Apple has released a US app that encouraged users to gather in secret clandestine meetings during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Vybe Together app, which promoted private parties, has been removed from Apple’s App Store, banned from its TikTok account, and rubbed most of its online presence, and creators of the app have told The Virgin that Apple has banned it.
Vybe Together was introduced to TikTok and its website as a place to organize and attend illegal parties in violation of social distancing laws, using the slogan “Get your rebel on. Start your party.”
“The young lady playing beer pong, flirting with strangers and generally just having fun with the crew? Vybe is here for you, ”the website said.
Users were asked to submit a profile before they were allowed to register, an application process that involved sending the applicant’s Instagram manager as well as uploading pictures of their party.
The app allowed people to create private events in “will not appear random” in. Users could request event invitations, hoping that the host will find them “interesting” enough to approve.
Once on the list, guests would expect to receive location information two hours before the start time of the event.
One of the co-founders of Vybe Together said the app had several thousand users and several thousand additional applicants had requested access since the company started posting videos on TikTok.
The app’s frequently asked questions page, now deleted, acknowledged that Covid-19 was “a major health issue for the country, our communities, our friends and family,” but stated that the app was designed to promote “small gatherings” rather than “large-scale parties”. ”, Which he described as“ dangerous ”.
“But Vybe is a commitment […] We could be living, at least a little, during these moments with Vybe ”.
It is unclear whether the app, which has only a few hundred followers on Instagram, caused substantially illegal or unsafe meetings, although it did promote “meetings every weekend.” in a TikTok video.
The creators of Vybe Together have been contacted to comment on them. His Instagram account includes the message: “App Store took us !!! We’ll be coming back !! ”