TikTok’s Sister App Returns to US After Trump Executive Order
CapCut, the popular video-editing app owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, started working again for American users on Tuesday.
The app’s comeback came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, blocking the ban on TikTok for 75 days.
As was the case with TikTok this past weekend, Americans who already had CapCut on their phones on Tuesday morning saw the app start working again. However, CapCut remained unavailable for new users to download from Apple and Google’s app stores.
That’s because those two tech giants are still complying with a federal law signed by then-President Joe Biden last year that banned TikTok from both app stores. In the days and weeks ahead, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on whether Apple and Google start offering TikTok and CapCut again in their app stores.
CapCut, according to data obtained by Forbes last year, is nearly as popular as TikTok in the U.S. The editing app was downloaded 44.7 million times in 2023 — nearly equaling the 45 million downloads TikTok had in the U.S. that same year. ByteDance has said TikTok has 170 million monthly American users, but it has not shared how many regular users CapCut has in the U.S.
Trump’s executive order on Monday aimed to give both Apple and Google the legal leeway to offer TikTok (and its sister app) again. His order said the Justice Department “shall take no action” or “impose any penalties” for noncompliance with the law banning TikTok.
The chief concern U.S. lawmakers said they had with TikTok last year is that it could double as a spyware app for the Chinese Communist Party. ByteDance, if compelled by China’s government, is required by law to share user data, including location information and what they type on their phones.
Moving forward, Trump said he would like to see the U.S. enter into a “joint venture” in which it owns 50% of TikTok with ByteDance or a new owner.
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