TikTok is likely to be up and running, but for some, an easy mistake still has them locked them out of the app.
The video-sharing platform went dark on Sunday for 12 hours, inciting mass panic amongst content creators as they received notifications that the app was now not available within the US.
While some users theorized it was not the top for TikTok, others thought it was gone for good, removing the app from their phones.
Much to their dismay, when users gained access again quicker than expected, those that deleted the app were unable to re-download it from the App Store.
Desperate TikTokkers begged others to disclose hacks to get the app back onto their devices — some even offered money to purchase a latest phone with the app still installed.
“I deleted TikTok and now I can’t get it back!” one person wrote on X. “I pays someone $5,000 for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with TikTok still installed. DM me.”
On Apple’s support discussion pages and Reddit forums, dozens of disgruntled iPhone users begged for workarounds to redownload the app.
One TikTokker, who goes by Terina, said that she deleted the app from her “most important phone” after it kept failing to hook up with the web after the restrictions were lifted, pondering that, if she deleted and redownloaded the app, it could work higher.
“There’s no option to get it back,” Terina lamented in her TikTok video. “It’s not within the App Store.”
On Jan. 19 — the day the TikTok ban went into effect — Apple released an “unprecedented” statement concerning the availability of ByteDance Ltd. apps, resembling TikTok, on the App Store.
“Apple is obligated to follow the laws within the jurisdictions where it operates,” Apple announced, referencing the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The bill, which “prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing web hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application,” has rendered TikTok — in addition to CapCut, Lemon8, amongst others — unavailable for download or updates in the meanwhile despite access being restored.
“In case you have already got these apps installed in your device, they are going to remain in your device,” Apple stated.
“But they will’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you happen to move to a latest device. In-app purchases and latest subscriptions are not any longer possible.”
While the app remains to be accessible if it was not deleted, it will not be in a position to receive updates from developers which, over time, could make TikTok — utilized by an estimated 170 million Americans — incompatible with Apple’s operating systems and affect the app’s performance and security measures.
It will not be clear when the app can be available for download again. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that granted an extension for TikTok to search out a buyer, giving the platform 75 more days.
His administration will “determine the suitable plan of action with respect to TikTok,” based on Trump, who told reporters on Monday that “TikTok is worthless if I don’t approve it.”
TikTok is likely to be up and running, but for some, an easy mistake still has them locked them out of the app.
The video-sharing platform went dark on Sunday for 12 hours, inciting mass panic amongst content creators as they received notifications that the app was now not available within the US.
While some users theorized it was not the top for TikTok, others thought it was gone for good, removing the app from their phones.
Much to their dismay, when users gained access again quicker than expected, those that deleted the app were unable to re-download it from the App Store.
Desperate TikTokkers begged others to disclose hacks to get the app back onto their devices — some even offered money to purchase a latest phone with the app still installed.
“I deleted TikTok and now I can’t get it back!” one person wrote on X. “I pays someone $5,000 for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with TikTok still installed. DM me.”
On Apple’s support discussion pages and Reddit forums, dozens of disgruntled iPhone users begged for workarounds to redownload the app.
One TikTokker, who goes by Terina, said that she deleted the app from her “most important phone” after it kept failing to hook up with the web after the restrictions were lifted, pondering that, if she deleted and redownloaded the app, it could work higher.
“There’s no option to get it back,” Terina lamented in her TikTok video. “It’s not within the App Store.”
On Jan. 19 — the day the TikTok ban went into effect — Apple released an “unprecedented” statement concerning the availability of ByteDance Ltd. apps, resembling TikTok, on the App Store.
“Apple is obligated to follow the laws within the jurisdictions where it operates,” Apple announced, referencing the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The bill, which “prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing web hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application,” has rendered TikTok — in addition to CapCut, Lemon8, amongst others — unavailable for download or updates in the meanwhile despite access being restored.
“In case you have already got these apps installed in your device, they are going to remain in your device,” Apple stated.
“But they will’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you happen to move to a latest device. In-app purchases and latest subscriptions are not any longer possible.”
While the app remains to be accessible if it was not deleted, it will not be in a position to receive updates from developers which, over time, could make TikTok — utilized by an estimated 170 million Americans — incompatible with Apple’s operating systems and affect the app’s performance and security measures.
It will not be clear when the app can be available for download again. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that granted an extension for TikTok to search out a buyer, giving the platform 75 more days.
His administration will “determine the suitable plan of action with respect to TikTok,” based on Trump, who told reporters on Monday that “TikTok is worthless if I don’t approve it.”
