Grindr's 'Right Now' Feature Goes Live Everywhere

Not into chit-chat? Wishing for a way to home in on Mr. Right Now based less on proximity than mutual interest in getting down to business? Grindr respects that and offers a new service, Right Now, that lets you cut to the chase. Right Now has rolled out everywhere after a test run in select cities.

"Right Now allows you to post an optional status on your profile describing exactly what you're in the mood for," the popular app explained on its site. "This status will be posted to the public Right Now feed, and also shown to anyone who views your profile for the next 1 hour," making those updates fleeting by design, since the mood of the moment can shift in a hurry.

"Right Now posts are ephemeral," Grindr's site noted, "and can't be retrieved once they've expired."

What's more, although users "can toggle Right Now to 'off' directly from your grid, from the Right Now feed, or by opening the side menu," the app cautions that "doing so won't extend the remaining time of your session, and your countdown timer will continue.

"It's not possible to pause or extend your session without purchasing Right Now for another hour."

After a trial run that started last year in Washington, D.C. here in the States, and in Australia abroad, Right Now became available in a number of American cities, as well as a handful of foreign locales, on March 25. Now users everywhere can access the option.

"Unlike Grindr's traditional grid that shows you an array of other users' profiles based on how far away they are, Right Now functions a bit more like X / Twitter and displays a stream of recent posts that can include both text and photos," The Verge detailed in a writeup.

The new feature is available for limited use for free or, for a fee, users can enjoy greater functionality.

"You can post to the Right Now feed up to 3 times a week for free," the app clarified. "These free posts reset every Friday at 5:00 PM (your local time). You can check how many free Right Now posts you have left from the side menu in the app."

Adds the informational text: "After starting a Right Now session, a countdown timer will appear, and your 1 hour session will begin immediately. You'll receive an in-app notification once your content has been approved and your post is live.

"A Right Now indicator (a purple 'droplets' emoji) will appear on your profile, indicating to other people that you're looking," the site went on to say. "Nearby profiles will see you on their grid as normal, and for the next hour you'll show up for anyone using the Right Now filter while browsing the grid. Your Right Now post will also appear on the Right Now feed during your session."

The Verge quoted AJ Balance, the app's chief product officer, saying, "We built this intention-based feature based on feedback from our community so they can connect with like-minded people without wasting time on mismatched expectations."

"The response to our initial March launch was so strong we accelerated the global rollout ahead of schedule because it's clear people want this... well, right now," Balance quipped.

"Everyone using Grindr can see if a profile is looking for Right Now (either via the Right Now filter on the main grid, or from the Right Now feed), but only those who have purchased Right Now will be able to post a status or appear in these filter results," the site continued.

The whole point of the new feature is for users to be able to put it out there without preamble. "While using Right Now, you can also publish an optional status specifying what you're looking for," Grindr detailed. "As with anything you post on Grindr, Right Now statuses and photos must follow our Community Guidelines, and all statuses will be reviewed by our moderation team."

"Please note that some personal information you provide may be considered sensitive, and you control what personal information you include in a status post," the site advised. "Upon approval, your status will be visible to everyone, appearing on your profile above your profile name and in the Right Now feed."

"Grindr is not the first app of its kind to introduce functionality clearly inspired by social media platforms," The Verge pointed out. "Sniffies, a more cruising-focused Grindr competitor that doesn't require signing up for an account and allows users to post sexually explicit photos on their public profiles, has had a feature similar to Right Now for some time."

The new feature is part of an overall effort to expand the app's functionality, the outlet added, noting that Grindr also offers options like A-List (for "helping users rekindle 'meaningful past connections' and pursue 'high-potential matches'") and Wingman ("a generative AI assistant that can draft chat responses for users who can't think of things to say for themselves, provide sex tips, and give suggestions about places that might make for good dates").