Apple just pulled the plug on two of the year's most controversial dating apps. The company confirmed it removed Tea and TeaOnHer from the App Store Tuesday over serious content moderation failures and privacy violations, including reports that minors' personal information was being exposed on the platforms. The move affects millions of users who downloaded the gossip-style dating safety tools.
Apple just delivered a crushing blow to the controversial dating app ecosystem that's been dividing users all year. The tech giant confirmed Tuesday it yanked both Tea and TeaOnHer from the App Store across all markets, citing violations that go straight to the heart of user safety and privacy.
The removal came after what Apple describes as "excessive" user complaints and negative reviews, with particularly alarming reports about minors' personal information appearing on these platforms. According to TechCrunch's reporting, app intelligence firm Appfigures first spotted the removals, though both apps remain live on Google Play for now.
"Apple removed Tea Dating Advice and TeaOnHer from the App Store because they failed to meet Apple's requirements around content moderation and user privacy," an Apple representative told reporters. The company says it warned the developers about these issues, but the problems weren't addressed.
The violations weren't minor technical glitches. Apple specifically cited three major rule breaks: failing to provide proper reporting tools for objectionable content, sharing users' personal information without permission, and racking up so many customer complaints that it violated the Developer Code of Conduct. These aren't the kind of issues that slip through the cracks - they're fundamental failures of app governance.
Tea's story reads like a cautionary tale about viral success without proper infrastructure. The app quietly launched in 2023 but exploded in popularity this year as a "dating safety tool" that let women share detailed reviews of men they'd encountered on dating platforms. Think Yelp, but for humans, complete with "green flag" and "red flag" ratings.
The concept tapped into real concerns about dating app safety, but the execution raised serious questions about privacy and potential defamation. Men targeted by the platform pushed back hard, questioning whether public reviews of their dating behavior crossed legal lines.
Then the security failures started piling up. Tea suffered a massive data breach over the summer, exposing 72,000 images including government ID photos and selfies from account verification. That's not just embarrassing - it's exactly the kind of sensitive data that can fuel identity theft and stalking.
