App Used To Plan Secret Parties Booted Off App Store, TikTok

An iOS app aimed at helping partiers find clandestine parties during the pandemic has been booted off Apple’s App Store platform.

The recently launched Vybe Together app, which featured the slogan “Get your rebel on,” was removed this week by Apple after a New York Times reporter tweeted about its existence. The app offered a platform for users to organize events, with venue addresses sent out to approved guests about two hours before start time, according to The Verge.

The app received unwanted media exposure on Tuesday (Dec. 29), when New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz tweeted, “terrible people built a whole app for finding and promoting COVID-unsafe large, indoor house parties and they’re using TikTok to market it to millions of people.”

According to The Verge, the app’s official TikTok account was also shut down. The Verge said a person identifying themselves as a Vybe co-founder told them the app had a few thousand users and the company had received a few thousand more applications since it began posting videos on massive entertainment platform. TikTok told The Verge that the app’s account only had 139 followers when it was removed.

Vybe later told The Verge that the app was not intended to promote unsafe behavior.

“Vybe Together was [a minimum viable product] designed to help other people organize small get-togethers in parks or apartments during COVID,” a Vybe spokesperson said. “We never hosted any large parties, and we made one over-the-top marketing video that left a wrong impression about our intentions, which has since been taken down. We do not condone large unsafe parties during a pandemic.”

Heightened concern about the growing second wave of COVID-19 infections is causing some governments to take more strident action.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that Spain will maintain a registry of those who refuse the vaccine — and share it with other European Union nations. Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said COVID-19 vaccinations will not be mandatory, but that the government will keep track. Illa said the registry, due to privacy issues, would not be made public.

Meanwhile, the ongoing pandemic is wearing down consumer confidence.

According to a Consumer Confidence Survey from The Conference Board, consumer confidence fell in December, declining to 88.6 of a possible 100 points from 92.9 in November. The figure is intended to reflect the attitudes and purchasing plans of consumers across various economic and demographic categories.