TikTok might be up and running, but for some, a simple mistake still has them locked them out of the app.
The video-sharing platform went dark on Sunday for 12 hours, inciting mass panic among content creators as they received notifications that the app was no longer available in the US.
While some users theorized it was not the end for TikTok, others thought it was gone for good, removing the app from their phones.
Much to their dismay, when users gained access again quicker than expected, those who deleted the app were unable to re-download it from the App Store.
Desperate TikTokkers begged others to divulge hacks to get the app back onto their devices — some even offered cash to buy a new phone with the app still installed.
“I deleted TikTok and now I can’t get it back!” one person wrote on X. “I will pay someone $5,000 for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with TikTok still installed. DM me.”
On Apple’s support discussion pages and Reddit forums, dozens of disgruntled iPhone users begged for workarounds to redownload the app.
One TikTokker, who goes by Terina, said that she deleted the app from her “main phone” after it kept failing to connect to the internet after the restrictions were lifted, thinking that, if she deleted and redownloaded the app, it would work better.
“There’s no way to get it back,” Terina lamented in her TikTok video. “It’s not in the App Store.”
On Jan. 19 — the day the TikTok ban went into effect — Apple released an “unprecedented” statement about the availability of ByteDance Ltd. apps, such as TikTok, on the App Store.
“Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates,” Apple announced, referencing the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
The bill, which “prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application,” has rendered TikTok — as well as CapCut, Lemon8, among others — unavailable for download or updates for the time being despite access being restored.
“If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device,” Apple stated.
“But they can’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible.”
While the app is still accessible if it was not deleted, it is not able to receive updates from developers which, over time, could make TikTok — used by an estimated 170 million Americans — incompatible with Apple’s operating systems and affect the app’s performance and security features.
It is not clear when the app will be available for download again. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that granted an extension for TikTok to find a buyer, giving the platform 75 more days.
His administration will “determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok,” according to Trump, who told reporters on Monday that “TikTok is worthless if I don’t approve it.”
