Skip to Content

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

by

Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.

2024 App Store Awards
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google risked enormous fines if they did not remove access to TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps.

In a support document published today, Apple said it is "obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates."

Apple removed TikTok, and other ByteDance-owned apps such as CapCut and Hypic, pursuant to the law that required them to.

"Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025," wrote Apple.

Apple's support document also states that foreign visitors to the U.S. may have limited access to ByteDance app functionality due to the law.

iPhone and iPad users in the U.S. who already installed TikTok can no longer use the app as of late Saturday, as TikTok has made the app "temporarily unavailable." Outside of the U.S., the app remains available on the App Store and is fully functional.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office this Monday, January 20, and he reportedly might give TikTok a 90-day reprieve on the ban. However, it is not clear if TikTok will ever be able to operate again in the U.S. under ByteDance ownership, or if it will simply be given more time to sort out American ownership.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: TikTok

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Mock Quick

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Be Like Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Sunday March 15, 2026 9:42 am PDT by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that iOS 27 will be similar to 2009's Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that one of Apple's biggest priorities is bug fixes for improved performance and stability. During WWDC 2008's State of the Union, Apple showed a slide that said Mac OS X Snow Leopard had "0 new features," as it opted to focus on performance and...
Read Full Article • 258 comments
AirPods Max 2 Feature

Apple Announces AirPods Max 2 With H2 Chip and More

Monday March 16, 2026 6:12 am PDT by
Apple today unveiled AirPods Max 2, with key upgrades including the H2 chip, increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation. The new AirPods Max have the same overall design as the previous generation, with most of the new features coming from the upgrade to the H2 chip:- Adaptive ...
Read Full Article • 329 comments
apple design award 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Design Award Winners Ahead of WWDC 2025

Tuesday June 3, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement. The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category: Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game) Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
Read Full Article • 25 comments

Top Rated Comments

DMG35 Avatar
DMG35
15 months ago

The Chinese ban our stuff, why not tit-for-tat?
Because we're supposed to be a free country.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
surfzen21
15 months ago

This is just ridiculous to see in America.
This is exactly how dictatorship established in russia — first they ban or restrict something that seems so insignificant. A bunch of people complain online but no one takes a real action.
This is how those who handle the power realize they can do basically anything. And they might do that. It might not. But do you really wanna check out where they would draw the line that won’t affect you personally? I am as a citizen of the country that allowed all of that **** to happen and then just invaded the other country. This crap escalates because these old men are this hungry.
Yeah, some of you might say it’s just an app, no big deal, there are more serious issues within the country than a ban of TikTok and you might be right. But this is how they take away your power to address the issues.
Please, take care and keep your eyes wide open!
So the American government cannot take action to prevent a foreign adversary from conducting a honeypot operation on American citizens and then using that data to conduct psychological warfare?

TikTok is the online version of a white van with free candy painted on the outside. Free candy sounds great and people like free candy but then don't like what actually comes next.

China does not have the military dominance to take on the US 1v1. They can and are very good at the new type of warfare that is emerging. Its psychological and its going to be very bad.

China is actively preparing to take Taiwan in the next 2-4 years. Their preparations for this are very transparent for anyone paying attention.

When this eventually happens, they are going to have to wage an information warfare too.

The fact that they have a direct connection to a big portion of the American youth is very frightening.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I
icanhazapple
15 months ago
No matter what country you live in - you are the product. You are the stock that is farmed for others economic benefit.

In China this benefit is managed by the political elite. In the US, this is managed by a kleptocratic alliance between the political and business elite.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
grantishere
15 months ago

What will all the kids do now over the weekend? 🤷‍♂️
Play outside like we did as kids?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
P
PowerButton
15 months ago
It is rather interesting that X [Twitter] is banned in China yet they try to justify TikTok in the US.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cjsuk Avatar
cjsuk
15 months ago

Because we're supposed to be a free country.
A free country doesn’t exist. And it’s a silly idea anyway. Utterly naive.

All civilised society should aim for a functional democracy where the voters are well educated and well informed.

TikTok, and notably most other big tech owned or managed spaces, are breeding grounds for democracy to be well misinformed.

…as indicated by the google trends in the US shooting through the roof for “what’s an oligarchy?”
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments