TikTok building new version of app ahead of expected U.S. sale, The Information reports

The TikTok app page in the Google Play store on a smartphone arranged in the Queens borough of New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg)

TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the United States ahead of a planned sale of the app to a group of investors, The Information reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.

This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he will start talking to China on Monday or Tuesday about a possible TikTok deal.

He said the United States “pretty much” has a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app.

TikTok has developed a plan to launch the new app to U.S. app stores on September 5, the report said.

Last month, Trump extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok.

The report added that TikTok users will eventually have to download the new app to be able to continue using the service, although the existing app will work until March of next year, though the timeline could change.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

A deal had been in the works earlier this year to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new U.S.-based firm, majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors. That was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Trump said the United States will probably have to get a deal approved by China.

Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham and Bill Berkrot