TikTok is now in a grey area with regards to downloads. Which is why hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. are now turning to grey markets to download it. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00President Trump may have signed an executive order to keep TikTok in the U.S., circumventing
00:04both Congress and the Supreme Court. However, Google and Apple are not hosting the app on
00:09their storefronts anymore. Now, BBC News reports many are still getting their hands on it via
00:14sideloading, a technique used to get apps on devices without official stores. Several
00:18sideloading sites have reported massive upticks in downloads of the social media platform,
00:23with 2000 downloads an hour at peak times, with just two of those sites saying together they have
00:28hosted some 215,000 downloads since the ban went into effect last month. Others are simply using
00:33VPNs to trick app stores into thinking they're in another country when downloading. In fact,
00:38Google reports search queries for VPNs have reached an all-time high in the days immediately
00:42after the ban. Experts say this highlights how enforcing bans like this one are extremely
00:46difficult, with a spokesperson for sideloading site AppDB telling BBC, quote, people will always
00:52find a way to get what they want. However, experts also warn that those who are circumventing
00:56traditional app stores are in danger of malicious malware, as it can often be hidden within gray
01:01market downloads.