TikTok has largely recovered from a slight dip in active users in the days since change of ownershipwhen a group of American investors controls video app operations in the United States. The reduction, even for a short time, has benefited competing video apps like UpScrolled and Skylight Socialwhich has seen rapid user adoption as others look for alternatives to TikTok.

According to estimates from a digital market intelligence firm Similar webTikTok saw usage drop to the range of 86-88 million daily active users in the US immediately following the change in ownership. That compares to an average of 92 million daily active users.

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

When TikTok saw a slight decline in usage, alternative video-sharing apps UpScrolled and Skylight Social began to grow rapidly. Although a fraction of TikTok’s size, UpScrolled topped 138,500 daily active users at its peak on January 28; it has now dropped back to 68,000.

Meanwhile, Skylight Social hit 81,200 daily active users, according to Similarweb estimates and has since dropped to 56,300 daily active users. In general, Skylight Social sees its users sign-ups increased to 380,000 in late January, the company told TechCrunch.

The decline in TikTok usage, which has prompted some to try new apps, is not directly driven by the change in ownership, but by how users fear it will affect their TikTok experience. There are growing concerns about TikTok’s updated privacy policywhich allows the app to track the exact GPS location of the users. (This addition may be related to TikTok tests a “Nearby” feed to show users videos from local creators, but was added to the policy along with the ownership change, resulting in user criticism of privacy concerns.)

When re-reading the privacy policy, some users also discovered disturbing language, such as how TikTok says it may collect users’ “immigration status“among other personal data. However, it became a reference 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 whatever a person shares on the platform in their video content technically becomes part of the platform, so it requires disclosure.

Moreover, TikTok is experiencing a sad time, multi-day data center outagewhich causes the app to not work properly, sometimes breaks search, likes, and comments, causes video glitches, disrupts the algorithm, and creates in-app chat issues. Users believe these glitches mean TikTok is now censoring their content, sending them looking for alternatives.

The company Office has partnered on Sunday night that the data center outage resolvedwhich resulted in a power outage due to the typhoon.

As users come to terms with the new terms and conditions and the issues caused by the outage are resolved, users return to the platform, Similarweb data shows. But there is still hope for newcomers, because the company says that the use of TikTok will gradually decrease in late 2025, when the use will peak at 100 million daily active users from July to October 2025, compared to the 90+ million seen today.