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All the latest breaking news on Google. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Google.

  • Top 10 gay dating apps ranked by customers on Android

    Top 10 gay dating apps ranked by customers on Android

    Going online to find love is probably one of the easiest ways to find and meet new people, there are so many choices of dating apps, so which one do you choose?

    Where do you start when looking for a dating app. There are so many options, especially at the Google Play store. The best way to find the best app is to see what the app’s users are actually saying about it, but it’s a faff to search out the top 10, so we’ve dug around to find out what people about gay dating apps.

    Don’t always assume that the biggest brands in gay hookups are the best. Probably the most famous, Grindr, isn’t rated highly by its users – in fact, it ends at number 15 on our list. It does, however, have over 400,000 ratings, it dwarfs all the other apps.

    The next most rated app is Hornet with 183,000 reviews. The best-rated on our list, Surge, has sub 60,771 ratings.

    So it’s best to do a bit reading between the lines and decide how much weight you want to give the number of ratings compared to the average star rating.

    We’ve compiled this rank list of the best-rated apps on the Google store for the Android operating system.

    UPDATED MAY 2020

    218PosName# ratingsStarNumber of Downloads
    1Surge60,7714.41+ Million
    2DISCO64,6584.31+ Million
    3Taimi41,7874.31+ Million
    4Gay guys chat & dating app – GayFriendly.dating1,5974.3100K
    5Blued154,3094.210+ Million
    6Grizzly18,7504.11+ Million
    7Adam4Adam9,1604.15+ Million
    8BoyAhoy48,8244.11+ Million
    9Scruff91,7054.05+ Million
    10Wapo: Gay Dating12,2844.0500K
    11GDaddy2,7244.0100K
    12Romeo118,3883.95+ Million
    13Hornet183,8273.610+ Million
    14banana2,4503.5500K
    15Grindr428,8573.410+ Million
    16Growrl38,2193.11+ Million
    17GuySpy3,7663.01+Million
    18Jack’d112,8963.05+ Million
    19Gaydar11,8802.61+ Million
    20DaddyHunt8,2152.51+ Million

    Want to see what THEGAYUK.com thinks are some of the best gay dating apps? Columnist Scott Sammons downloaded 10 to find out which was the best.

  • Why are so many sites now banning adult content?

    Why are so many sites now banning adult content?

    With the announcement of Facebook’s new sexual content policy, we look at other internet platforms that have banned adult content.

    It was revealed last month that Facebook’s new sexual solicitation policy was hitting right at the heart of sexual interactions between people. Many critics believe that the move will hurt the LGBT+ community the most with the shocking revelation that people will no longer be able to discuss their preferred sexual roles, such as whether they are tops or bottoms.
    [expander_maker]

    But Facebook isn’t the first.

    Scruff, the gay dating app has had to ban various photos from being shown as profile pictures, including any pictures of guys in jockstraps, pictures with pubic hair on show or pictures which are sexual in nature.

    Grindr, also operates a similar photo policy.

    Instagram Users have long blasted the service for deleting their content. In 2018 gay pin-up magazine Meat‘s account was deleted twice, various celebs have hit out saying that the Facebook-owned entity had banned or blocked content.

    Tumblr Earlier in December blogging site, Tumblr announced that it was going to remove all adult content. It is believed that Apple forced the company to make the policy when it temporarily kicked the blogging site from its app store.

    Starbucks Also in December coffeeshop chain, Starbucks said that it had “identified a solution to prevent” porn from being viewed on its WIFI systems. It said would start blocking all sites from 2019.

    Craigslist shut down its personals listings, 2018 after US Congress passed a Sex Trafficking Bill. The personals had run since 1995. The Bill could subject websites found to be unknowingly hosting ads for sex trafficking to criminal and civil liabilities. As a result, Craigslist made the decision to remove all the personals from its site, saying, “Any tool or service can be misused. We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we are regretfully taking craigslist personals offline”.

    Google Drive Sex workers have allegedly seen files deleted or removed from their Google Drives. Numerous adult performers and sex workers have found that content hosted on Google Drive was no longer accessible. The service does have a policy which bans the hosting of “sexually explicit or pornographic images or videos”.

    Patreon, a payment collection site for content creators starting banning adult performers because its payment partners, Stripe and PayPal were refusing service.

    Reddit has banned all sex-work groups and in 2007 LiveJournal made headlines after removing a picture of a mother breastfeeding saying it went against their content policy. 

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  • Here are the best rated gay dating apps for Android

    If you’re looking for a dating app for gay, bi or curious men on Android, then here’s the best, according to Android users.

    Best gay dating apps on Android

    Where do you start when looking for a dating app. There are so many options, especially at the Google Play store. The best way to find the best app is to see what the app’s users are actually saying about it, but it’s a faff to search out the top 10, so we’ve dug around to find out what people about gay dating apps.

    Don’t always assume that the biggest brands in gay hook ups are the best. Probably the most famous, Grindr, isn’t rated highly by its users – in fact, it ends well below the top 10 list. It does, however, have over a quarter of a million ratings, it dwarfs all the other apps.

    We’ve compiled this rank list of the best-rated apps on the Google store for the Android operating system.

    #1 Surge

    Number of ratings: 47,359

    Average star rating: 4.5

    App description: Surge is the most convenient way to meet gay guys nearby.

    #2 Gay Dating & Gay Chat

    Number of ratings: 50,147

    Average star rating: 4.5

    App description: Do you want to meet new gay people? It’s super simple with DISCO – the brand new chat and dating app for guys like you. We have over 20 million members and more than 100,000 join our dating network every day. With DISCO, it’s easy to spot a hot guy! We celebrate diversity and welcome all gay, bi, and transgender people (LGBTQ) to join the party. DISCOver your Love! Join the Party!

    #3 Grizzly

    Number of ratings: 13,783

    Average star rating: 4.5

    App description: Tired of hunting GUYS? We are very proud to present to you, Grizzly Gay Men App, the hottest gay dating app ever made! Express your feelings through your finger tip! Get ready to find your Leonard & Larry or your Rick and Drew in your own Bear City! Get a chance to meet new friends, groups, and partners, in the LGBT community!

    #4 Moovz

    Number of ratings: 57,885

    Average star rating: 4.4

    App description: Get connected to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people worldwide on Moovz – The only Social Network of the LGBTQ Community. Millions of LGBT people connect, interact and share content daily. Find out what you’re missing!

    #5 Guyz

    Number of ratings: 41,445

    Average star rating: 4.4

    App description: Used by over 1,000,000 users all around the world – GUYZ is the best, hottest and fastest growing gay dating app out there.

    #6 Scruff

    Number of ratings: 79,369

    Average star rating: 4.3

    App description: SCRUFF is the top-rated*, safest and most reliable social app for gay, bi, trans and queer guys to connect.

    #7 Blued

    Number of ratings: 84,337

    Average star rating: 4.2

    App description: Blued is a free & private gay social app with more than 30 million users globally. Blued allows you to meet cute guys from around the world or right next door. Go get a chance to meet new friends, join groups, or find life partners in this loving gay community.

    #8 Romeo

    Number of ratings: 98,566

    Average star rating: 4.1

    App description: Join the world’s most exciting gay social network. With more free options than any other gay dating app, ROMEO is the best way to meet new people and have meaningful or more casual encounters. Get the free ROMEO App now and chat with lots of gay guys, nearby and worldwide. Create your profile and start chatting and video calling within minutes!

    #9 Growrl

    Number of ratings: 31,363

    Average star rating: 4.1

    App description: What’s a Bear? A Bear is a masculine gay man who belongs to a very inclusive part of the gay community. Some are have hairy, some are muscular, and some are heavy-set. …And some are none of those things. Being a bear is about being yourself, and being accepted for it, and we are all amazing no matter how we are labeled.

    #10 Hornet

    Number of ratings: 169,227

    Average star rating: 4.0

    App description: Hornet makes it fun and easy for gay, bi, and curious guys to connect with each other. Find great guys to keep in touch with, in this FREE gay app that is beyond dating!

    #11 Jack’d

    Number of ratings: 110,373

    Average star rating: 4.0

    App description: Jack’d is the most diverse and authentic app for gay, bi and curious guys to connect, chat, share, and meet. We all have different body types, opinions and preferences, and on Jack’d – our differences make us stronger because you’re more than a headless torso!

     

    Want to see what THEGAYUK.com thinks are some of the best gay dating apps? Columnist Scott Sammons downloaded 10 to find out which was the best. Here’s what he thought.

  • Google yanks gay dating app from Indonesia online store

    Google has pulled one of the world’s largest gay dating apps from the Indonesian version of its online store in response to government demands, Jakarta said Wednesday, amid a crackdown on the LGBT community. (more…)

  • YouTube no longer blocks LGBT content

    YouTube no longer blocks LGBT content

    Google-owned YouTube has fixed the problem which meant that thousands of LGBT creators had their content effectively restricted.

    Following criticism, YouTube has issued a fix which means that content from LGBT content creators is no longer restricted.

    In March  YouTube has found itself in the centre of a Twitterstorm and a heavy online backlash after many LGBT content creators found that their videos were no longer open for the general public to view. Instead, in order to watch the videos users had to log into the service, using a Google account, as a way of verifying age, before content would be played.

    Following the discovery, the hashtag #YouTubeIsOverParty trended worldwide as users and audiences blasted the move by the world’s biggest video platform.

    The world’s biggest video platform apologised and now a fix has been remedied.

    In a statement on the platform’s blog, Johanna Wright, YouTube’s vice president of product management said,

    “After a thorough investigation, we started making several improvements to Restricted Mode. On the engineering side, we fixed an issue that was incorrectly filtering videos for this feature, and now 12 million additional videos of all types — including hundreds of thousands featuring LGBTQ+ content — are available in Restricted Mode.”

    The restricted mode was a way in order to keep certain types of content, such as adult or violent footage, filtered from general view.

  • Orlando massacre victims’ families planning to sue Google

    According to sources some of the families of victims from the Orlando Massacre are planning to sue Google.

    CREDIT: WalterPro/FLICKR CC

    Families of some of the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando last year are planning to sue Google for “helping the terrorists who inspired the massacre”, the New York Post is reporting.

    The revelation comes after the Google-owned platform, YouTube came under fire last week for restricting views to thousands of videos by LGBT+ content creators.

    Legal counsel for the family said that tech firms were making it too easy for terror groups like ISIS to spread their beliefs. It is claimed that ISIS use social network to recruit new members.

    The shooter in last year’s massacre pledged his allegiance to ISIS during a 911 call to authorities during his deadly attack.

    Lawyer Keith Altman, of Michigan’s Solomon Radner law firm, told The Post,

    “We are amending the Orlando lawsuit, adding new plaintiffs and adding new allegations and arguments,”

    Many of Google’s highest paying advertisers, like Starbucks, Walmart and Verizon have pulled ads from the network after many found that their messages were being displayed next to hate speech, anti-gay and anti-Semitic hate.

     

     

  • Google Play Criticised For Selling Gay Hunting Game

    The Google Play store is receiving online criticism for allowing a game to be sold that lets players hunt gays and kill them.

    The game Ass Hunter is a very basic shooting game where the player clothed in green safari outfit and holding a shotgun, moves around the screen shooting ‘gays’ – depicted here as naked men with waving tackle!

    You could be mistaken into thinking that the game is just another war game with men shooting other men, however, the developer’s almost comical homophobic description explains that you are indeed hunting gays here.

    ‘Play and do not be gay!’

    ‘Legendary game, where you are a hunter and your mission is to kill gays as much as you can.’

    ‘Gays may be hidden in bushes and unexpectedly catch you.’
    ‘Remember! When they catch you they will do with you whatever they want ;)’

    The ‘whatever they want’ turns out to be a rape of the hunter of he loses a life. BarryDennen12 on YouTube has very kindly provided his walk through of the game.

    Of course, not everyone thinks this game is legendary leaving one star reviews on Google Play Store.

    ‘Homophobic filth A disgusting piece of trash Google you should be ashamed to have even published this.’ – Fifi Anderson

    ‘Abhorrent app This abhorrent app is disgusting. I too downloadabled so I could rate and report it. Google should remove this game immediately.’ – Ron Gowans-Savage

    The Google Play store has now removed the game, and Google have been approached for comment on the game.

  • Homophobic Ass Hunter Game Removed From Google After Complaints

    After numerous complaints online, the Ass Hunter game has been removed from Google Play.


    It is unclear at this point whether Google itself removed the offensive game, which sees gay men hunted and killed, or if the game makers themselves: Jay, Phil and Graphics by Stef, have removed the game.

    The game Ass Hunter is a very basic shooting game where the player clothed in a green safari outfit and holding a shotgun, moves around the screen shooting ‘gays’ – depicted here as naked men with waving tackle!

    You could be mistaken into thinking that the game is just another war game with men shooting other men, however, the developer’s almost comical homophobic description explains that you are indeed hunting gays here.

    ‘Play and do not be gay!’

    ‘Legendary game, where you are a hunter and your mission is to kill gays as much as you can.’

    ‘Gays may be hidden in bushes and unexpectedly catch you.’
    ‘Remember! When they catch you they will do with you whatever they want ;)’

    The game is still widely available on other gaming sites such as GameBroad.com and Flashgames247.com

    Google does not comment on indivdual apps, but the app has been taken down.

  • Google and YouTube To Be Honoured As LGBT Game Changers

    GLAAD have announced that they are to honour Google and YouTube at a Gala in San Francisco.

    Glaad, the US’s national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organisation, today announced it will honour global technology leader Google and video-sharing innovator YouTube at the GLAAD Gala San Francisco.

    At the gala, Google and YouTube will receive the Ric Weiland Award, which honours innovators who advance LGBT equality through tech and new media. The award is named after Ric Weiland, who was a computer software pioneer and philanthropist. Together with his surviving partner Mike Schaefer, he is known for his dedication to LGBT and HIV/AIDS organisations.

    For years, Google has been one of Silicon Valley’s most vocal supporters of LGBT equality. In 2008, Google spoke out against California’s Proposition 8, a statewide ban on marriage for same-sex couples, and donated significant contributions to efforts to remove the ban.

    In 2010, Google announced that it would cover extra health coverage-related costs incurred by gay and lesbian couples unable to legally wed. The following year, Google expanded its employee healthcare coverage to include transition-related care for its transgender employees.

    In 2012, the company launched ‘Legalize Love,’ an international effort to “promote safer conditions for gay and lesbian people inside and outside the office in countries with anti-gay laws on the books.” That same year, Google unveiled a YouTube video showcasing employees speaking out in support of marriage equality in four battleground states – Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington. In 2013, YouTube unveiled its first-ever pride campaign, #ProudToLove, and changed its logo to be pride-themed for the first time in the company’s history.

    Earlier this year, Google showed its support for LGBT Russians through a rainbow ‘Google Doodle,’ which debuted just hours before the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. And in June, YouTube unveiled its #ProudToPlay campaign – a celebration of LGBT equality in sports. The campaign was featured on the YouTube and Google homepages and marked the second consecutive year that YouTube changed its logo for a pride campaign.

    ‘Few companies have the power to reach billions, and even fewer use that power to help ensure everyone can live the life they love,’ said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. ‘Tech innovators like Google are now at the forefront of the global conversation on LGBT equality, ushering in a new era of acceptance and understanding for users across the world. Through groundbreaking campaigns, outspoken support, and a relentless commitment to its LGBT employees, Google has raised the bar on corporate leadership that drives equality forward.’

    GLAAD also announced that Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, lead plaintiffs in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the landmark case that struck down California’s Proposition 8, will receive the Presidential Local Hero Award at the event.

    ‘Kris and Sandy’s courage and leadership have now touched the lives of countless loving and committed couples across California and beyond its borders, drawing us closer than ever before to full marriage equality in the United States,’ said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

  • Tom Daley Gets The Google Maps Treatment

    Google we love you…

    Google has added a picture of Tom Daley to its Maps – and gives users an opportunity to look around the diving board at 2012 LondonAquatic Centre.

    The shoot was done by idealinsight.co.uk, who have made a virtual tour of the Olympic venue. A statement on their website said:

    ‘The purpose of the project was to showcase the London Aquatics Centre’s incredible facilities to prospective customers and the general public in an interactive, engaging and stimulating way!

    Viewing the Google virtual tour brings the centre to life to help inspire visits and enables those who are simply curious to explore a famous London Olympic venue that saw world records literally smashed out of the water!’

  • Google adopts gay rainbow doodle in response to Olympics

    Google have joined the growing number of corporations that are speaking out against the anti-gay situation in Russia on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

    Famous for its Google Doodles, the web giant has created a rainbow flag out of its logo. The rainbow flag is most famous for its use within the LGBT community.
    Below the logo, the company has added part of the Olympic charter that reads:”The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

    When users click on the google doodle, users are taken to a search that includes the Olympic charter.

    The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come under strong criticism since awarding Russia, with its terrible gay rights abuses, the Winter Olympics, in Sochi, which are due to begin today.

    Yesterday Channel 4 in the UK launched a video which supports gay rights within the Olympics. Whilst earlier in the week telecoms giant AT&T became the first major Olympic team sponsor to publicly condemn Russia’s anti-gay laws.

    TheGayUK released its findings this week that shows the potential true cost to companies that have commercially supported the Olympics.