TikTok is no longer available in the US, at least for now. But it’s not the only ByteDance-owned app currently banned for US-based users.
Shortly before the federal government’s January 19 deadline, TikTok cut off access to anyone trying to access the app from the United States. “A law has been enacted banning TikTok in the United States. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use the TikTok app at this time,” says a screen facing American users when they try to download the app. “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to bring back TikTok once he takes office, please stay tuned!”
Similar notices are appearing on other apps owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, which is based in China and is at the center of the controversy surrounding a popular video app that, at least as of Saturday, had 170 million users in the United States. Video editing app CapCut, photo and video sharing app Lemon8, and other apps have gone dark in the US.
A federal law passed last year prohibits ByteDance-owned apps from operating in the United States on national security grounds. In response to Chinese laws requiring Chinese-based companies to provide their data to the Chinese government and intelligence agencies Protecting Americans from Foreign Controlled Applications Act PAFACA has asked ByteDance to sell TikTok and its other apps to an entity not based in China by Sunday.
This sale did not happen. As a result, TikTok began banning US-based users on Saturday, January 18, before the midnight deadline. Since PAFACA blocks all apps run by ByteDance, not just TikTok, users of countless of its other apps meet the same restrictions.
PAFACA does not require ByteDance to block US-based users of its apps. Instead, it prohibits any US company from providing any service to “distribute, maintain, or update” ByteDance-owned applications. As a result, many of these apps are no longer available in the Apple and Google app stores. That could change shortly after Donald Trump takes office on Monday, with the US president-elect indicating he plans to extend the deadline to sell TikTok by 90 days. Yes, it’s all very confusing.
For now, here’s a summary of all the apps that users in the US can no longer access due to the US ban on ByteDance-owned apps.
TikTok, TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller, TikTok Lite
Not just TikTok, but other ByteDance-owned apps that work with the TikTok ecosystem have also become unavailable alongside the main app. These include TikTok Studio (for creators to manage content and check analytics), TikTok Shop Seller (for e-commerce sellers on the app to manage their business operations), and TikTok Lite (a smaller, faster version of the original app only available on some devices). countries).
Capt
CapCut is a free video editing tool, optimized for vertical videos that can be published on TikTok. It is often the application of choice for amateur creators, due to its professional features. Some creators also use CapCut to produce videos first before uploading them to platforms other than TikTok.
Lemon8
ByteDance released Lemon8 in February 2023 as a photo-based social media app. It is known to be similar to RedNote, a particularly successful social media app in China that also became a destination for many exiled TikTok users this week. Some TikTok users also chose to move to Lemon8, but the app also went offline.
Goth
Using Gauth, students can take photos of their homework, and the app will use artificial intelligence to understand the problem and provide step-by-step solutions. It also has other features that help students be more productive while studying. Depending on the application Shutdown announcement This weekend, it “helped 300 million users with billions of questions.”
exaggerated
Hypic, launched in 2022, is an image editing tool with a heavy focus on generative AI tools. It uses artificial intelligence to help users improve image quality or turn an image into a cartoon.
lark
Lark is a workspace communications app similar to Slack. Originally created for ByteDance’s internal messaging between employees, it has now become one of the most widely used office communication apps in China, with several million active users.
Melolo, Viso, Maitopia Books
Poligon, a subsidiary of Singapore-based ByteDance, publishes several apps that allow users to watch short-form vertical dramas (Melolo) or read fantasy novels online (Fizzo, MyTopia Books). MyTopia Books is the only one of these apps that has not ended support for US-based users, and somehow remains available on the Apple App Store in the US.
Tokopedia
Tokopedia is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Indonesia. 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. Quoted from “The need to protect small merchants and user data.”
It has become unavailable on the US Apple App Store but remains available on the US Google Play Store as of the date of publication.