Vybe Together, an app that was pulled from the App Store for promoting large parties during the coronavirus pandemic, has appealed its removal.
The app, which was relatively obscure, gained hype last year for promoting and encouraging users to join “secret gatherings” — including “ragers” on New Year’s Eve. It was ultimately removed from the App Store in late 2020.
Now, Vybe Together COO Itamar Gil says the company is appealing Apple’s decision to remove the app because it believes it was rejected for political reasons.
In an update to its developer guidelines on Monday, Apple added new options to its App Review contact form, which developers can use to appeal app rejections. One of those options is the ability for a developer to specify whether they believe their app was rejected due to unfair treatment, such as because of political bias.
Gil did not say why the company believes Apple’s removal of Vybe Together was political in nature. However, the company said in a statement that it believes its app was removed because it was “potentially harmful to Apple’s public image.”
