YNETNEWS – May 21 – A new Israeli site is meant for gay and lesbian religious Jews who want to have a 'traditional' Jewish household with somebody of the opposite sex. Thus far, ~50 users have signed up.
by Kobi Nachshoni
See full article at YNetNews
WIRED – May 20 – Computer researchers in Kyoto, Japan discovered a stalking method which is cheap, reliable, and works not only with Grindr but other gay dating apps like Hornet and Jack'd. It's known as trilateration. If Grindr or a similar app tells you how far away someone is—even if it doesn't tell you in which direction—you can determine their exact location by combining the distance measurement from three points surrounding them. In the US that's not a problem but in Islamic countries or in Russia, it can be very serious that their information is leaked like that.
In late 2014, Grindr responded to security researchers who pointed out that risk by offering an option to turn off the app's distance-measuring feature, and disabling it by default in countries known to have "a history of violence against the gay community". The lingering issue, however, remains: All three apps still show photos of nearby users in order of proximity.
BBC NEWS – May 9 – When Robyn Exton first launched her dating and social networking app for lesbians and bisexual women in 2013, a lack of cash for advertising meant she'd go to nightclubs armed with bottles of spirits. "I'd go to nightclubs with a bottle of sambuca in one hand, and tequila in the other, and encourage girls to download the app in return for a shot," she says. Her app now has more than one million female users around the world. Her has raised $2.5M in funding, with US investors including Michael Birch, founder of social network Bebo, and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of news platform Reddit. However, it has yet to make any money. Revenues may finally start to arrive later this year when Her launches a premium version of the app.
ADVOCATE – Mar 18 – Earlier this year, the Beijing Kunlun Tech Company bought a majority stake in Grindr. Recently, China banned all TV programming depicting gay and lesbian couples. Yet the Chinese business was "excited" to invest $93M in the app. The world's most popular same-sex matchmaking app is Chinese Blued. Blued alone has ~15M users. "People in China are less open about homosexuality, but the beautiful thing about the smartphone is that it's a private device," said Blued investor David Chao.
by Daniel Reynolds
See full article at Advocate
HUFFINGTON POST – Mar 14 – The belief that Grindr and other gay apps may be helping to destroy the gay bar scene is nothing new. However, in the eyes of Joel Simkhai, the opposite may actually be true. "Our users are still socializing in bars and clubs very well. And even if you're in these places and too shy to come up to someone, at the bar you can still use Grindr. The feedback we get is that Grindr is a very effective tool to drive."
STAR OBSERVER – Feb 17 – The gay hook-up/dating app was listed "for promoting tolerance worldwide" through the implementation of its Grindr for Equality campaign. Also on the Innovative Social Media Company list were Tinder, Periscope, and Facebook, while BuzzFeed took out top place as Fast Company's Most Innovate Company for 2016.
BBC.COM – Feb 14 – Combining match-making with games and quizzes, DatePlay is designed to generate meaningful matches. Behind the app is entrepreneur Vana Koutsomitis, who first pitched her idea on the BBC television series The Apprentice. She did not win Lord Sugar's investment – he judged the project too risky – but she has continued work on her app. Hanky is another new dating app. It lets existing members decide whether new joiners should be allowed in. The app, for men only, launched in January and has since attracted 85K members.
by Chris Foxx
See full article at BBC
THE FRISKY – Jan 25 – The app is catered to men who may in many ways identify as straight, or feel they don't fit into many of the molds of the gay community, but are seeking male intimacy. 'Bro' a safe space for men who feel that differing parts of their identity neither fit into binaries of gay or straight culture, and allows them to explore friendships and possibly sex without need for clear definitions.
by Bronwyn Isaac
See full article at The Frisky
SBS – Jan 20 – Despite homosexuality only being decriminalised as recently as 1997 and the scene still largely underground due to social stigma, Grindr is actually not even the most popular gay dating app in China. Blued claims more than three million daily users and is expected to soon become a publicly-listed company. Grindr claims to have a presence in 196 countries around the world and is used in countries where homosexuality is illegal or considered taboo. In the second half of the 2014-15 financial year, Grindr said its users in India grew by nearly 50% from the same period the year prior.
by Genevieve Dwyer
See full article at SBS
