Amber Neely
Over 180 vaping-related apps will be removed from the App Store in the coming hours and days, as Apple seeks to reduce youth exposure to e-cigarette marketing.
Vape pen manufacturers have an assortment of apps that allow users to control the temperature and lighting of their vape pens via their iPhone. There also had been instances of apps that provided vaping-related news and vaping-related games.
In June of this year, Apple had stopped accepting new apps that promoted vaping. Now, 181 vaping-related apps will be removed from the App Store. It's currently unclear whether those who own these apps will be able to continue to re-download them in the future.
"We take great care to curate the App Store as a trusted place for customers, particularly youth, to download apps. We're constantly evaluating apps, and consulting the latest evidence, to determine risks to users' health and well-being," Apple told Axios. "We've updated our App Store Review Guidelines to reflect that apps encouraging or facilitating the use of these products are not permitted. As of today, these apps are no longer available to download."
A quick spot-check of the App Store hasn't shown evidence of the removal yet, nor has the public-facing review guidelines been modified as of 7:50 A.M Eastern Time. It isn't presently clear if users that have already downloaded the apps, will be allowed to re-download them in the future, of if they will be stricken entirely from the service.
The CDC has reported that at least 42 people have died from vaping-related illnesses. Most who have died had been using unregulated THC-based cartridges, though there have been instances of those using nicotine based cartridges.
The CDC suspects that the chemical of concern is vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent in vaping products. While not harmful when ingested or applied to the skin, vitamin E acetate is suspected to interfere with normal lung function when heated and inhaled.
Apple has never allowed the sale of vape cartridges directly from any apps.
Apple has removed apps from the App Store before. In 2008, Apple had removed the $999 "I'm Rich" iPhone app, which simply showed a graphic of a ruby once purchased. Apple had also removed "Clicker Heroes" earlier this year after a copyright claim.
Recently, Tim Cook had defended the choice to remove HKMap Live from the app store, citing concerns that the app had been used to target individual officers or victimize property where no police were present.
AppleInsider Staff
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
36 Comments
The anti--vape hysteria is just going to push people back to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. The problem is not with legal vapes, by and large. It's with illegal products and bootleg vapes. Banning flavors? OK. But they are going much further. The war against all tobacco is also continuing. A recent bill that passed committee would ban all online sales, *including* premium cigars (which the FDA's own data say aren't marketed to kids).
This is ridiculous. The vaping products that are causing problems are vape cartridges. They've pulled the apps for several dry herb vaping devices. These devices take dry cannabis and heat it so that it produces vapor, not smoke. It is a far healthier way of consuming, since no solids get into the lungs.
Since these apps are missing, these $300+ devices are worthless. For instance, the Firefly app was one of the apps that were pulled. The Firefly has no user interface on the devices. It's controlled 100% by the app. These can no longer be used. By the way, the Firefly was developed by a couple of ex Apple execs.
So stupid. What are they going to remove next? Food Network app because they feature recipes for high calorie foods? Car apps because cars are bad for the environment and can cause accidents/deaths? Stupid.