UPDATE: Gay cruising app Grindr is once again available for download in the iTunes App Store. Grindr creator Joel Simkhai confirmed that the app is alive and well. “Error on my part,” he told Queerty. “Should be back up by EOD [end of day] today.”
Following the news that Grindr was missing from the iTunes App Store this morning, Twitter lit up with panicked tweets suggesting that Apple deleted the app. Apple controls the approval of all iPhone apps, and they’re notoriously strict when it comes to sexy apps.
It’s good to know that today’s Grindr incident was just a glitch, but there’s still the troubling fact that Apple requires all apps to comply with prudish guidelines. As we’ve seen in the past month, Apple continues to reject and delete apps that are too sexy.
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EARLIER: As of 1pm EST, Grindr is unavailable for download in the Apple iTunes Store. A search for “Grindr” does not return any results for the app (curiously, the Recon Mobile app is still there…)
For those who previously downloaded Grindr, the app appears to still work.
No word from Grindr via their Twitter or Facebook Page. Xtra is getting in touch with creator Joel Simkhai for comment.
Simkhai told Xtra in 2009 that Grindr has “censors
who work 24/7 to review each profile,” so that the app complies with
Apple’s ridiculously strict content guidelines. See a full list of what you can’t show on your Grindr profile — a list that includes: no pubes, no hands down your pants and no middle fingers extended toward the camera.
In February, Apple began to crack down harder on sexy apps. Hunk du Jour, an app featuring pictures of sexy guys, was among the gay apps banned in February.
Grindr is set to mark its one-year anniversary on Thursday. Creators claim the app has more than 500,000 users.
Read more:
- Hunk du Jour among “overtly sexual” apps banned by Apple
- Report: Apple purges sexy apps; Grindr safe, for now
- Will prudish app guidelines sink the iPhone?
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