Controversial dating safety apps, Tea and Tea on Her, have been pulled from the Apple App Store. The appsโ removal was first spotted by the app store intelligence provider Appfigures, which told TechCrunch the two apps were removed from the App Store on Tuesday in all markets, but remain live on Google Play.
Reached for comment, Apple confirmed the appsโ removal, saying it removed Tea Dating Advice and TeaOnHer from the App Store because they failed to meet Appleโs requirements around content moderationย and user privacy. The company also said it saw an excessive number of user complaints and negative reviews, which included complaints of minorsโ personal information being posted in these apps.
Apple communicated the issues to the developers of the apps, a representative said, but the complaints were not addressed. (Request for comment from the app developers have not yet been returned.)
Specifically, Apple cited violations of its App Review Guidelines 1.2, 5.1.2, and 5.6. Rule 1.2 says apps with user-generated content should offer reporting and blocking features, and should remove objectionable content. Rule 5.1.2 says apps canโt use or share someoneโs personal information without permission, and 5.6 says excessive customer reports and negative reviews violate Appleโs Developer Code of Conduct.
Tea and TeaOnHer have generated a lot of headlines and interest since going viral earlier this year. Tea, which had quietly existed since 2023 before picking up steam in 2025, was pitched as a dating safety tool for women, somewhat similar to the โAre We Dating the Same Guy?โ Facebook Groups. The app encouraged women to spill details about men, particularly those on dating apps. This included their personal information, Yelp-style reviews, and whether theyโd dub them a โgreen flagโ or โred flag.โ
Many men, however, didnโt appreciate the appโs invasion into their privacy and questioned whether sharing information like this could be considered defamation.
After going viral and generating controversy, Tea suffered a data breach over the summer, with hackers gaining access to 72,000 images, including 3,000 selfies and photo IDs submitted for account verification, as well as 59,000 images from posts, comments, and direct messages.
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Later, a rival app called TeaOnHer launched to offer men the ability to dish on women in the same way, but it was beset by security issues that exposed usersโ personal information, including government IDs and selfies, TechCrunch discovered in August.
Appfigures says the Tea app saw 6.1 million total lifetime downloads and had generated $5 million in gross revenue to date. TeaOnHer had 2.2 million downloads and didnโt offer in-app purchases.
With their removal, copycat apps are gaining traction. For instance, an app called Tea on Her & Him โ Overheard has 354,000 total downloads and has jumped from No. 90 on the Overall Top App Charts to No. 27.
