*

TikTok still could not be downloaded from app stores on

Tuesday

*

Users anxiously wait to re-download app as Apple ( AAPL ) and

Google

remain trapped in legal purgatory

*

Some users abandon app in protest against Trump's

intervention

*

Secondhand devices with app downloaded listed for sale on

eBay ( EBAY )

(Recasts story throughout, adds comments from Tiktok users

throughout, adds byline)

By Doyinsola Oladipo

Jan 21 (Reuters) - Three days after ByteDance's TikTok

went dark and then was quickly revived in the United States,

users that deleted the app were anxiously checking iPhone and

Android devices to find it still unavailable to be downloaded

again.

Some looking to make a quick profit from TikTok fans'

desperation listed devices with the app purportedly downloaded

on eBay ( EBAY ) for up to $50,000.

TikTok still could not be downloaded from the Apple ( AAPL ) and Google

app stores in the United States on Tuesday, trapped in legal

purgatory by the two tech giants and diplomatic wrangling

between the United States and China, where ByteDance is based.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday

delaying the enforcement of a ban on the popular short-video app

by 75 days, the legality of which is unclear.

TikTok resumed service after Trump's assurances that the

company and its partners would not face hefty fines to keep the

app running, but it was yet to return to app stores. Other apps

owned by ByteDance, including Lemon8 and CapCut, were also no

longer available.

The back-and-forth has brought out mixed feelings from users,

including some who planned to abandon TikTok after seeing Trump

so heavily involved in the negotiations, which could result in

TikTok eventually being sold to one of his allies in the tech

industry.

"I do not want to continue being a pawn in this hellscape. I

am not saying it will make a difference to TikTok but it will

make a difference to me," said Nicole Norman, a TikTok user, on

Meta's Threads app. "I will not be back on TikTok."

Others, however, want TikTok back, which is not possible as

long as Apple ( AAPL ) and Google parent Alphabet do

not make it available.

"I've been checking every day," said travel content creator

Lauren Scott. Scott, 29, currently in Brazil, read in some

Facebook groups that Americans abroad may be able to access the

app if they deleted and re-downloaded it. But that proved not to

be the case, leaving her in limbo.

The delay may be because Google and Apple ( AAPL ) are awaiting

additional protections before bypassing the ban that punishes

the companies for hosting or distributing the app, according to

analysts.

A notice on Apple's ( AAPL ) App Store said: "TikTok and other ByteDance

apps are not available in the country or region you're in".

Google Play showed: "Downloads for this app are paused due to

current U.S. legal requirements."

Some users have been tinkering with multi-step processes to

gain access, such as trying to change their location in their

phones.

"Really hoping TikTok comes back to the app store ASAP, not

wanting to do any of that VPN stuff to get it back," said Lauren

Nader, a TikTok user, on Threads.

Google, Apple ( AAPL ) and TikTok did not respond to requests for

comment.

U.S. legislators last year passed a law upheld by the U.S.

Supreme Court requiring ByteDance to either sell TikTok or face

a ban, citing national security concerns. Many Democratic and

Republican lawmakers still want to see ByteDance sell the app.

Trump suggested the United States government should be a

half-owner of TikTok's U.S. business in return for keeping the

app alive, and warned that he could impose tariffs on China if

Beijing failed to approve a deal.

China indicated this week for the first time it would be

open to a transaction keeping TikTok operating in the United

States, with its foreign ministry saying on Monday that

companies "decide independently" on matters of their operations

and deals.

Some users still on TikTok have suggested that the app's

algorithm is "feeling different" since it came back online,

fanned by fears about the future of the tool under a new

ownership structure.

TikTok welcomed users back on Sunday with the message,

"Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President

Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!"

"I deactivated my account after it was 'back' this morning.

I'm done with taking credit for the messes he starts,"

said TikTok user Janel Samson on Threads.

Over 200 iPhone and Android devices with the app downloaded

were listed on the site for sale as of Tuesday night.