It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are apps dedicated to tanning. There truly is an app for everything. Why wouldn’t there be one to tell you when to go outside, soak up the sun, turn over, and bake your skin until you achieve the crispy sheen of a Costco rotisserie chicken while accelerating every sign of aging and increasing your risk of cancer?
For many curious (and often quite young) tanners, whose entire lives already revolve around tracking everything from their periods to their reading habits with an app, it makes sense to optimize tanning this way. But there’s one part of the phenomenon that feels particularly dystopian: Many of them have taken the UV Index, a respected meteorological tool, and flipped the intent on its head. Instead of advising users to seek shade or stay inside when the index is highest, these apps reframe those peak hours as the best time to get a sweet tan. Click here to read more.