A discovery has been made revealing that Apple is now geoblocking the downloads and updates of ByteDance's apps available on the App Store.
The move comes after the recent transition of TikTok's US operations to the TikTok USDS Joint Venture group, which took over the social media platform after ByteDance was required to divest.
Apple Geoblocks ByteDance App Downloads, Updates In the US
Wired reported that Apple is now blocking users in the United States from downloading or updating ByteDance apps, and this is despite them having a valid Chinese App Store account.
According to the report, many users have raised this issue with Wired and claimed that whenever they try to download or update ByteDance-developed apps, users see an error message. They revealed that the Apple App Store is geoblocking their experiences, displaying a message that reads: "This app is unavailable in the country or region you're in."
This geoblocking measure is best known to also be used by Apple on all sideloaded apps or those that were downloaded from a third-party website in Europe as part of their Digital Services Act (DSA) compliance. Apple geoblocks all downloads and updates when users from the EU are out of the region.
Is TikTok Safe From the Apple, ByteDance Fiasco?
According to 9to5Mac, other ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Lemon8, Lark, and Hypic, are now facing the geoblocking campaign by the Apple App Store against the Chinese developer. Users have found that the App Store has been blocking all attempts to download or update the ByteDance-owned apps, with Apple and ByteDance yet to comment on the matter.
The good thing is that TikTok is safe from these issues in the United States, particularly as the platform is already part of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture after ByteDance divested it as part of its agreement with the Trump administration.
For now, the only platforms affected by this issue center on apps that ByteDance still owns.
ⓒ 2026 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
