US TikTok users will get their own American-owned version of the app

7 hours ago 3

US TikTok users will get their own American-owned version of the app | Stylized version of the app graphic shown

The ongoing TikTok saga rumbles on, but a new report claims that we may be close to a resolution. It says US TikTok users will get their own version of the app, which will be owned by an American company.

The latest development happens shortly after we got sight of the letter sent to Apple to persuade the company to return TikTok to the App Store despite it being illegal to do so …

A quick recap

Under a law passed by Congress, TikTok has been banned from the US since January 19.

The law has a clause which permitted the date to be pushed back under certain conditions, but those conditions were not met. Trump instead issued a (probably unlawful) executive order to pause enforcement for 75 days, granting a further 90 days just last month.

Apple didn’t accept Trump’s assurance and kept it out of the App Store, until the company was later guaranteed immunity by the DOJ. We’ve now seen a copy of this letter, which legal scholars continue to say has no validity and could be overturned in future.

Trump repeatedly insisted he would force the sale of the app to an American company, while the Chinese government retorted that it would never permit this.

US TikTok users will get their own app

A paywalled report in The Information claims that a compromise has now been reached.

TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the U.S., ahead of a planned sale of the U.S. app to a group of investors.

This would see the main app remain under Chinese control, while a forked version of the app would be sold to an American company, and only this version will be distributed in US app stores.

The Verge says this version is due for release in September.

TikTok’s staff is reportedly working on a new version of the app — dubbed M2, to the current app’s internal M designation — for release in app stores on September 5th.

9to5Mac’s Take

On the face of it, this deal would seem to offer a potential solution, but it would still need to be approved by the Chinese government, which has previously resisted any move that would give the US access to the app’s algorithm. That algorithm, which drives the infinite scroll of recommended videos, is TikTok’s key USP.