TikTok was thriving in the U.S., even before a joint venture saved it from a potential ban

TikTok has just announced a new U.S. venture that will keep it operating there after years of concerns about its links to China. But even as it was nearly banned and faced scrutiny from officials, the short-video platform still dominated in 2025.

The app, owned by Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, was the second-most-downloaded app across Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store in the U.S. in 2025, according to Sensor Tower data, defying a near-ban in the market.

Another ByteDance app, CapCut, ranked fourth, with the video editing tool climbing three places from a year ago.

Other China-linked apps also had strong showings across U.S. app stores in 2025, with major e-commerce players like Temu and Shein thriving even as they were targeted by policy changes, Sensor Tower data showed.

Temu, which ran a high-profile Super Bowl ad campaign in 2024, fell from the top position that year, but still ranked in seventh place in 2025, even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs upended its business model.