CapCut ban update: ByteDance video editor is back for U.S. users, but it’s still not in Apple and Google app stores

When the TikTok ban came into force on Sunday, January 19, the world’s most popular short-form video app wasn’t the only one to be removed from app stores in the United States. The law requiring the ban, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, also stipulated that it would be illegal for app stores to host other ByteDance apps as well.

This meant that when the law went into effect, Apple and Google not only had to pull TikTok from their app stores, but other apps from China-based ByteDance, including the company’s popular video editor CapCut.

However, a lot has happened since the ban’s enactment, not the least of which includes President Donald Trump’s order to extend the ban’s implementation by another 75 days. That means both TikTok and CapCut have been given a reprieve in the United States, however temporarily.

But that doesn’t mean anyone in America can access the popular video editing app again, at least not on mobile app stores. Here’s the latest update on the CapCut ban.

Can I access CapCut again in the United States?

If you want to use CapCut on your phone, perhaps. It all depends on whether you previously had the app installed on your phone. If you already had CapCut installed on your iPhone or Android phone—and still do—then there is good news: many people on social media are reporting that the CapCut app has become functional again.

This is notable because CapCut had remained dark for much of the day on Monday even after TikTok had sprung back to life on Sunday.

CapCut users in the U.S. are now being greeted with the following message when they open the app: “Thanks for your patience and support. CapCut is back in the U.S.! You can continue to create, edit, and discover all the things you love on CapCut.”

https://twitter.com/GreefusYT/status/1881596762630332453

Simply click the “Back to editing” button, and you are good to go.

The editing software appears to be accessible on desktop as well, whereas the site had been blocked for U.S. users on Monday.

The reason CapCut seems to be functional in the United States is likely due to the fact that President Trump has now issued an order placing a stay on the ban for 75 days.

But this doesn’t mean anyone in the U.S. can use the app again—for now at least.

CapCut is not yet available on app stores

Despite Trump’s order temporarily suspending the ban on ByteDance apps, CapCut and ByteDance’s other apps—including TikTok—have yet to return to the Apple and Google app stores. Some experts think Trump’s order may not be legal.

As NPR reports, the law allows for any ban to be paused if the president certifies to Congress that TikTok is making “significant progress” to divest itself from ByteDance.

However, there is currently no evidence that “significant progress” has been made, leaving the legality of Trump’s order in limbo. If Trump’s order is not valid, it thus means that Apple and Google could be liable for billions of dollars in fines—despite Trump’s reassurances—should they host CapCut or other ByteDance apps in their app stores again.

Indeed, Republican senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts issued a joint statement on Sunday warning that should Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, or other companies break the law and continue to host ByteDance apps, the companies would risk “ruinous bankruptcy.”

“Now that the law has taken effect, there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date,” the senators state. “For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.”

The law allows any company that violates it to be fined $5,000 per user. That could amount to fines as much as $850 billion—ruinous even for Apple and Google, notes 9to5Mac. Given that, it’s no wonder CapCut has yet to return to the app stores even if the app is now functional again on iPhones and Android devices.

Fast Company has reached out to CapCut owner ByteDance for comment.