Full list of apps banned in the US along with TikTok
Last night TikTok – owned by a firm in China – was officially banned in the US amid security fears.
Users who opened the app were shown a pop-up message instead of their usual stream of videos.
It said: ‘A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now.’
‘We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!’ it said.
Mr Trump, who will be inaugurated as US president tomorrow, has today said that he will delay the ban on his first day of office.
The Republican says he would like the US to have 50% ownership of the video platform, whose parent company is China-based tech firm ByteDance.
‘By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok,’ he said.
US lawmakers had given ByteDance until today to sell the social media platform in its entirety or be outlawed.
It was feared users’ data could be handed over to Chinese intelligence agencies.
For now, TikTok remains off-line in the US and so do ByteDance’s other platforms, including video-editing app CapCut and photo- and video-sharing app Lemon8.
The loss of CapCut appears to have sparked particular dismay, with several users posting their disappointment online.
Writing X, one person said, ‘Genuinely care less abt the tiktok ban since it never stuck with me but capcut….’ followed by a number of crying emojis.
Another wrote: ‘Why’d they even ban capcut fr [for real] I’m more mad about that than i am tiktok. i was just learning how to make edits.’
A third posted: ‘CapCut shutting down feels like losing a tool everyone secretly used but never admitted to. Guess we’re back to Windows Movie Maker vibes now!’
Here we take a look at all ByteDance’s apps that are no long available in the states, in addition to TikTok
TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller Center and TikTok Lite
The apps work together with TikTok. TikTok Studio allows creators to manage content and check analytics, while TikTok Shop Seller is aimed at TikTok ecommerce sellers to help them manage their business operations. TikTok Lite is a smaller and faster version of the original app available in selected countries.
CapCut
A free video-editing tool for vertical videos that can be posted on TikTok and other platforms. It’s particularly popular with amateur creators.
Lemon8
Lemon8 is relatively new, having launched in February 2023. It’s a photo and video-based social media app with similarities to RedNote, which is popular in China.
Hypic
This photo-editing tool, launched in 2022, uses AI to improve photo quality or alter images.
Gauth
A study companion that uses AI to help students with homework, including step-by-step solutions to problems and ways to be more productive while studying.
Marvel snap
A fast-action card game, Marvel Snap is published by Nuverse, which ByteDance owns. It was developed by Californian-based studio Second Dinner, who posted on X it had not expected the app to be banned. It wrote: ‘Marvel Snap isn’t going anywhere. We’re actively working on getting the game up as soon as possible and will update you once we have more to share.’
Lark
A workspace communications app similar to Slack that was originally created for ByteDance’s own internal messages among employees.
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