Apple pulled an American app that encourages users to meet in secret underground meetings during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Vybe Together app, which promoted private parties, was removed from the Apple App Store, had its TikTok account banned and erased most of its online presence, with the app’s creators telling The Verge that Apple had banned it.
Vybe Together called itself on TikTok and on its website as a place to organize and attend illegal parties in violation of social detachment laws, using the slogan “Get your rebel on Start your party. ”.
“Miss playing beer pong, flirting with strangers and usually just having fun with the crew? Vybe is here to help you, ”said the website.
Users were asked to submit a profile before being allowed to register, a registration process that involved sending the candidate’s Instagram identifier, as well as uploading photos of themselves at a party.
The app allowed people to create private events “no randoms will appear” on. Users could then sign up to receive invitations to events, hoping that the host would find them “interesting” enough to approve them.
Once on the list, guests would wait to receive details of the venue two hours before the event’s start time.
One of the co-founders of Vybe Together said the app had a few thousand users and that a few thousand additional candidates have requested access since the company started posting videos on TikTok.
The application’s frequently asked questions page – now deleted – recognized that Covid-19 was “a major health problem for the country, our communities, our friends and family”, but stated that the application was designed to promote “small meetings” in instead of “large-scale parties”, which he described as “dangerous”.
“But Vybe is a commitment […] We could be living, at least a little during those times with Vybe. “
It remains unclear whether the app – which has only a few hundred followers on Instagram – has substantially instigated illegal or unsafe meetings, although it promotes “meetings every weekend” in a TikTok video.
The creators of Vybe Together were contacted for comment. Your Instagram account includes the message: “The App Store took us down !!! We will be back!!”