Hopefully, no one was planning on hitting up the iOS store this weekend to download an app for their vaporizer. Apple has announced that it has removed all vaping-related applications from the platform, though you’ll still be able to use yours or download it again if it’s already on your phone.
The move is in reaction to a vaping-related health crisis that has seen thousands of cases of severe lung injury that appear to be tied to vaporizers. Across the U.S. and Canada, state and local governments have taken steps to curtail access to certain kinds of vaping products, which were already under fire due to soaring rates of teen vaping.
Apple has never allowed apps that facilitate the sale of vaporizer cartridges on its platform, but until this summer, it did host applications that controlled users’ vape product features like their temperature, as well as others that included vape-related content. The company ceased allowing new apps in these categories, however, in June.
The current ban affected 181 apps, which were removed from the iOS Store on Friday morning.
Tech Giant Joins Chorus of Anti-Vaping Advocates
“Experts ranging from the CDC to the American Heart Association have attributed a variety of lung injuries and fatalities to e-cigarette and vaping products, going so far as to call the spread of these devices a public health crisis and a youth epidemic,” an Apple spokesperson told Axios. “We agree, and we’ve updated our App Store Review Guidelines to reflect that apps encouraging or facilitating the use of these products are not permitted.”
As would be expected, anti-vaping advocates were pleased by the announcement. “By taking e-cigarette related apps off the App Store, Apple will help reduce youth