Phone Apps

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Jun

Phone Apps

Post by Jun »

I was recently given one of those Grindr offers of "free filters" for 24 hours.

My findings:
1 No ethnicity filter.
2 The weight filter simply didn't work. I put in 70 kg max and it still had numerous people with declared weights above that.
3 The only show people with face pics filter also didn't work.

I regularly update Grindr, so the latest version is on my phone.
The free age filter does work.

So they haven't tempted me to subscribe for features that don't work.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Hornet market share has collapsed. If I put the same age filter on Hornet and Grindr, I can see 99 free profiles which takes me up to 12km radius. There is one Hornet user online in that distance. The two used to have roughly similar user numbers, now it's about 100:1.
Even Romeo has more profiles than Hornet now. I suspect the cause of the Hornet problem is excessive advertising.

When I was in Thailand earlier in the year, Hornet still seemed to have more boys than Grindr. Although I still prefer Grindr, due to screen layout, a nice block feature and less advertising.
Jun

Re: Phone Apps

Post by Jun »

Whilst Grindr users outnumber Hornet users 100 to one where I live in the UK, browsing Hornet recently showed 2 Thai guys in the nearest 12 profiles. I guess they expect to use the same app that they may use at home.

No reply from one, but the other is very promising.
Jun

Re: Phone Apps

Post by Jun »

Here are some examples of the in screen ads I get on Hornet. Out of 4 pictures, that's a total of 5 different heterosexual dating apps.
Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm not a member of any heterosexual dating apps and it's not smart targetting of ads.

As if the in screen ads are not enough, they launch into videos which go on for 1~2 minutes.

I fully understand why the Hornet market share seems to have collapsed to about 1% of the Grindr level where I live.
What I don't entirely understand is why Hornet remains so popular in Thailand.

I much prefer Grindr. Even better would be Planet Romeo, but we need to go where the users are.

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Re: Phone Apps

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Fri Oct 14, 2022 4:26 pm Here are some examples of the in screen ads I get on Hornet.
I use Hornet frequently and I have never seen anything even remotely like you are describing. Maybe you need to use Hornet while actually in Thailand.
Jun

Re: Phone Apps

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Fri Oct 14, 2022 6:27 pmMaybe you need to use Hornet while actually in Thailand.
I sometimes use Hornet in Thailand & don't see the same selection of ads, however the overall quantity of ads is still excessive.

Sometimes I used the browser version of Hornet to avoid the ads & the rest of the time I mostly used Grindr. For reasons I haven't quite worked out, there are more boys on Hornet in Thailand than Grindr, but I still get very good results on Grindr.

I like the unlimited blocks on Grindr & they also just put 3 pics per row on my phone, so it's clearer.
Hornet insist on putting 4 pics per row on my phone, so if the photo isn't a close up, I need to click on the profile more frequently. Do that a few times and they run one of those long adverts. By the time that advert has finished, I'm on Grindr.
The size of the Hornet pictures on my Galaxy Tab 2 is better, but since that's 6 years old, the profile text doesn't show up.

A new Galaxy Tab has fixed that problem, but I suspect I'll still do more business on Grindr. At least in Bangkok & Pattaya.
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Re: Phone Apps

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Jun wrote: Fri Oct 14, 2022 7:04 pm I sometimes use Hornet in Thailand & don't see the same selection of ads, however the overall quantity of ads is still excessive.
I don't understand why it is so different for me and you, yet we're using the same apps. I never get ads at all - on Hornet, Grindr, or anything else. All I ever get is something to the effect of "If you want to see more profiles, join the paid version". I'm too much of a cheapskate to use any of the paid versions. I did that once on Planet Romeo, but to me there wasn't enough of a difference to make it worthwhile, so I haven't done the paid version on any of them and still manage to chat with and meet all the boys I want.

I can't make sense out of why it should be so different for us. The closest I come to the kind of problem you have is on Planet Romeo. If any messages are sent to me, without using the paid version I get to read only one waiting message if there is more than one. I'm talking about messages sent when I am offline. That doesn't happen during a chat. The chats work just fine. I have to delete all of the waiting messages before I get to see any new ones. Fortunately - or unfortunately - I don't get many offline messages anyway.
Jun

Re: Phone Apps

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 6:54 am I don't understand why it is so different for me and you, yet we're using the same apps. I never get ads at all - on Hornet, Grindr, or anything else
I don't understand it either.
I get chronic excessive advertising on Hornet, whether in Thailand or the UK. I also have two Hornet accounts, one for at home and one for when away travelling. The adversing is the same on both profiles.
I also get the advertising on a 6 year old Android device, a 4 year old Android device and a new Android device.
The one difference is that on the 6 year old device, I just seem to get static pop up ads with an immediate option to close them down. That is OK. On the newer device, the adds can run for over a minute or in some cases indefinitely until I shut Hornet down. Which is exactly what happens.
Using the web version does avoid the ads, but functionality is limited.
The obvious answer is to use the 6 year old device more, although the Hornet profile text no longer shows up on that.

I'm not alone, as if you read the recent reviews on the Google play store, the customers are mostly whinging about the ads.

Trying to find reasons for the differences:
1 Are you using Hornet on Apple or Android ?
2 How old is the device ?
3 If you have a few minutes to look, what do the recent reviews say on the Apple App store ? Via a Windows browser, I can only access 10 reviews, of which just one is for 2022.

I know one other board member who doesn't have the advertising problem on Hornet. He's running an older Apple device.

Gaybutton wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 6:54 amThe closest I come to the kind of problem you have is on Planet Romeo. If any messages are sent to me, without using the paid version I get to read only one waiting message if there is more than one. I'm talking about messages sent when I am offline. That doesn't happen during a chat. The chats work just fine. I have to delete all of the waiting messages before I get to see any new ones. Fortunately - or unfortunately - I don't get many offline messages anyway.
I hadn't noticed this problem. That might be due to fewer users on Planet Romeo, so stacked offline messages are hardly a problem.

I note that Planet Romeo messages will go to all my devices as well.
Hornet messages will synch to all my devices.
However on Grindr, if I have Grindr open on one device, the messages from a conversation only goes to that device. So switching from one device to another can leave half the conversation on each, unless I keep both open. Not a big problem, once I know it happens.
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Re: Phone Apps

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Jun wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 3:56 pm I note that Planet Romeo messages will go to all my devices as well.
Well - we've got plenty here for my "I Don't Get It" list. What happens with your apps is completely different from what happens on my apps. That wouldn't be so surprising excerpt for one little thing - it's the same apps. I can't make any sense out of it at all. I'm not a paid member on any of them, but I don't recall ever getting ads - not one.

As for messages, on Planet Romeo I'll receive a notification that a message is waiting for me, but that's all.
Jun

Re: Phone Apps

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:51 pmit's the same apps
If you don't mind me asking, are you using Hornet on Apple or Android ?

If anything, Planet Romeo still seems to work better in a browser.

Planet Romeo has hardly any users where I am. Even if I extend the age and weight limits to match my own, there is just one other user online within 50 km in the UK.

With the same limits, Planet Romeo has perhaps 20~30 people online in Pattaya.
Then quite a few others at 80~125km, so in and around Bangkok.
Then to find another 4 profiles, we need to extend the radius out to over 300 km, so that includes people in Ko Samui and Siem Riep.

Which confirms my past experience that Planet Romeo has hardly any Thai users outside Bangkok and Pattaya. From memory, going to north Thailand, it's necessary to use Hornet or Blued to find the most users.
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Re: Phone Apps

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Jun wrote: Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:10 pm If you don't mind me asking, are you using Hornet on Apple or Android ?
Neither. I use it on my desktop most of the time. When I do use it on my smartphone, it's Android. It is exactly the same as the desktop. Nothing at all similar to your experience.
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