The switch reverses the US TikTok ban. The TikTok app stopped working and was removed from the App Store and Google Play on Saturday night, just a few hours before the ban was expected to take effect on January 19.

People who have previously installed the app are greeted with a pop-up. “Sorry, TikTok is not available right now,” it said. “A law banning TikTok has been implemented in the U.S. 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 restore TikTok once he takes office. . Please stay tuned.”

The notification gives the option to close the app or “learn more,” directing to a page on the TikTok website with similar language. Existing users can also download their data from the website.

Following the passage of President Biden’s “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Apps Act”, TikTok has six months to divest itself from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. The company chose to fight the law, brought a case to the Supreme Court that its First Amendment rights were violated to such an extent. The Supreme Court not shaken.

as part of the banApple’s App Store, Google’s Play Store and any other app marketplace must remove TikTok or be subject to a $5,000 fine for every US user who downloads the app. White House officials said earlier in the week that the ban should not have been implemented in President Joe Biden’s last hours in office, but TikTok SAYS that the government “failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that are essential to maintaining the availability of TikTok to more than 170 million Americans.”

Many attempts made to ban TikTok in the US of surveillance concernsbut this is the first time someone has stayed, at least temporarily. President-elect Donald Trump is a big supporter of a ban in his first term in office and, in fact, is TikTok’s only hope of survival after his second inauguration. On Saturday, Trump told NBC News that he would “probably” give a 90-day extension to the company after taking office.

If an extension comes, it’s unclear what kind of arrangement the company could make to stay in the US afterward. Perplexity AI has reportedly submitted a bid to combine with TikTok US, CNBC reported. Others, including investor Kevin O’Leary (in Shark Tank fame) there is also make proposals or express interest in purchasing the service.

Additional reporting by Karissa Bell.