Android owners in the US will now be able to download TikTok directly from the app’s website. Since Jan. 19, TikTok has been taken off the App Store and Google Play in accordance with the “ban or sell” law. The law, which is officially known as Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, dictates that those who keep TikTok live on app stores will face fines of up to $5,000 per user.
In an executive order issued the day following the announcement of the Act, President Donald Trump stated that app stores would not receive any penalties if they continued to host the app in their stores. These companies, however, seem to have remained cautious about the law. This means that TikTok has now been off app stores for nearly a month, making it impossible for users to download the app to their devices.
To that end, we’ve seen users go to desperate measures to get the app back. This includes buying phones with TikTok already loaded on them at extortionate prices. But now, it’s just a matter of sideloading the app onto your phone, if you have an Android.
In a post on X, TikTok said: “We’re enhancing ways for our community to continue using TikTok by making Android Package Kits available at http://TikTok.com/download so that our U.S. Android users can download our app and create, discover, and connect on TikTok.”
What About iPhones?
It remains to be seen whether TikTok will release another sideloading package for iPhones.
The truth is, it’s a lot more difficult to sideload apps on Apple devices than it is on Androids. This is because Apple has tighter security settings and generally restricts it. In order to sideload an iPhone, you would have to jailbreak it. This would make the device more susceptible to malware and other computer viruses.
So, for those with Apple devices, the waiting game continues.
