How the New TikTok App Could Affect You
The last five years have been a hell of a ride for TikTok in the United States . The first Trump administration wanted to ban it over privacy and security concerns, but failed. Then, near the end of his term, President Biden signed a law banning the app, before the second Trump administration stepped in to block the ban through legally dubious means. For TikTok’s hundreds of millions of users in the U.S., however, the app’s continued presence is simply good news.
But that permanent presence isn’t guaranteed. While Trump continues to delay the ban, the law clearly states that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, must sell its stake in the app to a U.S. company. Trump told Fox News in late June that the administration had found a buyer for the app and that Chinese President Xi Jinping would have to agree to the deal, though it was unclear at the time who the buyer would be.
New reports from The Information over the holiday weekend suggest that the potential buyer is several “non-Chinese” parties, including Oracle. According to the reported deal, ByteDance would still receive some investment in the app, but not a controlling stake. But as important as the question of who’s buying TikTok is, The Information’s report had something else surprising that could potentially directly impact TikTok’s U.S. users — TikTok could create an entirely new U.S. app altogether.
TikTok in M2
The Information ( as summarized by The Verge ) reports that TikTok developers are currently creating “M2,” a version of TikTok specifically for the U.S. The name comes from TikTok’s internal designation, “M,” which tells me that the app won’t actually be called M2 when it launches. My vote goes to TikTok (U.S. version).
According to The Information, the app already has a set release date: September 5. ( TikTok currently has until September 17 to sell , according to Trump’s latest delay.) That means that in less than two months, the TikTok app as you know it could be old news, replaced by this new product. Here’s the catch: If the report is true, your TikTok app won’t just update to M2 on September 5. Instead, you’ll need to manually download M2 onto your devices, as it’s an entirely separate piece of software. It’s pretty confusing.
The original TikTok app will disappear from app stores after that time, but the app won’t stop working until next year — March 2026, to be exact. That means you’ll have some time before you have to switch to M2 if you have the original app on your phone.
Again, it’s early days. The information doesn’t name its sources, and since the app hasn’t been officially sold to anyone yet, things could change at any moment. Still, let’s assume that’s the plan. There are still some details we don’t know: Is M2 actually the same app as TikTok, algorithm and all? Will users just have to log in with their existing accounts and find the same experience they’re used to? Or will M2 come with a new platform and algorithm and force users to rebuild their TikTok experience? I’m guessing the former, but anything is possible.