on the ban runs out on April 5, Axios reports.
TikTok went dark briefly on the evening of Jan. 18 but was restored after incoming President Trump said he would delay the ban's implementation. The next day, Trump signed an executive order asking the attorney general not to enforce the ban for 75 days. He also said the delay would give him time “to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.”
However, those who deleted the app in the hours that it went dark had no legitimate way to download it again since both Apple and Google removed the app from their stores. TikTok recently encouraged Android users to sideload the app, while some e-Bay users were seen listing phones with TikTok installed for as high as $50,000.
The law in question required TikTok to divest from its Chinese owners or face a ban in the US. Rather than seeking out a buyer, however, TikTok decided to fight the law in court. It lost at every turn, setting up a showdown at the end of President Biden's term. Despite the fact that Trump started this debate himself in 2020 with an executive order that also required a divestiture, he changed his mind once he saw his popularity growing on the video app.
Since taking office, there have been rumors about Oracle and possibly Microsoft (again) taking a stake in TikTok. Last week, Trump also signed an executive order that directs the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce to deliver a plan within 90 days for the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, which is a type of investment fund owned by the government. "We're going to be doing something, perhaps, with TikTok," Trump said when signing the EO.