Grindr

Grindr (ˈɡraɪndər) is a location-based social networking and online dating application targeted towards gay, bisexual and transgender people. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009, and has since become the largest and most popular gay mobile app in the world. It is available on iOS and Android devices in both free and premium versions (the latter called Grindr XTRA and Grindr Unlimited). As of December 2021, Grindr has approximately 11 million monthly active users. The app allows users to create a personal profile and use their GPS position to place them on a cascade, where they can browse other profiles sorted by distance and be viewed by nearby and faraway users depending on one's filter settings. Selecting a profile photo in the grid view will display that user's full profile and photos, as well as the option to chat, send a "tap," send pictures, video call, and share one's precise location. Grindr was launched as an iOS mobile app on March 25, 2009, by tech entrepreneur Joel Simkhai in Los Angeles, California. The free version displayed 100 profiles of nearby men, while a premium version ($2.99 plus a monthly fee) contained no advertising and broadened the dating pool to 200 guys. Cautious but generally positive reviews of the app circulated through the gay blogosphere on sites such as Queerty and Joe My God. By August 2009, there were 200,000 total users in Grindr's network. By March 2010, there were 500,000. For its first anniversary on March 25, 2010, Grindr released the app for BlackBerry devices. In January 2011, Grindr won the iDate Award for Best Mobile Dating App. On March 7, 2011, Grindr launched the app for Android devices. Along with a free version, users could pay$4.97 for a premium version called Grindr XTRA that featured no banner ads, more profiles to choose from, more "favorites," and push notifications of messages received while the app is running in the background. In May 2011, Vanity Fair dubbed Grindr the "World's Biggest, Scariest Gay Bar".