Apple says that TikTok and other ByteDance apps will stay blocked from the App Store in the U.S. until ByteDance sells TikTok to a U.S. company. Apple made this decision after the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act took effect on January 19, 2025. The law prevents Americans from downloading or updating ByteDance apps on their phones because of worries about data security and national defense.
The ban affects all ByteDance apps, including TikTok, Lemon8, and TikTok Studio, and applies to everyone who uses these apps. Apple follows the law in every country where it does business. Current U.S. users can still use these apps, but they can’t buy anything inside the apps or subscribe to new services. They also can’t move the apps to new devices or install them again.

This new move by ByteDance and the U.S. government is part of a long-running dispute that started during the Trump presidency back in 2020. The Trump administration’s 75-day delay on the ban didn’t stop tensions from rising between the U.S. government and ByteDance over its links to China’s government.
The latest decision has brought back discussions about how much control governments should have over online freedoms, how countries should trade with each other, and who should decide what happens in their digital space. Some people say the ban helps protect national security, but others think it goes too far. Whether ByteDance can stay in the U.S. depends on selling TikTok to a company based here, which could change who controls and runs the app. The ByteDance story shows how technology companies face new challenges when politics and geography mix in today’s digital world.