Tik Tok fans are eagerly awaiting its return to US app stores, according to Reuters

By Doinsola Oladipo

(Reuters) – Three days after ByteDance’s TikTok went dark and quickly reactivated in the United States, users who deleted the app frantically checked their iPhones and Android devices, still unable to download it again.

The app is said to have dropped as much as $50,000, some listing it on eBay (NASDAQ:

Tik Tok still couldn’t get off the apps from Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google in the U.S. on Tuesday, caught in legal purgatory by the two tech giants. US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order delaying a ban on a popular Chinese-owned short video app for 75 days, the legality of which is unclear.

Tik Tok resumed its service after Trump assured the company and its partners that the company and its partners would not face heavy fines for running the app, but it has not returned to app stores. Other apps owned by Bytedance, including Lemon8 and CapCut, are also no longer available.

Meanwhile, the search for a Tik Tok buyer continues. Trump said on Tuesday that Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO is open to buying the app if billionaire Elon Musk wants to do so.

John Mullenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, spoke with businessmen Kevin O’Leary and Frank McCourt about TikTok’s potential breakup.

Billionaire businessman McCourt’s Project Freedom Coalition has made a formal offer to buy the app without the algorithm, valuing it at $20 billion. O’Leary joined the effort, Project Freedom said earlier this month.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, O’Leary said he would like a TikTok deal, but it’s not possible under current law.

“That 50/50 deal, I’d love to work with Trump, as well as any other potential buyer… .

The back-and-forth has drawn mixed feelings from users, including those who plan to leave TikTok after Trump became heavily involved in the negotiations, eventually selling TikTok to one of his partners in the tech industry.

Tik Tok user Nicole Norman posted on Meta’s Threads app, “I don’t want to continue being a fan of this hell page. I’m not saying it will make a difference to Tik Tok, but it will make a difference to me.” “I’m not going back to TikTok.”

Others, however, want to bring TikTok back, which is impossible unless Apple and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: ) do it.

“I’ve been checking every day,” said travel content creator Lauren Scott, 29, who now lives in Brazil. She read in some Facebook groups (NASDAQ:) that Americans outside could get the app if they deleted it and downloaded it again. But it turns out that this is not the case, leaving her in a state of depression.

Analysts said the delay could be because Google and Apple are waiting for additional safeguards before the companies can pass the ban on hosting or distributing the app.

“TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the same country or region,” says an announcement on Apple’s App Store. Google Play said: “Downloads of this app are halted due to current US legal requirements.”

Some users have been waiting through multi-step processes to gain access, such as trying to change the location of their phones.

“Hopefully TikTok comes back to the app store ASAP, I don’t want to do anything to bring it back,” said TikTok user Lauren Nader.

Google, Apple and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.

US lawmakers passed legislation last year approved by the US Supreme Court that would require ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban, citing national security concerns. Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers want to see ByteDance sell the app.

Trump has suggested that the US government should own half of TikTok’s US business to keep the app alive, and warned that Beijing could impose tariffs on China if it fails to ratify a deal.

China signaled for the first time this week that it would be open to allowing TikTok to operate in the United States, with the State Department saying on Monday that companies would “decide on their own” about their operations and agreements.

Still, some users on TikTok expressed fear for the future of the app under the new ownership structure after the app’s algorithm was brought back online, noting that the app’s algorithm “feels different.”

TikTok welcomed users on Sunday, saying, “Thank you for your patience and support. Thanks to the efforts of President Trump, TikTok is back in the US!”

Tik Tok user Janelle Samson posted on Threads: “I deactivated my account after it said ‘back’ this morning. I’m done taking credit for the problems[Trump]is starting.”

More than 200 iPhone and Android devices with the app downloaded were listed for sale on the site as of Tuesday night.