Apple banned vaping apps in November 2019. Since then, the company has said very little about its decision, leaving many companies upset and confused about its blanket prohibition.
Three months later, companies are working around Apple’s ban. Here’s how they’re doing it.
Apple’s wide-sweeping ban on vaping affected apps from Juul, Pax and many others, including apps that calculate electrical resistance because they can be used to build vape components. It appears to have hit the cannabis industry at a higher rate than tobacco, as few tobacco vapes have a companion application.
The removal was sudden but not unexpected, given the climate at the time. In 2019, the vaping industry suffered a crisis as the Centers for Disease Control stumbled through a health scare caused by illicit products. Industry experts quickly identified a filler additive as the source of the illnesses, but these reports were ignored for months, creating widespread panic. Consumer sentiment promptly settled on the conclusion that all vapes are harmful, even when clear data shows the opposite. Vapes sourced through legal means are proven to be safer alternatives than other consumption methods.
It’s important to note Apple didn’t disable the apps or force the removal from phones. Apps that had already been downloaded continued to work, though they could not be updated.
For Pax, the ban came down on the eve of a major launch. The Pax Era Pro launched at CES in early January and was supposed to bring to market a device that would increase transparency and safety. The vape pen was designed to work in conjunction with a smartphone app that would display information about the THC cartridge and enable users to lock down the device. Right now, these features work only with Android devices.
Full disclosure: I use the Pax Era Pro, and the information it provides is impressive. As promised, it offers a dramatic increase in transparency around the contents of the cartridges. I wish I could use it with my iPhone.
Pax told TechCrunch at CES that it’s exploring building a web-based experience that would provide a similar experience to the smartphone app. It has yet to hit the market.
For manufacturer DaVinci, Apple’s ban caused a similar panic, as the company was about to launch a sophisticated vaporizer that relied on an app to inform consumers. Called the DaVinci IQ2, it launched in early December and is now available minus the app component. Instead of using an app, the company reworked its strategy and used the vape’s onboard processing capabilities and external screen to achieve a similar user experience.
“We pivoted and we replaced all of our PCB boards,” CEO Cort Smith said. “We loaded the app calculation into the machine, and we’re just lucky to get it up button and things. We had a full LED display on the machine, so it was really lucky. Somehow we were able to produce everything from the app with you on the machine as it was without changing a certain single component.”
Smith tells me he thinks the product is better without the dependency on an app. According to the company’s data, only 20% of past owners used the company’s app to adjust settings and, of that number, only 10% used it regularly. He said the app makes it a sexier experience and its functionality is still available on Android for that section of users. The company is currently debating if it will make a web app instead of an iPhone app.
I’ve used this vape, and it works as advertised. Through limited controls, it’s possible to track and report dosage per draw. But it’s clunky, and an app experience would make that function more accessible.
These companies and others tell TechCrunch they’ve tried working with Apple to partly reverse its ban, but so far, they’ve been unsuccessful. In most cases, it won’t even discuss the ban with the companies, and Cupertino’s radio silence is a significant source of frustration.
According to a statement from Apple in November, the company is “constantly evaluating apps and consulting the latest evidence to determine risks to users’ health and well-being.” If this statement is taken as written, Apple should know that the vaping crisis of 2019 was caused entirely by illicit vaping products. The blanket ban is forcing many users back out into the cold and away from legitimate sources of safety and information.
This ban remains in place as more states and regions open the door for cannabis use.
It’s unclear what would make Apple reverse its stance. The company declined to comment on this story and historically errs on the side of caution when banning things from its online stores. Even if the U.S. federal government legalizes or decriminalizes cannabis, Apple might still ban vaping apps.
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