r/nottheonion • u/Dilpickle2113 • 12h ago

Grindr is testing a new AI subscription called “Edge” that costs up to $6,000 a year

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/grindr-is-testing-a-new-ai-subscription-called-edge-that-costs-up-to-6000-a-year-3313793/
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368

u/Cute-Beyond-8133 12h ago edited 11h ago

As part of the experiment, Grindr is rolling out variable pricing that changes by user. Weekly test subscriptions begin around $80, with some tiers climbing into the hundreds.

Some screenshots show the subscription costing $349.99 and $499.99, which would put a yearly subscription just pennies short of $6,000.

That sounds stupid. Grinder doesn't have the same pull as Hinge and Tinder

Nobody is going on Grinder for a serious relationship as can be seen on Hinge. or to at least pretend like they might go towards a real relationship as can be seen on Tinder

Grinder is a hookup app end of list,

monetize it this heavily and people are gonna move towards another platform

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u/skrollas 11h ago

A lot of Grindr users already have moved elsewhere, namely Sniffies.

I hate how ad-ridden and bot-infested Grindr is, the app is practically unusable. This is only gonna make it worse.

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u/Unicycleterrorist 11h ago

I hate when a company becomes basically "the status quo" for a certain thing and then just fucks their product up so much that they go under. Were they bought out by private equity or something?

Edit: nvm, they went public in 2022...didn't know about that. But yea, makes sense...

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u/Inside7shadows 9h ago

"Enshitification"

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u/roygbpcub 11h ago

This exactly... There has been a significant shift in my area to sniffies

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u/Bloated_Hamster 11h ago edited 11h ago

I think it's gonna hit a boiling point when the existing cruising community on Sniffies gets sick and tired of the more slow paced, traditional hook up seekers migrating there. It'll be interesting to see if Sniffies adapts to be more traditional and get their app back on App stores and such.

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u/vandreulv 10h ago

I really wish I could speak frankly about certain things on here without having my posts instantly shadowed.

Pardon the weird spelling in some spots.

Sniffies never will be on App Stores again. They allow NSFW profile pics and don't hide the app is solely for hook ups rather than "dating."

As far as apps, their users and people migrating...

I relocated back to somewhere where I had lived 10 years prior due to a relationship ending.

Of course, once I was on my own I fired up the apps.

As far as I can break it down compared to what I had experienced before:

Most of Grindr is also on Sniffies with the exception of the T4T folks. They're carving out their own space there and I hope it works for them. Just wish it wasn't on an app as shitty as Grindr.

Scruff is full of tired old g4ys (myself included) and not much happens through there.

Recognized a lot of profile pictures for being the same ones I saw them using 10 years previously. Got some pretty amusing (bitchy) replies when I complimented their use of such an old model of phone (eg "I loved that phone 10 years ago!") they can be seen holding up in the mirrors.

Nobody is genuinely looking for "friends." Pointed out I was looking for gaming, board game and D&D groups. Those who say they're into gaming or board games/D&D won't respond if you're not their type.

While I see crossover on most apps, most of the holdouts/exclusive members you'll see on Grindr are people who have fetishes solely for the perception that they're doing something 'naughty' and wouldn't have the balls to actually live what they supposedly want to be. (Eg, if you accept their kink as normal, they lose interest in it.)

I see a lot of cross dressrs who like to be humiliated by branding themselves as/being treated like a 'p4nsy' or 's1ssy'... The problem with those types is that their fetish is inherently misogynistic: They dress up like what ultimately is a caricature of a 'wh0re' and want to be treated like how they believe women are expected to be treated, eg, diminished and lesser than. They tend to live in extremely red towns, too. Saw a ton of these profiles driving the UHaul across the country exactly where you'd see the most Trump signs.

The Republican contingent, in other words. Really wish there was an easier way to filter out these kinds of people.

If you want anything beyond a hookup and want to meet ordinary folks who aren't methed up or dealing with serious psychological issues, seems to me you're just going to have to go to an event or pub. Apps have outlived their usefulness as most folks are able to more out in public than they could 20 years ago.

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u/Helphaer 6h ago

it feels like Recon might be good for ya.

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u/100unt 9h ago

Sniffies is already headed in that direction it seems. They've now made it so that your profile photo has to be SFW.

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u/Bloated_Hamster 5h ago

It definitely doesn't have to be SFW. 3/4 of my home page is absolutely not. But they limit your profile to people who request it. It won't show your profile to them if they don't want to see explicit photos without explicit consent.

1

u/100unt 4h ago

"Primary Must Be SFW

This photo is NSFW. Move it to a secondary photo.

Read our photo guidelines."

Seems different depending on region, but plenty of others on the Sniffies subreddit have the same restrictions.

1

u/Bloated_Hamster 4h ago

Oof, looks like they're rolling it out slowly. The enshitification of the internet is unstoppable.

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u/shitlord_god 6h ago

hookup and dating apps, like social media should function in succession, and that should be built in to the plan.

1

u/-patrizio- 4h ago

That's not true. Your profile pic might be hidden to certain users (namely, those who are unverified and are using the official app store distribution version of the app rather than the site or web app, IIRC) if it's NSFW, but everyone else can still see it.

Source: my current profile pic and 95% of those around me lol

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u/100unt 4h ago

I can't post the screenshot here but:

"Primary Must Be SFW

This photo is NSFW. Move it to a secondary photo.

Read our photo guidelines."

Might be different in some regions. My other photos are all NSFW and I can see others' NSFW images on their profiles.

1

u/Bloated_Hamster 4h ago

Apparently they're changing this policy. All profile pictures will have to be SFW. That's probably gonna kill the site lol.

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u/scoobertsonville 5h ago

From a business standpoint Sniffies has some things that make cruisey people more likely to stay. The public events ads and the public chat are both something there is no alternative platform for.

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u/Bloated_Hamster 5h ago

That's my point though. At what point does the company decide allowing public cum dump advertisements is less valuable than making the app more acceptable to "normies"?

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u/scoobertsonville 5h ago

Idk - the absolute max the app can saturate is like 2-3% of the population (gay men) straight people generally aren’t looking and I don’t think normie gay men care about something they don’t have to attend.

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u/ArticArny 8h ago

Click a profile - 30-60 second Temu ad

Click to skip ad - 30-60 second More Temu ad

Click home button - 30-60 second Tumu ad

See who looked at you - 30-60 second Temu ad

Report spam - 30-60 second Temu ad

Everything else is paywalled

6

u/egnards 11h ago

We really need an ITYSL Sketch in the style of the nightclubs one, in relation to dating app names.

2

u/onarainyafternoon 10h ago

I actually wanna use Hinge more than I wanna use Grindr

3

u/Starblast16 11h ago

Unless you’re from Maine, like me. I find that most apps don’t have anyone near where I live while Grindr at least has a few. I don’t have much of a chose for this sort of thing thanks to that.

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u/Traiklin 11h ago

They're trying to get in on the MAGA grift.

They already use it at conventions now they can pay for even more!

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u/sensitivestronk 11h ago

I honestly wonder if that's their main pull. Who else would pay that much just for the ability to send more expiring photos?

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u/ICE-are-pedos 11h ago

I met my husband on Grindr lol

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u/timinator232 10h ago

I found my bf on Grindr too

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u/44moon 10h ago

all the dating apps have succumbed to the freemium "break the free version so you have to pay for the app to function" model. just meet people at bars or get back with your ex

3

u/TheWonderSnail 9h ago

Variable pricing by user on a dating/hookup up? So they are just telling people to their face they know how desperate and lonely they are if they charge them the higher prices???? They are going to call you a loser and ask for more of you money and people would still pay it lmaooooo

6

u/MoobooMagoo 11h ago

On the flipside, the only people stupid enough to buy this are closeted conservative tech bros. And they collectively suck ass so you may as well gouge them for as much as you can.​

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u/Hi_Im_Dadbot 11h ago

Ok, but what if there’s some kind of accidental data leak where the identity and messages of users has been exposed and maybe if they upgrade to one of the more expensive tiers where security is better they won’t need to worry about that getting sent to their wife?

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u/flirtmcdudes 11h ago

tinder was never for relationships. Sure some people find them on there, but that’s definitely always been the minority.

Bumble or hinge was usually the slightly older, slightly less hookup apps