Apple Pulls App That Promoted Secret Parties During Ongoing Pandemic

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Apple has pulled an iOS app from the App Store that encouraged users to organize secret underground parties despite social distancing measures and U.S. pandemic restrictions, reports The Verge.

vybe together
Called "Vybe Together," the app billed itself as a place to organize and attend secret parties, with its now-defunct website using the tagline "Get your rebel on. Get your party on."

App users could act as party organizers and approve other users who wanted to attend their event. Approved invitees then received the event address two hours before the party was due to start.

According to one of the developers contacted by The Verge, Vybe Together had a few thousand users and thousands more had requested access before Apple pulled it from the ‌App Store‌. The app had also been promoted on TikTok before its account on the short-form video sharing platform was banned.

The ongoing health crisis has made indoor gatherings of people from different households an unsafe practice and in many regions such parties would be clear violations of pandemic restrictions, so it's unclear why Apple approved the app in the first place.

According to the report, the website's FAQ page acknowledged the danger of the pandemic, but said the app was designed to promote "small gatherings" rather than "large scale parties."

Whether the app led to many people holding the unsafe events is unclear, although it promoted "gatherings every weekend" on TikTok, including New Year's Eve parties.

The app had 25 ratings on the ‌App Store‌ before it was removed, and its Instagram page had under 1,000 followers. Before it was banned from the photo-sharing platform, Vybe Together's account had a single text post which read: "Blown out of proportion by the media. We DO NOT CONDONE LARGE GATHERINGS."

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Top Rated Comments

ArPe Avatar
ArPe
67 months ago


[HEADING=2]“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” [/HEADING]
Those aren’t the type of crazy ones Apple was referring to. The Think Different advertizing campaign was about progressive people with helpful and constructive ideas. Not suicidal conspiracy theorists with an axe to grind against the modern world.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kingofwale Avatar
kingofwale
67 months ago
Did they closed apps used by BLM to organize protest during pandamic??
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArPe Avatar
ArPe
67 months ago

Texas has been ALL THE WAY OPEN you should’ve seen the lake party’s over the summer. Commiefornia (TODAY) had there lockdown orders extended till mid-January. With cases surging. It’s almost like the science and numbers aren’t adding up.
Texas also has surging infections and dying people. It’s not something to rejoice about unless you’re brainwashed with that extremist anti-science The Awakening nonsense.


The Awakening, sometimes hashtagged Great Awakening, for those who haven’t noticed it, is a religious revivalist movement that comes and goes in waves. Its followers call themselves ‘light workers’, ‘healers’ or ‘patriots’. The most recent version uses right wing talking points, conspiracy theories against science and tech companies, fear mongering about vaccines and 5G, and preys upon a mostly female stay at home audience such as single mothers, old women and bored celebrities. It will most likely inspire moments of home grown terrorism, such as attacks on 5G antennas and perhaps the suicide bomber in Nashville last week.

One of their strategies is to scream censorship despite the massive amount of misinformation they post online, fake being oppressed and then ask followers to subscribe to mailing lists. The emails are harvested and sold to scammers and ransomware threats are sent out to subscribers.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
farewelwilliams
67 months ago
good. one of the benefits of having a single app store on the platform.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AnthonyHarris Avatar
AnthonyHarris
67 months ago
Why did I know that at least a few of the comments of this thread were going to make my eyes roll ALL the way around.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
msp3 Avatar
msp3
67 months ago
What's wrong with having peaceful protests? The powers that be were fine when their brownshirts were looting local businesses during their race riots, but ordinary people are denied freedom of assembly. Refuse fascism.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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