Techcrunch
TikTok has largely recovered from a brief dip in daily active users in the U.S. following its ownership change, with usage now exceeding pre-dip levels. This temporary decline had benefited rival apps like UpScrolled and Skylight Social.
AI 生成摘要
TikTok 在美國所有權變更後經歷了短暫的活躍用戶下降，但現已大致恢復，使用量甚至超過了變更前的水平。這段期間曾讓 UpScrolled 和 Skylight Social 等競爭應用程式受益。
Latest
AI
Amazon
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
Staff
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Newsletters
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
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.
AsTikTok 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.
Topics
Consumer News Editor
Tickets are live at the lowest rates of the year. Save up to $680 on your pass now.Meet investors. Discover your next portfolio company. Hear from 250+ tech leaders, dive into 200+ sessions, and explore 300+ startups building what’s next. Don’t miss these one-time savings.
Nvidia CEO pushes back against report that his company’s $100B OpenAI investment has stalled
OpenClaw’s AI assistants are now building their own social network
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI in talks to merge, according to reports
Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica
Tesla is killing off the Model S and Model X
Tiny startup Arcee AI built a 400B-parameter open source LLM from scratch to best Meta’s Llama
Everything you need to know about viral personal AI assistant Clawdbot (now Moltbot)
© 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC.