It is currently available in 192 countries. Russian dating photos buzzfeed was launched on March 25, 2009 by Nearby Buddy Finder, LLC.
Initially, cautious but positive remarks circulated through the gay blogosphere on sites such as Queerty and Joe My God. Grindr announced in March 2011 that a straight version of the application was under development temporarily titled Project Amicus. On September 30, 2013, Grindr released version 2. 0 and began rolling it out on the iOS and Android. The user interface has been redesigned and brings stability improvements, a new endless scrolling feature, larger grid images and a unified chat inbox. Grindr also introduced an added filter called Grindr Tribes, allowing users to identify themselves with a niche group and narrow their searches to help find their type of man. As of Grindr’s fifth anniversary on March 25, 2014, the app had achieved more than 10 million user downloads and had more than 5 million active monthly users worldwide.
Grindr reached 27 million users in 2017. In order to fight the spread of HIV, Grindr announced in March 2018 to be introducing a new software that, if opted into, sends a reminder every three to six months to get a HIV test. It will also advise on the nearest venue for testing. In August 2018, the company decided to become public after receiving the approval from the parent Chinese company “Kunlun Group”.
In 2012, the operators of Grindr used the service to deliver “Grindr for Equality,” geotargeted information about political campaigns and the views of candidates on LGBT-related issues. The Android version of Grindr has a substantial number of negative reviews stemming from unresolved issues, but has increased to a 3. 5 star rating, as of January 2015. In August 2013, Grindr released an update that requires users to verify their accounts by providing a valid email address and creating a password to resolve user issues. In January 2012, a software vulnerability potentially exposed the personal details of hundreds of thousands of users.
Grindr subsequently commenced legal action and pursued software changes to block the site responsible. The site impacted a small number of primarily Australian Grindr users and it remains shut down. In August 2014, it was reported that Grindr’s relative distance measurements could facilitate triangulation thereby pinpointing individual users. A proof of concept has been published and more than 2 million detections were performed within a few days. In May 2016, a group of computer scientists from Kyoto University had demonstrated to Andy Greenberg at Wired magazine how location pinpointing is still possible even when the “show distance” feature is disabled.
