Category: All Gay
Chappy Breaks Into the World of Gay Male Dating
AUSTIN MONTHLY – Dec 2 – Created in the same spirit as its sister company Bumble, Chappy is cultivating a welcoming atmosphere that challenges deeply entrenched negative norms between gay men. Similar to Bumble, the app's branding and marketing revolve around empowerment, accountability, acceptance, and kindness. Chappy limits matches to people who are mutually interested in one another, and users need to verify their identities.
Gay Dating Apps Still Leaking Location Data
DENTON DAILY – Nov 27 – Some of the most popular gay dating apps, including Grindr, Romeo and Recon, have been exposing the exact location of their users, according to cyber-security researchers who were able to generate a map of users across London, revealing their precise locations. This problem and the associated risks have been known about for years but some of the biggest apps have still not fixed the issue. After the researchers shared their findings with the apps involved, Recon made changes – but Grindr and Romeo did not.
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Grindr Still Wants to Go Public
WELLSTON JOURNAL – Nov 27 – Kunlun Tech, the Chinese company behind gay dating app says it will revive IPO plan after a U.S. national security panel dropped its opposition to the plan. Kunlun's efforts to sell Grindr outright were continuing even as the IPO preparations were relaunched. The IPO process becomes official when a company files a form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register their securities with the agency. At this point, the company has already secured a banker, such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, to underwrite their IPO.
Lex – New App That Offers Text-based Personal Ads
THE CUT – Nov 12 – Last year, Kelly Rakowski started Personals, a modern reimagining of dyke-centric ads from the pages of the '80s and '90s lesbian erotica magazine On Our Backs. In early November, she announced Personals would be making a major move, launching its own app with a new name: Lex. After months of beta testing from Kickstarter supporters, Lex (as in "lexicon") is now available for free download, offering the same text-based personal ads and missed connections. Rakowski says an app was necessary based on the number of ads she began receiving. A 2018 Kickstarter campaign raised ~$50K, which all went to the development of Lex. Anyone who donated to the campaign were early beta testers of the app, providing crucial feedback. On launch day, Lex saw 6K downloads.
Taimi, LGBTQI Dating App, Adds a New Travel Feature
MEDIUM.COM – Nov 12 – The latest update of the LGBTQI social networking and dating app includes Taimi Spot and Spotify Integration. TAIMI Spot allows users find connections in cities around the globe regardless of their permanent base. The tool will be extremely handy to frequent travelers and business people. Spotify Integration will allow users to share their favorite songs with potential matches.
What Does Kunlun Want With Grindr?
LA MAGAZINE – Nov 7 – In 2016 when a largely unknown Chinese company dropped $93M to purchase a controlling stake in Grindr, the news caught everyone by surprise. Beijing Kunlun and Grindr were not an obvious match. In the spring of 2018, Kunlun was notified of a U.S. investigation into whether it was harnessing Grindr's user data for nefarious purposes. Then, in November last year, Grindr's new, Chinese-appointed, and heterosexual president, Scott Chen, ignited a firestorm among the app's mostly queer staff when he posted a Facebook comment indicating he is opposed to gay marriage. Now, sources say, even the FBI is breathing down Grindr's neck, reaching out to former employees for dirt about the demographics of the company, the security of its data, and the motivations of its owner. "The big question the FBI is trying to answer is: Why did this Chinese company purchase Grindr when they couldn't expand it to China or get any Chinese benefit from it?" says one former app executive. "Did they really expect to make money, or are they in this for the data?" The U.S. gave Kunlun a firm June deadline to sell to an American suitor. Grindr founder Joel Simkhai, who orchestrated the sale to Kunlun, declined to comment for this article, but one source says he's heartbroken by how everything has gone down.
TAIMI is Implementing Apple ID Login
MEDIUM.COM – Oct 31 – TAIMI, the LGBTQI+ social network and dating app is adding more features. The latest update comes as Apple continues to roll out updates to iOS 13. iOS 13 offers people the ability to "Sign in with Apple ID". Since introducing the "Sign in with Apple ID" TAIMI saw an increase of 30% in terms of subscription conversion in comparison to other sign up options currently available to its users. Currently, TAIMI has ~100K daily active users and growing.
Gay Dating App Hornet to Offer “Verified” Profile Badge
Racism on Grindr Is Bad for the Brain
