If you turned up late to the TikTok party and want to know what all the fuss is about, you’ll be disappointed to discover that the social media app is not available to download in the normal way in the US.
Despite Donald Trump giving TikTok a 75-day reprieve, the app does not currently appear for Apple or Android mobile users in the App Store or Play Store.
But there’s good news if you have an Android smartphone or tablet – TikTok has found a backdoor through which you can still obtain the video sharing platform.
TikTok’s Suspended Sentence
The clock started ticking on a ban for the Chinese-owned TikTok when a bill was passed last year to introduce the ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.’
The effect would be to ban TikTok altogether in the US from Sunday January 19th 2025. And, amid a scramble from its owner Bytedance and interested parties to find ways to save TikTok, the platform did indeed go down on that day… albeit briefly.
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Returning president Donald Trump’s inauguration followed the day after and one of his flurry of executive orders was to temporarily halt the ban in order to “negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform.”
Since then, Microsoft, Elon Musk and MrBeast have all been rumored to be in the picture to buy the US arm of the platform from Bytedance. If no solution is found, the ban is currently set to crystallize on Saturday April 5th.
Notwithstanding the stay of execution, TikTok has vanished from the App Store and Play Store.
How to Get TikTok on Android
In theory, the removal from Apple’s and Google’s app catalogs means that new users can’t download the app and existing users can’t update theirs.
However, using the X handle @TikTokPolicy, the platform has informed Android users that it is “enhancing ways for our community to continue using TikTok” by using an Android Package Kit – better known as an APK.
You can do this from your mobile or web browser in three straightforward steps:
- Go to www.tiktok.com/download
- Tap Download if you’re on mobile or scan the QR code on your web browser
- Follow the prescribed steps to install the app on your device
We’re enhancing ways for our community to continue using TikTok by making Android Package Kits available at https://t.co/JoNVqKpnrS so that our U.S. Android users can download our app and create, discover, and connect on TikTok.
More information at our Help Center:…
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) February 8, 2025
TikTok’s online instructions say that it has put “robust protocols” in place for its APK to ensure the security of its users.
It also a strikes a note of optimism that the app will soon be available again through the Play Store:
“Keep in mind that you’ll be downloading the latest version of the app. Any future updates will be available from www.tiktok.com/download or Google Play once service is restored.” – TikTok
As APKs are not available for iOS users, there remains no official way that you can currently download TikTok to iPhones and iPads. For the time being, we can only suggest that you take a look at the best TikTok alternatives instead.
