In case you've been living under a rock, TikTok is a short-form video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Launching in 2016, it quickly rose to popularity, eventually becoming one of the most-downloaded apps in the U.S. by 2018.

To abide by American law, TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, must sell the app to someone who will operate it within the US.

A new TikTok app may be coming for users in the U.S. and that could mean an almost entirely different user experience.

TikTok has denied a Reuters report claiming it's building a standalone U.S. app with a separate algorithm. TikTok is pushing back against a Reuters report that claims the company is working on a standalone version of its app for the U.S. market, complete with a separate algorithm and data infrastructure.

TikTok is developing a new app for its more than 170 million U.S. users alongside a potential sale, according to a report from The Information. The news follows comments President Donald Trump made on Friday that he “pretty much” has a deal for a U.S. company to purchase TikTok’s U.S. operations, although he did not disclose the potential buyer.

Popular video-sharing app TikTok is still available to US users only because President Trump issued an executive order in early 2025 to postpone the ban the Chinese app is facing. Trump has extended the delay two more times since then, with the latest extension coming just a few weeks ago.

TikTok's owner, ByteDance, has plans to move Americans to a US-specific version of CapCut as it looks to meet requirements for a divest-or-ban law.

TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the United States ahead of a planned sale of the app to a group of investors, The Information reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.

According to new reporting from The Information, TikTok is building a new app ahead of a sale to non-Chinese investors. American users will need to download the new app, which will replace the existing TikTok app in the United States.

Even with the TikTok divest-or-ban law officially in effect since January, the app has only shut down service in the US for one day. Now, The Information reports that an agreement for a sale satisfying the law’s requirements is close and would come with a new, separate version of the app.

TikTok is facing a fresh European Union privacy investigation into user data transferred to China. The Irish Data Protection Commission opened the inquiry as a follow up to a previous investigation that ended earlier this year with a 530 million euro ($620 million) fine.