TikTok Now Lets US Android Users Download App on its Website

TikTok now allows U.S. Android users to download and connect to the video app through package kits on its website — as the platform remains unavailable on app stores.

For a brief time, American social media users had no access to TikTok after a law banning it on national security grounds came into effect on January 19.

However, TikTok resumed services hours later and restored access to its 170 million users in the U.S. after Trump issued an executive order to delay the app’s ban.

Despite this, Google and Apple still have not reinstated TikTok in their app stores. This has meant that American users, who deleted TikTok during the blackout, have been locked out with no way to re-install the video app. There have also been no app updates available for U.S. TikTok users to fix bugs or vulnerabilities.

We're enhancing ways for our community to continue using TikTok by making Android Package Kits available at https://t.co/JoNVqKpnrS so that our U.S. Android users can download our app and create, discover, and connect on TikTok.

More information at our Help Center:…

— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) February 8, 2025

But on Friday, TikTok announced that it would enable U.S. Android users to connect to the short video app via Android package kits available for download on its official website. This move is an attempt to bypass platform restrictions in the U.S. Companies don’t typically encourage sideloading, but TikTok’s situation is unique.

“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 says in a tweet on X.

With this update, Android users in the U.S. can install or update TikTok for the first time since Google removed it from the Play Store last month in response to the nationwide ban.

However, this workaround is only available to Android users. As The Verge points out, Apple does not permit sideloading in the U.S., meaning iPhone users will have to rely on a web browser until the app is reinstated on the App Store.

Last month, PetaPixel reported on how used smartphones with TikTok installed are being sold on eBay for $14,000 since the U.S. app store blackout.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.