TikTok has been partially restored in the United States, but has not yet returned to the App Store

TikTok is resuming its service in the United States after being shut down for about half a day. The company said this afternoon that it was “in the process of restoring service” and thanked President-elect Trump for “providing the necessary clarity” to do so.

Last night, US users were banned from using TikTok ahead of a federal ban that took effect, with the app displaying a message saying its service was “temporarily unavailable.” TikTok's mobile app and web services began to be restored around 12 noon on Sunday.

The app now displays a message “Welcome back!” and credits Trump with restoring service. “Thanks to President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the United States!” the message read.

Trump said this morning that once he takes office, he will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the timeline for the sale of TikTok. He said even before his order took effect, companies supporting TikTok had “no liability.”

TikTok's hosting provider Oracle and its CDN partner Akamai have restored service and are relying on Trump's promise, NPR's Bobby Allyn reports washington postDrew Harwell.

However, the app's return comes without support from Apple and Google, as it remains unavailable in the App Store and Google Play. The companies may still be nervous about the risk of violating the law banning TikTok, which remains in effect and imposes hefty fines on violators.

Currently, both app stores display messages explaining why the app is unavailable when you search for TikTok:

Still, TikTok seems confident about its return. The company sent a memo to advertisers on Sunday afternoon, telling them that its service would soon be “available to most U.S. users” and that ad campaigns would resume with “certain restrictions” on in-person events.

The status of the ban has been up in the air for the past few days. TikTok lost in the Supreme Court on Friday, allowing the ban to take effect. But the Biden administration is betting on enforcement, declaring that the ban “will be implemented by the next administration.”

That led Trump to announce today that he would extend the sale. The incoming president said he would still push for the sale of the app, adding that it could be through “a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners, with the United States taking 50 percent ownership.”

TikTok has been publicly pandering to Trump in a last-ditch effort to avoid a ban after losing the case in the Supreme Court. TikTok CEO Shou Chew attempted to flatter Trump in a video ahead of the deadline, and TikTok has issued multiple statements and pop-up notifications praising Trump for helping restore the service.

However, Trump and TikTok have faced pushback as they try to circumvent the ban. Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts issued a joint statement Sunday morning saying there was “no legal basis” to extend the ban's effective date beyond January 19, while praising the Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft removed the app from their stores. Both senators have reportedly “called a number of major tech companies in recent days to express their need to comply with the law.” new york times.

Cotton later said any company that helped distribute TikTok could face “hundreds of billions of dollars” in fines from entities outside the federal government. “Think about it,” he warned.

There's no update yet on what TikTok's partial return means for other ByteDance-related apps where users are locked out, such as CapCut and Marvel Snapshot.

TikTok, Google, Apple, Amazon, Oracle and Akamai have not responded to our requests for further comment.

TikTok’s full statement is below:

TikTok is restoring service per agreement with our service provider. We thank President Trump for providing our service providers with the necessary clarity and assurances that they will not face any penalties as they deliver TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allow more than 7 million small businesses to thrive.

This is a strong stance for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on long-term solutions to keep TikTok in the United States.