Users on TikTok warned iPhone owners of an important setting to change if they want to keep the video-based social media app.
Kenny Peters, a creator in North Carolina, explained in a clip with more than 95,000 views within six days, that you could lose access to your TikTok if your iPhone offloads the app to preserve space.
"On your iPhone, there's a default setting that everyone has switched on called 'App offloading'," Peters said.
"And basically, all the apps you don't really use gets offloaded and basically deleted off your phone."
App Offloading
App offloading on iPhones is a feature designed to help users manage storage by automatically removing unused apps while retaining their data.
When an app is offloaded, the icon remains on the home screen, and any stored documents or settings are preserved. If the user decides to reinstall the app, it will restore as if it was never removed.
This feature is particularly useful for those with limited storage, since it allows for the conservation of space without permanently deleting app data.
So while Peters isn't correct that the iPhone "basically" deletes the app off your phone, the iPhone does uninstall the app temporarily.
Why This Throws Off TikTok
TikTok, however, is a special case, since the app is no longer featured in the Apple app store after it was banned in January.
Many American politicians sought restrict or prohibit the Chinese-owned social media app over concerns about national security, data privacy and potential influence from the Chinese government, citing fears that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, could be compelled to share user data with the Chinese government.
If an iPhone offloaded TikTok, the app would no longer be available in the store to download. In other words, while your iPhone wouldn't technically delete the app, offloading it would essentially render it unusable unless to returned to the app store.
A similar issue may have happened to user @IsaiahJaay1, whose video explaining how he lost access to his TikTok went viral with more than six million views within five days.
"The only reason why I'm here to tell you the testimony in the story is because my friend gave me her iPhone 12, and I'm using that right now for TikTok," he explained.
"They really tried to take me out. They tried to give me an early funeral, make me a dead homie."
How to Turn Off App Offloading
If you're worried about losing access to TikTok, here's how to turn the setting off.
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on "App Store".
- Find "Offload Unused Apps".
- Toggle the switch OFF (if it's green, tap it to disable it).
This will prevent your iPhone from automatically removing apps you don't use often.
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