‘Marvel Snap’ Once Again Available in App Store Following TikTok-Related Ban
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The fast-paced collectible card game Marvel Snap has returned to Apple’s App Store and is once again available for download. The game had been removed from the App Store due to it being published by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. All ByteDance-owned apps were removed from the App Store when a law banning ByteDance apps from app markets in the United States went into effect on January 19.
Marvel Snap creators Second Dinner said last week that they were surprised to see the app removed from the App Store and gameplay shut down. When that happened, the developers began working to get the app returned to the App Store and find a new publisher.
The game came back online on January 20, and Second Dinner announced on January 24 that Marvel Snap would return to the App Store and Google Play Store as soon as this week. While Second Dinner has not yet provided any details about the situation or if it has made a deal with a new publisher, Apple has removed Marvel Snap from its list of ByteDance apps that are not currently being distributed in the US.
To atone for the downtime, Marvel Snap players in the United States are being rewarded with extra experience and in-game rewards.
The January 19 TikTok ban has resulted in several other apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries being removed from the App Store:
- TikTok
- TikTok Studio
- TikTok Shop Seller Center
- CapCut
- Lemon8
- Hypic
- Lark – Team Collaboration
- Lark – Rooms Display
- Lark Rooms Controller
- Gauth: AI Study Companion
While the above apps are not currently available for download in the App Store in the United States, the apps will continue to work for those who have already installed the apps on their device. US President Donald Trump has granted ByteDance a reprieve by ordering the Department of Justice to delay any enforcement of the law for 90 days.
However, since the law is still in place — the Presidential Executive Order merely suspends its enforcement — Apple is playing it safe, as offering the apps would violate federal law, which could leave Apple open to legal consequences when the 75-day grace period has expired, with fines that could to $5,000 per TikTok user.
If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they can’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible.
Users in the United States won’t receive updates for these apps, which could potentially impact performance, security, and compatibility with future versions of iOS and iPadOS, and some app functions might become limited or stop working since the app can’t receive updates.
The law requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company. Trump says he is discussing a possible sale of TikTok with several parties. Various reports suggest that there several potential buyers courting TikTok, with confirmed reports on Microsoft, in a resurrection of its 2020 bid, and Perplexity.ai. Other magnates and investment groups who are rumored to have expressed interest include Elon Musk, Larry Elison of Oracle, Jimmy Donaldson (better known as YouTuber MrBeast), Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank who has formed an investment group known as “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” former US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.
Should TikTok find a US buyer — or at least a majority US investor — that meets the requirements of the law, Apple and Google will be able to return it to their respective app marketplaces. Until then, users in the United States won’t receive updates for any the apps listed above, meaning users will not have access to any fixes or new features, which could potentially impact performance, security, and compatibility, and even cause some app functions possibly to eventually become limited or stop working outright as new iOS updates appear or back-end changes are made on TikTok’s servers.
