Apple Blocks US Users From Downloading ByteDance’s Chinese Apps

In January, after TikTok announced a deal to transfer its US operations, Apple began blocking people in the US from downloading or updating ByteDance apps designed for the Chinese market.

While TikTok operates in the United States under new ownership, Apple has deployed technical restrictions to block iOS users in the United States from downloading other apps made by the video platform’s Chinese parent organization ByteDance.

ByteDance owns a vast array of different apps spanning social media, entertainment, artificial intelligence and other sectors. The leading one is Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which has over one billion monthly active users. While most of those users reside in China, iPhone owners around the world have traditionally been able to download these apps from anywhere without using a VPN, as long as they have a valid App Store account registered in China.

That’s not true anymore. Starting in late ...