computer science

Grindr

Grindr is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Grindr rather than just read about it. In short: Grindr ( ) is an American location-based social networking and online hookup application for LGBTQ people. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009, and has since become the largest and most popular gay mobile app in the world.

Key takeaways

Grindr belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Grindr to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Grindr from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Grindr ( ) is an American location-based social networking and online hookup application for LGBTQ people. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009, and has since become the largest and most popular gay mobile app in the world. It is available on iOS and Android devices in both free and premium versions (the latter called Grindr XTRA and Grindr Unlimited). As of September 2023, Grindr has approximately 13.5 million monthly active users. The app allows users to create a personal profile and use their GPS position to place them on a cascade, where they can browse other profiles sorted by distance and be viewed by nearby and faraway users depending on one's filter settings. Selecting a profile photo in the grid view will display that user's full profile and photos, as well as the option to chat, send a "tap," send pictures, video call, and share one's precise location. The app has been criticized over moderation, privacy, and safety issues, including its handling of racist and discriminatory content, including a former ethnicity filter that was removed in 2020 following complaints. It has also faced privacy and security concerns, including vulnerabilities that enabled users' precise locations to be identified through trilateration, and its of extensive sharing of user data (including HIV/AIDS status) with advertisers that resulted in a €10 million GDPR fine in Norway. Researchers and human rights groups have also raised concerns about the app's use by drug dealers, the risks it poses to younger users because of limited age verification in certain regions, and its exploitation by criminals and state authorities in anti-LGBTQ regimes to entrap, extort, or assault users. In addition, the company has faced allegations of unfair labor practices in the United States.

History

Original ownership (2009–2015) Grindr was launched as an iOS mobile app on March 25, 2009, by tech entrepreneur Joel Simkhai in Los Angeles, California. The free version displayed 100 profiles of nearby men, while a premium version ($2.99 plus a monthly fee) contained no advertising and broadened the dating pool to 200 men. Cautious but generally positive reviews of the app circulated through the gay blogosphere on sites such as Queerty and Joe My God. By August 2009, there were 200,000 total users in Grindr's network. By March 2010, there were 500,000. For its first anniversary on March 25, 2010, Grindr released the app for BlackBerry devices. In January 2011, Grindr won the iDate Award for Best Mobile Dating App. On March 7, 2011, Grindr launched the app for Android devices. Along with a free version, users could pay $4.97 for a premium version called Grindr XTRA that featured no banner ads, more profiles to choose from, more "favorites," and push notifications of messages received while the app is running in the background. In January 2012, a vulnerability in the app's security software enabled hackers to change the profile picture of a small number of primarily Australian Grindr users to explicit images. Grindr subsequently commenced legal action and made software changes that blocked the site responsible. In January 2012, Grindr won TechCrunch's Crunchies Award for Best Location Application and two iDate Awards for Best Mobile Dating App and Best New Technology. In April 2012, Grindr won the About.com Readers' Choice Award for Best Dating App, after 74 percent of readers chose Grindr over Zoosk, SKOUT, Tagged, Tingle, and Are You Interested. In May 2012, the 2012 Webby Awards named Grindr an Official Honoree in its "Social (Handheld Devices)" category. Fewer than 15% of entries submitted to the Webby Award committee that year received the Official Honoree distinction, which recognizes the best in Internet content, services, and commerce. On June 18, 2012, Grindr announced that it had officially hit 4 million registered users in 192 countries across the globe. On July 22, 2012, after Grindr experienced a technical outage, British tabloid The People (now The Sunday People) reported that Grindr's crash was due to the volume of usage upon the arrival of Olympic athletes in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics looking for hook-ups. The report caused rumors to circulate regarding the athletes' potentially scandalous sexual behavior. Grindr quashed the rumors the next day and blamed the outage on technical issues not related to server demand. In August 2013, Grindr released an updated version of the app requiring users to verify their accounts by providing a valid email address. Grindr says this was done to reduce spam and improve portability. Critics argued it stripped the app of its anonymity. On September 30, 2013, Grindr introduced Grindr Tribes, allowing users to identify themselves with a niche group and filter their searches to better find their type. Grindr Tribes include: Bear, Clean-Cut, Daddy, Discreet, Geek, Jock, Leather, Otter, Poz, Rugged, Trans, and Twink. In addition to Tribes, Grindr users could now filter by Looking For. As of Grindr's fifth anniversary on March 25, 2014, the app was averaging more than 5 million active monthly users worldwide.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Grindr

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Grindr claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Grindr before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Grindr ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Grindr

In research: Grindr appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Grindr in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Grindr is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Android (operating system) software, BlackBerry software, Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Grindr outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Grindr in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Grindr means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Grindr out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grindr in simple terms?

Why does Grindr matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Grindr?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Grindr.