Back in November, word spread that the popular queer hookup app Grindr was getting rid of its block feature. The reason? People were using it for non-safety reasons, apparently.
“Blocks are a feature designed for your safety, not simply organizing your Grid,” the Grindr website explains, going on to state that for strictly organizational purposes, the “hide” option is more effective.
But according to some, the block feature has now been partly disabled. You can no longer block a user who hasn’t previously sent you a message. This move, however, brings up more than a few pressing safety concerns for users.
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After reporting the loss of the blocking feature, one Redditor posted that: “Grindr Devs don’t gaf about LGBT safety, what a shock.”
While some are pointing out that you can still block people as long as they’ve contacted you first, some are positing that it’s an attempt to make users pay for a premium profile.
“I’m not certain about Google,” wrote one poster, “but Apple’s App Review Guidelines specify that users of social media apps must have the ability to block other users. They can’t remove the ability to block a user without risk of getting pulled from the App Store.”
Makes sense—it’s a pretty basic safety regulation. Another user expanded on the decision:
“When you hide someone, you will become invisible to them just like with a normal block,” they wrote, quoting from the Grindr website that: ‘If you’re an Unlimited user, hidden profiles will be replaced with a fresh profile in your grid. For Grindr Free and XTRA users, your number of accessible profiles will be reduced by the number of profiles you’ve hidden.’
“They will not be replaced with a fresh profile. So, if you see an interesting account just outside your radius, you won’t be able to block others until they’re within reach. That’s so scummy.”
So yes, blocking is still alive and well on Grindr, it’s just a bit different than before. Still, users are not thrilled with the decision.
As one poster put it, “I’m not going to pay 20 USD…to block all the other bottoms.”
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