5 ms·

The app has been half-broken for a lot of this year too, and I guess this explains that.

nerdjon 2y ago
That messages transition several months ago was one of the worst things they have ever done (and they have done a lot of poor updates). Sucks that it still feels like a necessary evil just due to its user base. I continue to have conflicted feelings on paying for xtra. I hate it, but it's such a horrible experience without it.
- tokioyoyo 2y ago
  Time for the HN people to get together and build a superior product? I think we could do better.
  - init2null 2y ago
    That can only work when there's a commitment to treat customers well. Otherwise, it's just a user base waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. And that's most likely a dating giant that will use the brand in an attempt to milk profit from the users in the least pleasant way possible. It isn't a technical problem.
    - tokioyoyo 2y ago
      Frankly, given our demography, we can probably bootstrap the app and focus on minimizing the costs as much as we can. Then try to scale it accordingly with a focus on salaries, rather than investor payouts. It does sound possible in my head, other than grassroots marketing. Would need some people who has some experience in growing the customer base though. So yeah, treating the customer base with respect would be a priority.
  - nerdjon 2y ago
    Honestly I am not sure it will matter, there are better services out there but many people don't switch over for one reason or another. Many just because they don't want too, or don't want to manage more than 1 app. We also see several new apps spring up and just never gain traction. It has developed a stronghold because most still use it, and that likely just isn't changing anytime soon.
    - tokioyoyo 2y ago
      To my understanding, everyone uses X because everyone else is on X. Give them the opportunity that you can see almost unlimited people on the grid, manage spam, and pic sharing, it might be possible. The last 2 aren’t easy problems to solve though. Getting the first few thousand users isn’t easy either, but practically free and not user hostile UX, would make a lot of people consider it.
      - nerdjon 2y ago
        Right that’s largely the issue. If enough people don’t use it, than people will just download it and see that no one uses it and never open it again. Really the only other app with a serious enough use is Scruff. By nearly every metric it is a better app and does some really good things. But even being on both and basically bouncing between the 2 most of my conversations end up on Grindr. There is another web app that has gained serious traction for offering a… unique value proposition but I am purposefully not going to name it here so someone doesn’t look it up and see something they don’t want to see. (I will just say there is a reason it’s a web app instead of an actual app)
        tokioyoyo 2y ago
        I am pretty sure we all know the web app you're talking about. It's gaining traction, but because of the direct nature of it, I don't see it becoming as big as Grindr. With regards to Scruff, I agree, and I'm not sure why it hasn't gotten the same attention as the former. Maybe the type of people it tries to attract? I still think, if there was an app that was completely free, and optimized for cost reduction with very unobtrusive ads, it could get somewhere. Right now the pricing levels are atrocious, and there's a scratch for the people to stop using it because of it, in addition to hostile UX.
  - consteval 2y ago
    The value of dating software products is not the product at all. It's the people on it. Undoubtably, there are numerous apps/sites that are better engineered, with a better user experience, than Grindr. In fact, some are very popular, like Tinder and Hinge. But they don't swallow up Grindr, because Grindr is still the place with the most gay men. The value of the app is 90% in that. There is SOME merit to it, too. Certainly, being closeted is easier on Grindr versus Tinder/Hinge, and that might describe the majority of gay men. Grindr also gives the user much, much more control and information. You don't have to swipe, you can just approach, like you're at a bar.
NelsonMinar 2y ago
It's astonishing me how bad the Grindr tech is and how abusive the company is and yet it still persists as the most popular gay hookup app. I mean this company was selling people's HIV status to advertisers and yet we still use it. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/grindr-users-seek-payouts-after-dating-app-shared-hiv-status-with-vendors/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/grindr-users-see...
- init2null 2y ago
  I think it's due to the toxicity of dating apps in general. But Grindr gets more freedom to treat users poorly since the overall user success rate is better than on mixed sites like Tinder, at least in the short term. It's also tougher to find someone IRL without an app when you're in the 5%. They have a captive audience for now.
- 93po 2y ago
  People keep using the apps because it's overwhelmingly the easiest way to date/whatever, which is a really high priority in the life of a lot of people, and they're going to use the apps with the best results even if it feels sort of shitty to do so.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >It's astonishing me how bad the Grindr tech is and how abusive the company is and yet it still persists as the most popular gay hookup app. I wonder why the other big apps don't use their own tech to make a separate gay hookup app. The only thing I can see, other than possibly anti-gay bias, is that they see the market as not being worthwhile financially due to other reasons.
  - ITwork2019 2y ago
    there are plenty of competing apps. they simply don't have the install base grindr has. it was the first to market well before tinder. other apps do exist particularly in central and eastern europe with local tech and install bases but they don't have the same reach. also it's a bit disingenuous to call grindr a dating app, it's almost purely a sex hookup app but they would rather pretend it's something else entirely.
water-data-dude 2y ago
I have a little blurb explaining “This is why Grindr sucks lately” in my bio on there, hahaha

That messages transition several months ago was one of the worst things they have ever done (and they have done a lot of poor updates). Sucks that it still feels like a necessary evil just due to its user base. I continue to have conflicted feelings on paying for xtra. I hate it, but it's such a horrible experience without it.

tokioyoyo 2y ago
Time for the HN people to get together and build a superior product? I think we could do better.
- init2null 2y ago
  That can only work when there's a commitment to treat customers well. Otherwise, it's just a user base waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. And that's most likely a dating giant that will use the brand in an attempt to milk profit from the users in the least pleasant way possible. It isn't a technical problem.
  - tokioyoyo 2y ago
    Frankly, given our demography, we can probably bootstrap the app and focus on minimizing the costs as much as we can. Then try to scale it accordingly with a focus on salaries, rather than investor payouts. It does sound possible in my head, other than grassroots marketing. Would need some people who has some experience in growing the customer base though. So yeah, treating the customer base with respect would be a priority.
- nerdjon 2y ago
  Honestly I am not sure it will matter, there are better services out there but many people don't switch over for one reason or another. Many just because they don't want too, or don't want to manage more than 1 app. We also see several new apps spring up and just never gain traction. It has developed a stronghold because most still use it, and that likely just isn't changing anytime soon.
  - tokioyoyo 2y ago
    To my understanding, everyone uses X because everyone else is on X. Give them the opportunity that you can see almost unlimited people on the grid, manage spam, and pic sharing, it might be possible. The last 2 aren’t easy problems to solve though. Getting the first few thousand users isn’t easy either, but practically free and not user hostile UX, would make a lot of people consider it.
    - nerdjon 2y ago
      Right that’s largely the issue. If enough people don’t use it, than people will just download it and see that no one uses it and never open it again. Really the only other app with a serious enough use is Scruff. By nearly every metric it is a better app and does some really good things. But even being on both and basically bouncing between the 2 most of my conversations end up on Grindr. There is another web app that has gained serious traction for offering a… unique value proposition but I am purposefully not going to name it here so someone doesn’t look it up and see something they don’t want to see. (I will just say there is a reason it’s a web app instead of an actual app)
      - tokioyoyo 2y ago
        I am pretty sure we all know the web app you're talking about. It's gaining traction, but because of the direct nature of it, I don't see it becoming as big as Grindr. With regards to Scruff, I agree, and I'm not sure why it hasn't gotten the same attention as the former. Maybe the type of people it tries to attract? I still think, if there was an app that was completely free, and optimized for cost reduction with very unobtrusive ads, it could get somewhere. Right now the pricing levels are atrocious, and there's a scratch for the people to stop using it because of it, in addition to hostile UX.
- consteval 2y ago
  The value of dating software products is not the product at all. It's the people on it. Undoubtably, there are numerous apps/sites that are better engineered, with a better user experience, than Grindr. In fact, some are very popular, like Tinder and Hinge. But they don't swallow up Grindr, because Grindr is still the place with the most gay men. The value of the app is 90% in that. There is SOME merit to it, too. Certainly, being closeted is easier on Grindr versus Tinder/Hinge, and that might describe the majority of gay men. Grindr also gives the user much, much more control and information. You don't have to swipe, you can just approach, like you're at a bar.

NelsonMinar 2y ago

It's astonishing me how bad the Grindr tech is and how abusive the company is and yet it still persists as the most popular gay hookup app. I mean this company was selling people's HIV status to advertisers and yet we still use it. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/grindr-users-seek-payouts-after-dating-app-shared-hiv-status-with-vendors/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/grindr-users-see...

init2null 2y ago
I think it's due to the toxicity of dating apps in general. But Grindr gets more freedom to treat users poorly since the overall user success rate is better than on mixed sites like Tinder, at least in the short term. It's also tougher to find someone IRL without an app when you're in the 5%. They have a captive audience for now.
93po 2y ago
People keep using the apps because it's overwhelmingly the easiest way to date/whatever, which is a really high priority in the life of a lot of people, and they're going to use the apps with the best results even if it feels sort of shitty to do so.
Suppafly 2y ago
>It's astonishing me how bad the Grindr tech is and how abusive the company is and yet it still persists as the most popular gay hookup app. I wonder why the other big apps don't use their own tech to make a separate gay hookup app. The only thing I can see, other than possibly anti-gay bias, is that they see the market as not being worthwhile financially due to other reasons.
- ITwork2019 2y ago
  there are plenty of competing apps. they simply don't have the install base grindr has. it was the first to market well before tinder. other apps do exist particularly in central and eastern europe with local tech and install bases but they don't have the same reach. also it's a bit disingenuous to call grindr a dating app, it's almost purely a sex hookup app but they would rather pretend it's something else entirely.

water-data-dude 2y ago

I have a little blurb explaining “This is why Grindr sucks lately” in my bio on there, hahaha