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TikTok goes dark in the US with a bunch of other ByteDance apps

TikTok app shutdown message in the US
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

TikTok is no longer accessible in the US. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a law that seeks to ban the platform in the US, the social media site voluntarily shut down in the country, alongside a bunch of other apps owned by the parent company.

Apple and Google have also removed the popular social media from the App Store and Play Store, respectively, which means no fresh downloads are possible. Likewise, they won’t be receiving any platform updates, either security-related or those carrying new features.

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Folks with the app installed on their phone now see a message that says TikTok is no longer available in the country. Moreover, other facilities such as in-app purchases and subscriptions are also blocked.

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“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” says the message. Notably, the message mentions President-elect Donald Trump and his recent statement about “most likely” offering a deadline extension to the company.

TikTok access block message in the US.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate,” Trump told NBC News.

TikTok is not the only app that is facing an access hurdle. “Apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store,” says Apple.

Below is the full list of affected ByteDance-linked apps:

  1. TikTok
  2. TikTok Studio
  3. TikTok Shop Seller Center
  4. CapCut
  5. Lemon8
  6. Hypic
  7. Lark – Team Collaboration
  8. Lark – Rooms Display
  9. Lark Rooms Controller
  10. Gauth: AI Study Companion
  11. MARVEL SNAP

It is not clear for how long TikTok will remain inaccessible in the US, and what kind of relief it will get once Trump takes over his Presidential duties. An extension of the ban deadline sounds more likely, giving TikTok more breathing room to decide whether it can cut ties of its US business with the China-based parent company.

“President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” the company told employees in an internal memo that was seen by The Verge.

TikTok had over 170 million users in the US as of 2025. Aside from creators, businesses that spent handsomely on ads on the platform are also in a state of unpredictable unrest.

This is the first time that a major social media platform has gone dark in the US market. Elsewhere, India banned TikTok back in 2020, when the app was growing rapidly and commanded an audience of roughly 200 million users. In a few other countries, devices owned by federal agencies are banned from installing the app.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
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