Blendr was an

online dating application An online dating application is an online dating service presented through a mobile phone application (app), often taking advantage of a smartphone's GPS location capabilities, always on-hand presence, easy access to digital photo galleries and ...

based on

geosocial networking Geosocial networking is a type of social networking in which geographic services and capabilities such as geocoding and geotagging are used to enable additional social dynamics.

for

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

, iOS and Facebook. It is designed to connect like-minded people near to each other. It was created by Joel Simkhai and patterned after his previous app Grindr which is instead aimed at gay men. Blendr claims to be "powered by" Badoo but largely appears to be the same service. As of 2022, it had 200 million users worldwide and requires users to be over the age of 18. As of 31st October 2022 Blendr ceased activity in all territories worldwide. A statement on the Blendr website stated that all user data would be deleted by 30th November 2022 and the website would go offline from the 7th December 2022.

Description

The application combines GPS location sensing with a social networking framework, to provide users with the opportunity to meet people who are near to each other. The application can also be used to communicate with people in real time about a location, such as getting information about the current status of a local restaurant, or for determining whether a club currently holds people that the user might want to meet. Users must be over the age of 18. Users provide a photograph and basic information about their interests (though they are not required to give out their actual name or other personal details), and then are able to browse other people who are nearby to their present location. In order to protect the privacy of its users, the application only provides a rough estimate of the user's location, and also allows users to limit themselves to contact to people who meet their self-defined criteria. Simkhai specifically designed Blendr to be less focused on casual sexual encounters than Grindr, intending it to be a tool for meeting new people who share common interests from business to hobbies and relationships of all types. The company has strict rules forbidding the use of nudity, pictures or written descriptions of sexual acts, and

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

statements or other

hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

Platforms

Blendr is currently available through the website, or for iOS devices through the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

app store and for Android through Google Play. As of September 2012, the application is free and supported by advertising, with a subscription option for increased functionality.

History

Blendr was announced to the press at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

on March 14, 2011, under the code name Project Amicus. The name "Blendr" was ultimately revealed when the app launched in the iTunes app store on September 8, 2011. Blendr announced that their services will cease on October 31, 2022.

References

{{reflist iOS software Geosocial networking Meta Platforms applications Mobile social software LGBT-related websites 2011 software Android (operating system) software Online dating applications

Description

Platforms

History

See also

References