TikTok has announced that it is now offering the Android version of its app for download directly from its website in the United States. This change provides Android users in the U.S. with an easy way to download or update the app, following its removal from Google Play last month due to the U.S. government’s ban on the platform.
Both the regular TikTok app and TikTok Lite—an app version designed for slower internet connections—are available for download. Once downloaded, users can install or update the app by simply opening the file and approving the installation. The process is quick—updating TikTok on my Pixel 6 took about the same amount of time as downloading an app from Google Play.
“We’re enhancing ways for our community to continue using TikTok by providing Android Package Kits at https://t.co/JoNVqKpnrS so that U.S. Android users can download our app, create, discover, and connect on TikTok,” the company stated.
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— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) February 8, 2025
Similar to Apple, Google requires app developers to comply with certain rules in order to be listed on the Play Store—rules that TikTok may not be bound by when offering the app through its own platform. A TikTok support page assures users, however, that the app “remains safe and secure.” It mentions that TikTok’s source code continues to be reviewed by Oracle and the "Independent Security Inspectors" chosen by ByteDance last year, following accusations that its "Project Texas" initiative, which aimed to separate its U.S. operations from China, was “largely cosmetic.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.
Apple does not allow sideloading apps in the U.S., so iPhone users will have to continue using the web version of TikTok while they await the app's return to the App Store. That may take a while, as neither Google nor Apple seem eager to challenge the ban and risk facing massive fines, despite President Trump’s executive order halting its enforcement.
