It’s not just TikTok: These other ByteDance apps have also disappeared

TikTok doesn’t take long available in the United States– at least for now. But it’s not the only ByteDance-owned app currently out there Blocked for US-based users.

Shortly before the federally mandated January 19 deadline, TikTok blocked access to anyone trying to access the app from the United States. “A law has been passed in the USA banning TikTok. “Unfortunately, this means you won’t be able to use the TikTok app for now,” reads a block screen that faces US users as they try to load the app. “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok after he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

Similar notifications appear on other apps owned by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, which is based in China and at the center of the controversy surrounding a popular video app that had 170 million users in the U.S., at least as of Saturday. The video editing app CapCut, the photo and video sharing app Lemon8 and others have now disappeared from the market in the USA.

A federal law passed last year prohibits the operation of ByteDance-owned apps in the USA for national security reasons. In response to Chinese laws requiring China-based companies to provide their data to the Chinese government and intelligence agencies, the Act to Protect Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries (PAFACA) called on ByteDance to sell TikTok and its other apps to a company not based in China by Sunday.

This sale did not take place. As a result, TikTok began banning US-based users on Saturday, January 18, ahead of the midnight deadline. Because PAFACA bans all apps operated by ByteDance, not just TikTok, users of its countless other apps face the same restrictions.

PAFACA does not require ByteDance to block U.S.-based users of its apps. Instead, any U.S. company is banned from providing services to “distribute, maintain, or update” ByteDance-owned apps. As a result, many of these apps are no longer available in the Apple and Google app stores. However, that could change soon after Donald Trump takes office on Monday, as the US president-elect says he plans to extend the deadline for a sale of TikTok by 90 days. Yes, it’s all very confusing.

For now, here is the overview of all the apps that US users can no longer access due to the US ban on ByteDance-owned apps.

TikTok, TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller, TikTok Lite

Not only TikTok, but in addition to the main app, other ByteDance-owned apps that work for the TikTok ecosystem are no longer available. These include TikTok Studio (for creators to manage content and check analytics), TikTok Shop Seller (for eCommerce sellers on the app to manage their business operations), and TikTok Lite (a smaller and faster version of the original app that only available in certain cases). Countries).

CapCut

CapCut is a free video editing tool optimized for vertical videos to post on TikTok. Its professional features make it often the app of choice for hobbyist creators. Some YouTubers also use CapCut to first produce videos before uploading them to platforms other than TikTok.

Lemon8

ByteDance released Lemon8 as a photo-based social media app in February 2023. It is known for its similarity RedNote, a particularly successful social media app in China, which has also become the destination of many TikTok users in exile this week. Some TikTok users had also decided to migrate to Lemon8, but the app has also gone offline.

Gauth

Gauth allows students to take photos of their homework, and the app does the same Use artificial intelligence to understand the problem and offer step-by-step solutions. It also has other features that help students be more productive while learning. According to the app Shutdown announcement This weekend it “helped 300 million users with billions of questions.”

Hypical

Launched in 2022, Hypic is a photo editing tool with a strong focus on generative AI tools. It uses AI to help users improve photo quality or convert a photo into a cartoon.

lark

Lark is a Slack-like workspace communication app. Originally developed for ByteDance’s own internal messaging to employees, it has now become one of the most used office communication apps in China with several million active users.

Melolo, Fizzo, MyTopia Books

Poligon, a Singapore-based subsidiary of ByteDance, releases several apps that allow users to watch short vertical dramas (Melolo) or read online novels (Fizzo and MyTopia Books). MyTopia Books is the only one of these apps that hasn’t stopped supporting US-based users and somehow remains available in Apple’s US App Store.

Tokopedia

Tokopedia is one of Indonesia’s largest e-commerce platforms. It was acquired by ByteDance in December 2023 and merged with TikTok Shop’s operations in the country after the Indonesian government banned the latter app. quote “the need to protect the data of smaller merchants and users.”

It is no longer available on Apple’s US App Store, but remains available on Google’s US Play Store at the time of publication.