Grindr Review September 2024

The Grindr app is free to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Registration only takes less than a minute with the use of either your email address or Facebook account.

Email verification is not required, but your photo is a must and has to be approved by Grindr’s team. Additionally, you need to provide your age, birthday and gender identity to complete your sign up.

One final step is to allow Grindr to find your location. This is for you to get matches and meet online users that are nearest to you.

After your account is done, you may log in to your account on the app or access it on your desktop through their website.

To increase the chances of finding your closest match on Grindr dating, you can add more information on your profile. Each item can be quickly updated on the app’s interface.

The sexual health section is most noticeable on Grindr online dating. In this section, the member may or may not share his/her/their HIV status and the date they were last tested.

There are two ways to connect with Grindr gays: Messages and Taps.

You can chat with nearby users as a basic member. You can also message other users located within your country for free. Your conversations can be filtered to Favourites’ messages and Unread messages.

Taps contain those who are interested in you in three different ways: Looking, Friendly, and Hot. These are made of emoticons which you can also use to send your interest to another member. For example, simply send a Hot to a member you think is hot.

Add more fun while you converse by downloading Gaymoji. It is a free keyboard for everyone and a collection of over 500 LGBTQ-themed stickers that you can use to personalize your chats. It is downloadable on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Make your profile more appealing by adding interesting information about you. There are five sections that you can fill out:

Info

It contains your Display Name and About Me, which is a short description of yourself.

Stats

You can add your age, height, weight, body type, ethnicity, relationship status, position, ‘My Tribes’, and ‘I’m Looking For’ in this section.

Take note that "position" means your preferred sexual position. ‘My Tribes’ is also related to a sexual preference (what you describe yourself as). Tribes include Bear, Clean-cut, Daddy, Discreet, Geek, Jock, Leather, Otter, Poz, Rugged, Trans, and Twink.

‘I’m Looking For’ describes who you want to meet. You can state that you are seeking for Chat, Dates, Friends, Networking, Relationship, or Right Now. Right Now simply means hook up.

Identity

This contains Gender and Pronouns. Identify your gender as either a man, woman, non-binary, or custom non-binary. Set your pronouns according to your gender which you can also customize.

Sexual Health

There are four items in this section namely: HIV Status, Last Tested Date, Testing Reminders, and Sexual Health FAQ.

This section became controversial early on after its launch. Apparently, Grindr’s data are sent to third parties including the HIV status that violated the users’ privacy. The company already took action and declared that they have ceased sharing any data to third parties.

Social Links

You can link your social media accounts. Enter your Instagram username, or Twitter handle, or Facebook username to connect your Grindr app.

Completing the above sections is encouraged. Grindr made it simple to edit anyways. It may result to an increase of your matches. It makes you more attractive. Thus, an accomplished profile furthers your chances to find that one true soul mate.

Targeted Ads

Grindr users can opt our of seeing targeted ads. Members who opt out won’t be seeing LGBTQ promotions elsewhere as their data is safe within Grindr.

Albums

Albums are curated sets of photos you can now directly share to another member's inbox. It is designed to add an extra layer of control and privacy over a user's shared images. They have the opportunity to add a favourite photo from their phone, take a new one, or even choose from previous photos they’ve shared in chat to get started. Album is designed to help matches form deeper connections amongst each other.

Grindr’s basic app is free and ad-supported. It uses location technology on iOS and Android devices so that users can instantly connect with other men in the area. With free messaging, the app seems to work well for its members. You can view 100 profiles as a standard member. 

If you want to view more profiles and experience Grindr XTRA, you can take its 7-day free trial. This upgrade is partnered with Grindr XTRA Lite premium. This means that you will be automatically subscribed to this 1-month auto-renew membership. With Grindr XTRA Lite Premium, you can browse 300 profiles and enjoy ad-free access.

If you subscribe to the Grindr XTRA Premium, however, you can browse up to 600 profiles. This other type of premium is offered as a 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month subscription. Other features include read receipts, ‘Discreet App’ icon, filter and mark profiles as “recently chatted”, save and send chat phrases, chat, tap and favourite users via Explore Mode, Online-only view, and quick-send recent photos.

All subscriptions auto-renew on the same terms until you cancel. To cancel a subscription on an iOS device, access your subscriptions and tap ‘Manage’. Go to your Grindr XTRA or Grindr XTRA Lite subscription and turn off ‘Automatic Renewal’. For Android devices, go to the Play Store, open ‘Accounts’ and then tap ‘Subscriptions’. You will find there your Grindr subscriptions and then hit ‘Cancel’.