TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone.

But, it would disappear from Apple and Google’s app stores. This means users won’t be able to download it. This would also mean that TikTok wouldn’t be able to send feature updates, security patches and bug fixes, and over time the app will become unusable – not to mention a security risk.

It’s unclear how the United States would prohibit citizens from using the application on their personal devices.

Forcing popular app stores such as Google Play and Apple App Store, to remove the app from their platforms would make it much harder to acquire the app but wouldn’t remove it from phones that already have it downloaded. On phones with the app installed, there would be no more updates or new features, and the apps would slowly become harder to use.

The main reason anyone has for creating updates is to stay protected from security threats.

Older software will continue to have the same bugs and exploitable holes in the code that allow hackers and cybercriminals to gain access to your device and personal account info.

This is made even more serious by the fact that all of these exploitable entry points have generally been made public once hackers find them.

Generally speaking, as quickly as developers find ways to fix exploitable holes in their software, hackers have found new ones. It’s a never-ending game of cat and mouse that software companies are caught up in with cybercriminals in order to protect your consumers.