On Saturday eveningTikTok was delisted and withdrew its products from app stores in the United States. The following day, TikTok made the service available to American users again, citing assurances from President-elect Trump, but its apps are still missing from app stores – even after Trump signed an executive order enforcing the law banning TikTok delayed.
As we got closer to banning, I advised our Android readers One way to download TikTok after the ban: sideloading. While you need to be careful when doing this, sideloading can allow you to install apps that are not available in official app stores, such as Google’s Play Store. So if you missed your window to download TikTok before last Saturday evening, it was still available through other online sources.
Again, sideloading apps can be risky. Google may not detect every bad appbut they have strict filters that protect users from many malicious programs. Depending on where you download your apps from, you may be far less protected when sideloading and put yourself at a higher risk of encountering malware. However, there are reliable sideloading platforms. One of them is APKMirror, which verifies the identity of all developers whose apps are hosted on the website. Therefore, I recommend APKMirror to all Android users who want to sideload TikTok after ban.
How it happens that is no longer possible. Now if you try to search for TikTok on APKMirror, you will be immediately blocked and see the following message:
Photo credit: Jake Peterson
It is clear that this is neither a bug nor a subtle blockage. APKMirror specifically states that TikTok downloads are blocked due to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – the law that bans TikTok in the US. A similar situation applies to Lemon8, a popular lifestyle app owned by TikTok. While you can currently search for Lemon8, clicking on any of the apps in the results will give you the same message as above.
Interestingly, APKMirror did not block downloads from other popular TikTok appsHow CapCut or Marvel Snap. While the law is in effect, these apps are also banned from official app stores, but APKMirror still allows you to search for and download them. As of this writing, you can download a version of CapCut that was last updated on January 22nd and a version of Marvel Snap that was last updated on January 14th.
The law is not enforced, but is it legal?
The ban highlights the precarious nature of the TikTok ban. As written, the law has been in effect since Sunday, January 19th. The law was passed by Congress, signed by President Biden, and even upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court. It gives the president the authority to delay the ban for 90 days if it turns out ByteDance is actively working to sell the app, but the legal deadline has already passed. It’s not clear what power Trump really has to delay enforcement of the law in this case.
Some companies, like TikTok and the companies that host its traffic (including Oracle), clearly believe that Trump has the authority to delay this enforcement and are continuing to do business in the US as long as the law is in effect. Others, like APKMirror, appear to be taking a more cautious approach, allowing downloads for certain TikTok apps but not TikTok itself.
Be that as it may, at the moment there seem to be few safe ways to download TikTok to your smartphone if you didn’t buy it before the ban. My advice if you want to use the service is to just use the web app. That’s far from ideal, especially on mobile devices, but it’s far better than downloading a virus-infected “TikTok” from a shady source on the Internet.
