With vaping-related deaths on the rise in the United States, and with health experts all over the country saying that vaping products constitute a public health crisis, Apple has decided to remove all vaping related apps from its App Stores.
The move comes a few months after Apple’s initial step to stop accepting vaping related apps back in June this year. In a statement, the Cupertino giant said “[We have] updated our App Store Review Guidelines to reflect that apps encouraging or facilitating the use of these products are not permitted”. The company further added that “As of today, these apps are no longer available to download.”
Apple has never let apps sell vapes or cartridges via their apps, and the apps removed today include everything from apps that let users control the lighting and heating on their vaping devices, to games around vaping. The company has removed a total of 181 apps from the its App Store.
The Cupertino giant is saying that its decision comes in the wake of experts and the CDC warning against vaping. In its press release, the company said that “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.”
Users who have already downloaded any of the removed apps will still be able to use them, and install them on new devices, but no new installations are possible via the App Store anymore.
