TikTok Now Available to Sideload on Android in the United States

TikTok has announced that its app is now available to sideload on Android in the United States. This follows the removal of TikTok from the App Store and Play Store last month.

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.

The company also posted a link to a support document to help users with the process, but at this time the link remains broken.


TikTok was briefly shut down in the United States following a unanimously U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld a law 'banning' the social media app. Referred to as the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act", this section of H.R. 8038 aims to block any foreign adversary controlled application, not just TikTok. It was passed by the House on April 20, 2024 and by the Senate on April 23, 2024.

After taking office, President Trump issued an executive order staying enforcement of the Act for 75 days.

"I am instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans."

Despite this, Apple and Google have not made TikTok available in their respective app stores for fear of legal issues that may arise. This leaves users without a way to install the app or update it. At least for now, it appears this problem has been solved for Android users.


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