How much would you pay to get your TikTok back?
Desperate users are willing to shell out big bucks to access the app after a nationwide ban made it unavailable on the Apple App Store and Google Play — that is, if TikTokkers remove the app. , cannot be re-downloaded.
above eBaysmartphones with TikTok installed can sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars each. iPhone 16 Pro Max This app costs $5,000 and another. iPhone16 plus Ask for more than $3,000.
Some used iPhones Listed for over $1 millionlike the one in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Screen protector is perfect, no damage to your phone, and is also compatible with TikTok,” the ad says.
“If you delete TikTok, I will sell you one of my iPhone 16s with TikTok installed for $5,000,” one person offered. thread.
It's hard to believe someone would spend thousands of dollars on this humble app, but TikTokkers who accidentally deleted the app after the ban went into effect on January 19 are hoping to get it back once access is restored. It's getting desperate.
At the time, no one thought it would be available so soon after dark on Sunday. They also didn't seem to know that they would no longer be able to download it when it was made available to US users again.
As a result, former users sought help on online forums, asking people for workarounds to get their apps back.
“I deleted my TikTok and I can’t get it back!” one person wrote ×. “I would pay someone $5,000 for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with TikTok still installed. DM me.”
“There's no way to get it back,” one disappointed person wrote. reddit. “You'll have to wait until or until it comes back to the app store without an ETA.”
“I thought I was going to be banned for a long time, so I deleted TikTok the day I got banned. After 12 hours, it was working again and I couldn't download it anymore.” An Apple user posted on a discussion board.
“If it can be used by users who haven't deleted TikTok or devices that still have TikTok and the ban is lifted, I think it should be brought back to the app store.”
Unfortunately for TikTokkers, it's not that simple.
Apple said in a statement this week that despite President Donald Trump's extension of its search for a buyer for TikTok, the company will abide by the law banning the app.
invoiceDue to a provision that “prohibits the distribution, maintenance, or provision of Internet hosting services for applications controlled by foreign adversaries,” TikTok, and other ByteDance Ltd. apps such as CapCut and Lemon8, among others, cannot be downloaded or updated for the time being. It will disappear.
Former President Joe Biden has said he has no intention of enforcing the ban, but the law says businesses that allow downloads and updates could be slapped with a $5,000 fee per person, the largest amount in the U.S. This means stores that offer TikTok, which has 70 million users, could be fined. Billions.
“The law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court requires Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores if it is still owned and controlled by a foreign adversary. , that's a fact,” author and Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik previously said. post.
TikTok will be available to users who still have the app on their phones, but they won't be able to receive updates to the service from developers and it may eventually become incompatible with their operating systems.
“If these apps are already installed on your device, they will remain on your device,” Apple says.
“However, if you delete it or restore it if you move it to a new device, you can't redownload it. In-app purchases or new subscriptions are no longer available.”
It's unclear when TikTok, which President Trump has said would be “worthless” unless he “approves” it, will be available for download from app stores.
According to an executive order signed Monday, the company had 75 days to find a U.S. buyer.
