Before the US ban took effect on Sunday, the 19th of January, at least 11 popular applications in the United States owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Technology Co., Ltd., including TikTok and Lemon8, were shut down.
On Sunday, the 19th of January, Apple Inc.’s US website released a statement titled “Availability of TikTok and ByteDance Ltd. Applications in the US,” stating that Apple Inc. has an obligation to comply with the laws of the jurisdictions where it operates. According to the relevant legislation, starting from the 19th of January 2025, applications developed by ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok, ByteDance’s overseas editing software Capcut, Lemon8, will no longer be available for download or updates by US users on the App Store.
Apple Inc. listed 11 affected applications developed by ByteDance and its subsidiaries in the statement, including: TikTok, TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller Center, Capcut, Lemon8, Hypic, Lark-Team Collaboration, Lark-Rooms Display, Lark Rooms Controller, Gauth: AI Study Companion and MARVEL SNAP.
As of now, when searching for Byte series-related applications in the Apple US App Store, there will be a prompt informing that the related programs are no longer available. Not only the mentioned 11 applications, but also two mobile games under the Byte umbrella, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Watcher of Realms, cannot be searched in the US App Store.
Apple Inc. stated that if a user residing in the US has these applications already installed on their device, they will remain on the device. However, if deleted, they cannot be re-downloaded, and if changing to a new device, they cannot be recovered. Additionally, in-app purchases and new subscriptions will not be possible.
It is worth mentioning that ByteDance has promoted Lemon8 as an alternative to TikTok in the US, calling the social platform the “Byte version of Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book),” which has recently received widespread coverage by mainland Chinese media.
On Friday, the 17th of January, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously decided to uphold the ban on TikTok. The ban was part of the “Protecting American from Foreign Adversaries Exploiting Social Media Act” passed by the US Congress last year, requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest TikTok before the 19th of January 2025, or the app would face a ban in the US. Subsequently, President Biden signed the bill into law.