TikTok Restored to Apple, Google App Stores

TikTok has returned to Apple and Google app stores in the U.S. after former President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement of a law that would have banned the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divested its U.S. operations. The app became available for download again Thursday evening, nearly a month after it was removed following a Supreme Court ruling upholding the law.

The law, signed by then-President Joe Biden in April 2024, required ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. business to an American or allied owner by Jan. 19 or face removal from app stores and internet service providers. TikTok shut down its service temporarily on Jan. 18 in response to the looming deadline, a move that removed the app from both Apple's App Store and Google Play.

"I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security," Trump posted on Truth Social on Jan. 19, one day before taking office. He later signed the order on Jan. 20, extending the law's deadline by 75 days to April 5.