Cuddling on the
Wild Side

Grindr is an app for the iPhone that’s been out for a while now. Essentially it lets you find other people using the app based on proximity to you if they were on recently. Think of it like Manhunt with GPS on your phone. You can then send messages, pictures and your location to that person.

I think I’ve only actually met 1 person on there that I wasn’t already friends with, but the app does work relatively well and they have been doing a lot of work to improve the servers. The interface is pretty intuitive and you can always block an annoying guy.

The pic I was banned for

Although there is an 18+ warning when you download the app, it is a family friendly app. So if you’re a parent, feel safe letting your child download and use the app. I recently got banned from Grindr for the photo to the left. Now I don’t think the pic is that bad, and you’ve pretty much seen pics like this on magazine covers, but apparently because there is a tiny bit of cock and pubic hair… it’s considered an “obscene” photo.

Here’s a little email conversation I had with them while getting un-banned:

Me

I got banned and don’t understand why.

Grindr

Your profile was banned since it did not comply with our Terms of Service, which prohibits nudity or sexual/obscene photos and/or text. You cannot post photos of a penis on your public profile.

I removed the ban on your profile. Please ensure that in the future your profile contains only family friendly text and photos.

[Removed some marketing crap]

Me

Can you define what “nudity or sexual/obscene photos” are… because I’ve had my picture removed before for wearing a swimsuit that covers everything?

Also, isn’t it an 18+ app? Why do you have to limit the nudity?

Grindr

Thanks for your reply.  I included in the previous email that your profile was banned due to a photo of a penis. If you have had photos removed while wearing a swimsuit, it could be anything from pubic hair showing or even your text.  Although Grindr is an 18+ app, we want to keep the public profiles as clean as possible because not everyone wants to see nudity while searching for friends.  Remember, you can send whatever pictures and text you like during private chat.

Now, beyond the ability to post R-rated pics on your main profile, there are definitely some improvements they could make. Right now you can only have 1 public photo, more would be nice. It would also be nice if it had push notification, and there was a way to stay logged in without having to run the app. It does drain your battery quickly because it uses GPS. It would be nice if you could search for sexual interests. And a web component so I don’t have to sit at my phone to use it would be even better.

Overall though, it is a pretty good app and I’d recommend at least trying it out. If you do work at a homophobic place, and you care, I wouldn’t log on while you’re at work. It can be nice at a bar, or even just wandering around town.