Apple Pulls App That Promoted Secret Parties During Ongoing Pandemic

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."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases Firmware Updates for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday November 11, 2024 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released firmware updates for both AirPods 4 models (version number 7B20) and the AirPods Pro 2 with both Lightning and USB-C charging cases (version number 7B21). All of these AirPods models were previously on firmware version 7B19. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in firmware versions 7B20 and 7B21, but we will update this story if we find...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 Camera Modules to Enter Mass Production Next Month

Tuesday November 12, 2024 2:56 am PST by
Apple's camera module supplier for the upcoming iPhone SE 4 is set to begin mass production of the components in December, according to a new report coming out of Korea. Economic newspaper Ajunews reports that LG Innotek will supply the front camera module for the budget-friendly fourth-generation device. Final tests are now said to be underway, with mass production of the module following...
iphone 6 thickness

iPhone 17 'Air' May Not Be Much Thinner Than iPhone 6

Monday November 11, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 17 "Air" model may not be as thin as Apple planned, according to a rumor originating in Korea. According to the news aggregator account "yeux1122" on Naver, citing industry sources, Apple has run into problems making the new iPhone 17 model sufficiently thin. The device's reduced thickness is apparently dependent on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate, but...
new mac holiday

The Best Early Black Friday Mac Deals

Monday November 11, 2024 7:45 am PST by
Black Friday is getting closer, and prices on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac mini computers have started to drop as the shopping holiday nears. These deals include the latest models of the M4 MacBook Pro and iMac. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site...
iOS 18

Here's Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 3

Monday November 11, 2024 4:53 pm PST by
Apple seeded the third betas of iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 to developers for testing today. While the third betas of each update are minor relative to the first two betas, there are still a handful of changes across the Photos app, TV app, and more. A corresponding iOS 18.2 public beta with these changes will likely be released later this week, and Apple previously confirmed that the software...
General Final Cut Pro Feature

Apple Likely to Announce Final Cut Pro Update This Week With These New Features

Sunday November 10, 2024 12:13 pm PST by
In its announcement video for the new Mac mini last month, Apple teased an "upcoming" version of Final Cut Pro for the Mac. Apple will likely announce the update during the annual Final Cut Pro Creative Summit, which begins this Wednesday. The conference is held in association with Apple, and attendees will be visiting Apple Park on the first day. Apple already teased four new features...
iPad iOS 16 WP Display Feature eric edit

Apple to Launch AI-Powered Home 'Command Center' as Soon as March 2025

Tuesday November 12, 2024 1:09 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch an AI-powered smart home display as soon as March 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The display will measure in at approximately six inches, and while it is similar to an iPad, it is square rather than rectangular and it has thick bezels around the edges. There is a camera at the top front so that it can be used for FaceTime, plus there are internal speakers...

Top Rated Comments

ArPe Avatar
51 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
51 months ago
Did they closed apps used by BLM to organize protest during pandamic??
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArPe Avatar
51 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
51 months ago
good. one of the benefits of having a single app store on the platform.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AnthonyHarris Avatar
51 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
51 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)