TikTok recovers from dip in usage that benefited rival apps following US ownership change

TikTok has largely recovered from a slight dip in active users in the days following its ownership change, when a group of American investors took control of the video app’s operations in the United States. The decline, though brief, benefited competing video apps like UpScrolled and Skylight Social, which saw rapid user adoption as some looked for TikTok alternatives.

According to estimates from digital market intelligence firm Similarweb, TikTok saw usage dip into the range of 86-88 million daily active users in the U.S. immediately after the ownership change. That compares with a typical average of 92 million daily active users.

The app has bounced back to more than 90 million daily active users, indicating that many who left TikTok have since returned.

As TikTok saw a small dip in usage, alternative video-sharing apps UpScrolled and Skylight Social began growing quickly. Although only a tiny fraction of TikTok’s size, UpScrolled topped 138,500 daily active users at its peak on January 28; it has now dropped back down to 68,000.

Meanwhile, Skylight Social hit 81,200 daily active users, according to Similarweb’s estimates and has since dropped to 56,300 daily active users. Overall, Skylight Social saw its user sign-ups increase to 380,000 as of late January, the company told TechCrunch.

TikTok’s usage decline, which prompted some to try the new apps, wasn’t driven by the ownership change directly, but rather by how users feared it would impact their TikTok experience. There were growing concerns about TikTok’s updated privacy policy, which gave the app permission to track users’ precise GPS location. (This addition could be related to TikTok’s tests of a “Nearby” feed to show users videos from local creators, but was added to the policy alongside the change in ownership, leading to user backlash over privacy concerns.)

When reading the privacy policy anew, some users also discovered disturbing language, like how TikTok said it may collect users’ “immigration status,” among other personal data. However, this turned out to be a reference that was included because of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which requires businesses to inform consumers if they collect certain sensitive data. TikTok does that — in the sense that anything someone shares on the platform in their video content technically becomes part of the platform, so it requires disclosure.

In addition, TikTok experienced an unfortunately timed, multi-day data center outage, which caused the app to not function properly, sometimes breaking search, likes, and comments, causing video glitches, disrupting the algorithm, and creating issues with the in-app chat. Users believed these glitches meant TikTok was now censoring their content, which sent them looking for alternatives.

The company announced on Sunday evening that the data center outage was resolved, chalking it up to a winter-storm-driven power outage.

As users made peace with the new terms and conditions and the outage-driven issues were resolved, users returned to the platform, Similarweb’s data shows. But there’s still hope for the newcomers, as the firm notes that TikTok’s usage has been slowly declining over the latter part of 2025, when usage peaked at 100 million daily active users from July to October 2025, compared with the 90+ million seen now.