Ever since the US government has given TikTok owner ByteDance a reprieve from its ban in the American market, it’s been unavailable on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Those lucky folks who had downloaded TikTok before its brief ban from the late hours of January 18 to January 19 can use it without interruption, but those who want to (re)download it or download it to a new device have been outta luck.
Lo and behold, TikTok itself has put together a little something that’ll enable Android users to download the app once again. How wonderfully rogue of them.
it all started with a tweet
ByteDance’s X account, @TikTok Policy, wrote a post late at night on Friday, February 7, detailing how to work around the fact that the app has vanished from the typical methods of distribution.
“We’re enhancing ways for our community to continue using TikTok by making Android Package Kits available at http://TikTok.com/download so that our U.S. Android users can download our app and create, discover, and connect on TikTok,” read the post.
Normally, downloading a widely used app such as TikTok is a snap. You log on to the App Store for an Apple device or the Google Play Store for an Android device, you search for the app, and mash download. That’s it. It’s easy, and it’s safe.
When you want to download an app that isn’t available on one of those two stores, whether it’s because it doesn’t meet the stores’ terms of service or the publisher doesn’t want to pay a heavy ransom to Apple or Google for the privilege, you can sometimes download it from another location.
That’s called sideloading, and large companies usually discourage it because sideloaded apps don’t typically go through the security and stability vetting processes that apps on the official app stores go through.
People sideloading an app off any old place on the web may download an app loaded with spyware or malware, or it may just simply run as poorly as a car with triangular wheels. That’s part of why this move was a little surprising.
But TikTok is urging people to only download it from their official website. They can vouch for its safety and legitimacy. It’s good advice. Avoid QR codes and downloads from other sites that say you can download it there. You can’t trust them.
And with the directions clearly laid out on TikTok’s own site, there’s no reason not to download it from there. TikTok may still be stuck in a strange legal limbo, but with this move, it’s a step closer to returning to the world of the living.
The post Deleted TikTok Too Soon? You Can Get It Back—If You Have an Android. appeared first on VICE.
