Currently, you are unable to view the APKMirror web page. Instead, you get the following message shown in the screenshot below.

Tiktok downloads are currently blocked in the United States due to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

The link in this statement leads to the following page, containing the bill that was passed:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7521

This sets a dangerous precedent going forward for the Android community which sideloads applications onto their phones, being that APKMirror is the largest mirror of APKs for Android phones. It’s also possible for them to add more apps to be included under this bill, and possible for another bill to be passed which may act as an even more broad blanket to target specific groups of people (e.g. LGBTQ+, people of color), messaging applications that are truly secure (e.g. Signal), and so on.

Then of course there a very real possibility of our president forcing the integration of software updates into both Android (and possibly even iOS smartphones) that can forcibly remove applications for the “sake of national security”.

Blocked APKMirror links:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/tiktok-pte-ltd/tik-tok/

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/tiktok-pte-ltd/lemon8/

    • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      53·
      15 hours ago

      Damn, Aurora is linked to google and you need to login to get apks, unlike F-Droid.

      Aurora Store enables you to search and download apps from the official Google Play store. You can check app descriptions, screenshots, updates, reviews, and download the APK directly from Google Play to your device. To use Aurora Store, you need to have a Google Play account, and log in to your Google Play account when you first open and configure Aurora Store.

      (Alternatively Aurora Store also allow you to login anonymously)

      Unlike a traditional app store, Aurora Store does not own, license or distribute any apps. All the apps, app descriptions, screenshots and other content in Aurora Store are directly accessed, downloaded and/or displayed from Google Play.

      Aurora Store works exactly like a door or a browser, allowing you to log in to your Google Play account and find the apps from Google Play.

      Please note that Aurora Store does not have any approval, sponsorship or authorization from Google, Google Play, any apps downloaded through Aurora Store or any app developers; neither does Aurora Store have any affiliation, cooperation or connection with them.

      F-Droid is cool, but limited with apks.

      https://f-droid.org/

      F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.

      • pycorax@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        15 hours ago

        You can just login anonymously like the description you posted says. It works pretty well. It’s how I download apps that aren’t available on my local play store.

        • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
          4·
          13 hours ago

          And how I get ones that it says are incompatible with my device for no apparent reason.