Apple, Google restore TikTok app in US after Trump halts enforcement of ban

The Chinese video app briefly went dark last month to comply with a federal ban

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Apple and Google have restored TikTok to their respective US app stores. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:44am, 14 Feb 2025

Apple and Alphabet’s Google are restoring ByteDance’s TikTok to their app stores on Thursday following assurances in a letter from US Attorney General Pam Bondi that a ban would not immediately be enforced.

The two companies had removed TikTok in the US last month to comply with a law passed in 2024. In a January 20 executive order, US President Donald Trump said he instructed the attorney general “not to take any action to enforce the act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward”.

By Thursday evening local time, the software had returned to the Apple App Store and Google Play store. Bloomberg News was first to report on the move.

The move follows weeks of uncertainty about TikTok’s future, and there is still no guarantee that it will survive in the US in the long run.

US President Donald Trump previously supported a ban on TikTok but has changed his position. Photo: Reuters

The video app briefly went dark last month to comply with a federal ban, only for it to return after Trump vowed to halt enforcement of the law. But Apple and Google did not immediately restore the software to their app stores.