
If you are a TikTok user in the United States, this past week has been a roller coaster.
To recap, in 2024 Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest ownership of TikTok in the US, or shut down. ByteDance fought this all the way to the Supreme Court, where the ban was upheld. The law was scheduled to go into effect on January 19th.
In the past week:
- ByteDance blocked US users on TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8 and its other apps.
- ByteDance restored access to US users.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order that says the law won't be enforced for 75 days.
- The Google Play Store and Apple App Store have not restored access to ByteDance apps.
- There are new video feeds on Instagram, Bluesky, X and other platforms.
- Instagram expanded Reels length to 3 minutes. YouTube also recently made that change (but not in the past week).
- Instagram announced Edits, a CapCut Competitor that should be available in March.
ByteDance Blocks US Access to its Apps
On the evening Saturday, January 18th, ByteDance blocked US users from all
its apps and services, including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8 and the game Marvel
Snap.
The message displayed on TikTok included the statement, "We are fortunate
that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution
to reinstate TikTok once he takes office."
Once Trump actually took office on Monday January 20th, there was an Executive Order that the law banning ByteDance would not be enforced for 75 days.
Access to CapCut and other apps have also been restored.
ByteDance Restores Access to TikTok
On Sunday January 19th, the day the ban was due to go into effect, Bytedance apparently had received enough assurances that the law would not be enforced, and so US access to its various apps was restored, with a thank you for “President Trump’s efforts”.Once Trump actually took office on Monday January 20th, there was an Executive Order that the law banning ByteDance would not be enforced for 75 days.
Access to CapCut and other apps have also been restored.
But you can't install the TikTok app
The law is still in effect and there have not clear assurances that there will not be legal repercussions for tech platforms providing services to ByteDance in the US.
As of this writing, TikTok, CapCut and other ByteDance apps are still not
available in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store in the
US.
If you search for TikTok in the Google Play Store app, you see a notice that says “Downloads for this app are paused due to current US legal requirements”.
The Apple App store just shows competitor apps (at the top are Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube). But they did publish a statement about why ByteDance apps are not available in the United States.
If you search for TikTok in the Google Play Store app, you see a notice that says “Downloads for this app are paused due to current US legal requirements”.
The Apple App store just shows competitor apps (at the top are Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube). But they did publish a statement about why ByteDance apps are not available in the United States.
So someone in the US, like me, can access TikTok and CapCut on the web or
use the apps I already have installed on my phone. But there will be no
app bug fixes, new installs or updates until the app stores reinstate
access.
What will happen after 75 days? That’s still up in the air.
What will happen after 75 days? That’s still up in the air.
Social media companies want your eyes (and videos)
Big social media platforms have made clear that they want to be TikTok alternative. To do that they need creators to start publishing more videos and viewers to watch them.Longer Vertical Videos
TikTok is best known as the home of short vertical videos. But not too short! In 2021 they started supporting longer videos, up to 3 minutes long. So, of course, the competitors need to do that too.- In October 2024, YouTube expanded the maximum length of Shorts from 1 minute to 3 minutes. And finally, just a couple of weeks ago, the YouTube Shorts editor was updated so that you could use it to make those longer vertical videos.
- At the end of last week, Instagram announced two big updates: the Instagram Reel editor can create videos up to 3 minutes long (up from 90 seconds) that will be recommended to non-followers.
This lets creators who make longer TikToks easily upload the same content
to YouTube and Instagram.
Bonuses for TikTok Creators on Meta
Just before TikTok shut down, Meta started reaching out to TikTok creators with a new Breakthrough Bonus Program for Instagram and Facebook.
This allows “new to Facebook or Instagram” creators to start monetizing
immediately, with potential bonuses up to $5,000. This is a “mobile only”
program, available for creators with “an existing presence on a third party
social app”, but not already monetizing on Facebook, who are based in the
US, and at least 18 years old.
It's not clear how many - if any - TikTokers took them up on this offer.
New Video Feeds
Many social platforms have taken this opportunity to launch dedicated
video feeds.
- Instagram has long had a dedicated Reels feed, but as of a week ago there’s a new feed of Reels your friends have liked. This is supposed to increase engagement.
- Bluesky has a custom feed for trending videos on the Bluesky network. You can view it here. Click the pin icon at top right to add it to your home screen.
- There's also the SkyTok feed from Flipboard's Surf Social, which also aggregates videos posted to Bluesky. They are offering to help people create similar feeds for their own communities, with examples like GamerTok and RetroTok. "Toks" replacing "Tubes" seems like a changing of the guard.
- X is rolling out an “immersive new home for videos”, a new video tab in the US, replacing the Communities tab. It's currently only available on iOS, but will be coming to Android and the Web soon.
- Tumblr fully launched the Tumblr TV tab, which has been a Tumblr Labs experiment since 2015 (!!!). It started out as a GIF feed, but today also includes videos. More information about Tumblr TV.
- Twitch didn't make any changes, and isn't really a direct competitor. But they posted a welcome to TikTok creators with some tips to get started.
Of course, none of these have
TikTok's secret sauce, their unique design and algorithm.
Instagram Announces CapCut Competitor
CapCut is an easy-to-use video editing app, available both on desktop and mobile devices. It includes templates and animations that not only make editing easy, but also give videos a distinctive look.Last Saturday, the day before the app would be banned in the US, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram announced that Meta is developing their own video editing app, creatively called Edits.
It sounds great:
Edits is more than a video editing app, it’s a full suite of creative tools. There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another to keep track of any early ideas you might have, a much higher quality camera which I used to record this video, all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and, if you decide to share your videos on Instagram, powerful insights on how those videos do.
You can pre-order the app for iOS today, and Android app is going to be eventually available. But it’s not actually going to be available until March. It feels very much like Meta is rushing this out.
Edits is more than a video editing app, it’s a full suite of creative tools. There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another to keep track of any early ideas you might have, a much higher quality camera which I used to record this video, all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and, if you decide to share your videos on Instagram, powerful insights on how those videos do.
You can pre-order the app for iOS today, and Android app is going to be eventually available. But it’s not actually going to be available until March. It feels very much like Meta is rushing this out.
There are already a number of mobile video editing app alternatives:
- VN Video Editor
- InShot
- Filmora Go
- Adobe Premiere Rush (free with Adobe account)
- YouTube Create (in beta, Android only, available in limited countries)
So what's Next for ByteDance?
It's not clear what will happen over the next 75 days.
Will ByteDance sell off TikTok? If it does will it include CapCut and other
apps? Maybe, but it might not include its algorithm, which is what makes it
tick (so to speak).
Will Congress repeal the ban? I'm guessing that's unlikely. The original law
had strong bipartisan support, and it was claimed this ban is important for
national security. That said, a "Repeal the TikTok Ban Act" has been introduced by Senator Rand Paul and Representative Ro Khanna, so that's something to watch.
Will creators shift their efforts to other platforms? Hopefully TikTok-only
creators are at least considering other platforms. But success on Instagram or
YouTube isn't guaranteed. Tech reporter Taylor Lorenz
also suggests
this could reshape the politics of the creator economy to the right.
Will this give YouTube and Instagram a boost? There are probably TikTok
creators who have started publishing to more platforms, but it's not clear if
they will be able to find an audience. Also, shoppable videos
are big on TikTok, and while there is shopping on YouTube and
Instagram Reels, it doesn't seem to have caught on as well. Maybe there is an opportunity
there.
The next couple of months should be interesting.
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