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Cosmosent

macrumors 68020
Apr 20, 2016
2,315
2,693
La Jolla, CA
It would have ZERO chance of getting approved by the U.S. Gov't !

Maybe five years ago, but certainly NOT now !

MSFT is actually the best BIG company fit !
 

BuddyTronic

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,866
1,473
Apple is pretty hands-on - if they buy it, I would expect more of a beats situation. First thing they’d do is mandate new privacy policies, sanitize the back-end infrastructure, etc. Then they’d start building hooks into iOS, to make iphones the best platform for viewing/posting stuff. They’d integrate it into the Apple TV app on Apple TV’s, etc. They’d continue to support other platforms, but I don’t think they’d be “hands off” at all.

I know very little about TickTock I haven’t even tried it. But I agree that Apple can afford to buy a platform like TickTock. Apple doesn’t need to play dirty tricks to steal customer data but if TickTock does something useful like share a little videos or something that’s perfectly fine and they can throw it into the iOS ecosystem and like you say, clean it up
 

CarlJ

macrumors 604
Feb 23, 2004
6,976
12,140
San Diego, CA, USA
Not too long ago they didn’t have phones in their dna. And watches. And app stores.
And, after all, someone like Apple is never going to just walk in to a new field with established players, like smartphones, and actually get anywhere.

I mean, all you have to do is compare Apple’s minuscule share of the phone market, after all these years of trying, with the established powerhouse that is Windows Phone.
 

Seoras

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2007
761
2,012
Scotsman in New Zealand
TikTok is a media company much like a newspaper. It has political clout and bias, or the potential for it.
Which is why it is in a **** storm just now. Apple will want nothing to do with it.
 
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dampfnudel

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2010
4,602
2,638
Brooklyn, NY
While I know a lot of older Apple users think it’s a crappy app, the acquisition of TikTok by Apple could’ve had the potential to be one of their smartest acquisitions ever. TikTok has the potential to turn Instagram into the next Facebook, an app only people over 40 are still interested in.
 

SoldOnApple

macrumors 65816
Jul 20, 2011
1,077
1,792
With Bobby Kotick thinking he can afford TikTok if the US forces them to sell it or else they ban the app, then Apple probably could afford it. It would definitely be a memorable "oh and one more thing" for Tim Cook to pull off before he retires.
 
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