In the news.

The Gay Appmosphere™ has been buzzing lately. From the latest updates to some very specific new filters to some fresh digital drama, the girls have been busy. Here’s what’s been happening online…

SCRUFF’s expansion broadens advertising reach and creates new opportunities for brands in the growing LGBTQIA+ market.

For many men, conversations about sex are shaped early by a narrow script. You’re either expected to be the “player” who chases experience and status, or the “prude” who avoids the topic altogether. There’s not much room in between for curiosity, vulnerability, or genuine connection.

Jack’d just made online dating a whole lot steamier with Moments. Why this new feature is about to change the way people flirt online.

Jack’d announced a new cultural collaboration with emerging artist Infinite Coles, introducing a curated music collection and an in-depth conversation feature designed to highlight artistic identity, creative development, and cultural storytelling within contemporary music.

A growing conversation around what experts call the “pleasure gap” is helping change that. The pleasure gap refers to the difference in how often partners experience satisfying sexual encounters, particularly when one partner consistently reaches orgasm more often than the other. Addressing that gap requires moving away from the idea that sex has a single finish line. That’s where brands like Jack’d are trying to shift the conversation.

The era of perfectly curated grids is fading. In 2026, the trend on gay apps has shifted toward being “Authentic.” The feature that answers this call perfectly is Moment on Jack’d.

For years, queer dating apps have battled a stereotype: that they’re only for quick connections. But today’s LGBTQ+ platforms are evolving. Many are designed not just for attraction — but for intention, identity and authentic community.

Jack’d announces the release of “Moments,” a new in-application feature that enables users to share temporary photo and video content for up to 72 hours. The feature is designed to support real-time visual communication while maintaining structured privacy controls and user-directed visibility settings.

On Valentine’s Day, Jack’d, a prominent queer dating app, conducted a unique community engagement event in West Los Angeles. The initiative focused on challenging traditional norms surrounding romance by providing men with flowers.

Jack’d has unveiled MOMENTS, a brand-new feature designed to bring more authenticity, creativity, and connection to the community.

SCRUFF announced the launch of Moments, a feature that adds a dedicated area to the app for temporary photos that disappear after 72 hours.

SCRUFF was recognized as the Best Dating App at the Digital Awards BR 2025, whose ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 26, in São Paulo.

Jack’d is a location-based social app designed specifically for gay men. Since its launch in 2010, it has accumulated over 15 million users worldwide, spanning 180 countries and 2,000 cities. The app is run by an LGBTQ+ team and emphasizes core values of diversity and inclusion, encouraging every user to feel proud of their identity.

SCRUFF celebrates its 15th anniversary as a safe and trusted ally for those seeking friendship, travel, dating, or simply a space to connect with other members of the LGBTIQ+ community.

The platform has established itself as a safe, inclusive, and pioneering space for queer dating and socialization through cutting-edge technology.

The app blends innovation, activism, and a sense of belonging to remain a meaningful part of millions of lives.

SCRUFF celebrates its first 15 years as a safe and trusted ally for people seeking friendships, travel, dating, or simply to socialize with other members of the LGBTIQ+ community.

Guilherme Kieras and Camilo Restrepo explain how the “Beyond Standards” campaign introduces new ways to connect.

Dating apps are often seen as hookup-focused, and while that’s part of queer culture, many users want more: safety, connection, and true community. That’s where Jack’d comes in, leading a new wave of queer platforms offering something deeper.

Our PSS Engineering team discusses a new iOS library that lets you write linting-style rules as unit tests, featured in the world’s premier iOS developer newsletter.

How a simple connection on Jack’d blossomed into a love story, marriage, and a movement to create safe, empowering fitness spaces for the Black LGBTQ+ community.

Learn how PSS is improving its app architecture and aligning its engineering team with Konsist, the new linting tool for Android

“Let’s fight for our dreams, as the only limit is the sky, and even then, we must JUMP it,” mentioned Salma Luévano Luna, Federal Deputy and President of the Diversity Commission, in her speech in the Chamber of Deputies

AWS Ops deployment strategies that are simple to execute, debug during failure, and mitigate worst-case scenarios

How do you write tests? How much time do you spend writing tests? And how much time do you spend fixing them when refactoring?

Scruff has become a much friendlier environment to meet people, and I’ve developed some genuine relationships both on and off screen. The community is definitely more diverse than its counterpart (Grindr) and more accepting.

These apps are opening up an online world of phobia-free dating designed for people of all genders and sexualities.

The Markup identified 107 apps that sold data to X‑Mode in 2018 and 2019.

Song noted that for Jack’d, Taiwan has always been one of the key markets in Asia, making it a priority in the early stages for development and greater resource investment. The main reasons are Taiwan’s openness and friendliness toward the LGBTQ+ community, along with the presence of gender-inclusive laws and policies. Song also pointed out that, compared to other Asian countries, Taiwan’s overall adult consumer market shows a higher level of acceptance and maturity toward LGBTQ+ individuals.

Another unique feature: “Hosting,” a live-streaming, in-app game show where members compete for a cash prize by answering LGBTQ trivia.

Say hello to Scuff. The app functions similar to Grindr, but some guys report liking it more because they find the men on Scruff kinder and less judgmental than the men on Grindr.

As a seasoned player in the world of online dating for gay men, Ga Bian had already been soaring across the internet long before getting his first smartphone—like an eagle taking flight through a pleasure-filled realm of male-to-male encounters .

“It will also significantly expand your Scruff opportunities. Your scruffortunities.”

The gay dating app “Jack’d” was actually one of the earliest to enter the Asian market, and at its peak, it even held the number one market share among gay dating apps. As these apps have evolved and diversified, users now have different expectations of what makes a “good” dating app.

A group of app companies has launched the App Coalition, a trade group that will begin its lobbying efforts with a push to make it easier for app developers to qualify for loans under coronavirus relief programs.

A group of app companies has launched the App Coalition, a trade group that will begin its lobbying efforts with a push to make it easier for app developers to qualify for loans under coronavirus relief programs.

The App Coalition officially launched on Wednesday and its members include app providers such as Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, Open Table, Blix/Blue Mail, Perry Street Software, SCRUFF, Jack’d and Fritzy.

One of The App Coalition’s first priorities is convincing the Congress to include language in the next coronavirus relief bill allowing startups to receive small business loans even if larger investors hold stakes in them.

It’s clear that when we talk about software and technology in 2020, we are talking about apps,“ Silverberg said. “But when policymakers and regulators are thinking about technology, they’re not necessarily thinking of apps.”

Several years ago, one company—Perry Street Software—made the leap: It began stripping other companies’ SDKs out of its products, a pair of popular gay dating apps called Jack’d and Scruff. The effort took a “tremendous amount” of time and money, says Perry Street CEO Eric Silverberg.

Scruff, which has more than 15 million members worldwide, said it had started to send out coronavirus tips from the World Health Organization.

Scruff, which has more than 15 million members worldwide, said it had started to send out coronavirus tips from the World Health Organization (WHO).

[Eric Silverberg,] the openly gay Stanford and MIT graduate, whose company reaches over 20 million gay, bisexual, transgender and queer members worldwide, sees the long history of exclusion faced by the LGBTQ community as a contributing factor in the embracing of novel ways for the community to socialize and find love — something that has been historically easier for the heterosexual majority.

Something which also may surprise, is that Scruff is actually one of only a small few gay dating apps which are owned and operated by gay people. As Silverberg shared, “I think it leads to very different outcomes for the businesses and for the people that use these apps.”

The lived experiences of the LGBT+ community often translate into product needs that differ from those of straight consumers. For example, privacy and security features on a dating app hold different importance for LGBT+ customers who might be at risk of losing their jobs or facing discrimination if outed.

With more than 15 million global users, SCRUFF has prided itself as one of the last remaining apps built and run by and for the LGBTQ+ community as others like Grindr and Growlr have been bought by larger companies. The app sees this as going hand in hand with the particular care that the owners take with the private information of users.

“Cruising in the real world has been happening since the beginning of recorded history,” says Eric Silverberg, CEO of the gay dating app Scruff. “It happens today and it will happen far into the future.”

We see that as part of our mission of connecting people, not only with each other, but also with the many, many gay businesses around the world, who, frankly, face discrimination from the mainstream ad platforms.

he company, under the helm of chief executive Eric Silverberg, keeps its security standards high and vows never to share its users’ personal data with third parties — something Grindr was blamed for last year.

While creating a quiz show isn’t the most obvious product decision for a dating app, it does potentially make Scruff part of the cultural conversation, if it’s successful. Also, hosting it nightly develops a habit for daters who might not be checking the app daily. Scruff just has to make sure the game is still a place to meet dates.

“Facebook’s response to this crisis — described by reporters as ‘delay, deny and deflect’ — is where Facebook crossed ethical lines,” said Eric Silverberg, who is the CEO and co-founder of SCRUFF.

The gay dating app Scruff also recently started a new service for its users, Scruff Venture, in which travelers can search more than 500 destinations, and then contact local “venture ambassadors” for advice on publication to go and what to do.

Chen has his foil in Eric Silverberg, the openly gay co-founder and CEO of the privately-owned dating app, Scruff. We took a moment to chat with Eric about what he considers the issues with Grindr that go far beyond its President’s views on gay marriage.

The year 2015 was a landmark one for same-sex couples in America—the Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land, and even before the decision, some 390,000 gay couples had already gotten hitched in states like Massachusetts and New York. The Washington Post projected that number would increase nationwide to 500,000 by the end of the year.

SCRUFF, a gay dating app with more than 10 million members, collaborated with The New York Times to survey members about their off-the-beaten-path travel destinations, as well as their impressions about safety in places with a history of anti-LGBT discrimination.

The figures convinced Scruff, an American dating app for men, to further its efforts in India in July this year, by emphasising on their app-based services. But in a country where homophobia is rampant, and homosexual acts are a criminal offence (as declared by the Supreme Court in 2013), are dating apps really encouraging the LGBTQ cause?

O Scruff é um aplicativo mais voltado para marcar encontros, independente da motivação. Nele, é possível você selecionar filtros de pessoas que deseja encontrar, tipo urso, magro, maromba, militares, universitários, e o app te mostra essas pessoas que estão mais próximas de você geograficamente. Aí, você pode favoritar a pessoa, mandar um “wolf”, que é uma forma de chamar a atenção, ou mandar uma mensagem logo de cara.

Gay dating and travel app, SCRUFF, conducted a survey which found Cape Town ranked fifth as a “surprisingly gay-friendly” destination, according to wrdetv.com. Two surveys were conducted in partnership with the New York Times and the results based on nearly 5,000 responses. The first looked at overall travel trends among gay men, and the second asked where they like to travel and why.

Gay App SCRUFF makes action during the Rio Olympics

In a newly released survey conducted by SCRUFF, one of the leading gay dating apps, with 10 million members worldwide, in conjunction with The New York Times, has ranked the city fifth in its “off the beaten path” or “surprisingly gay-friendly” travel destination.

“Time is not a line” is one of the many take-aways from writer Tim Murphy’s third novel, Christodora. Set primarily in New York, the book buckles and breaks in nonlinear fashion over five decades through the lives of a community of people brought together and torn apart by “mental illness, addiction and HIV/AIDS,” what Murphy calls the three shadows of his life.

If we’re going to get out there and travel no matter what, as our earlier look at gay travel post-Orlando suggested, where should we go? Matthieu Jost, the chief executive and a founder of misterb&b, a website that helps travelers find gay-friendly bed-and-breakfasts around the world, said Santiago, Chile, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, have been popular searches on his site recently. And those who responded to our callout on the Scruff app, when we also asked them for lesser-known destinations that they have found to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-friendly, suggested many, including Ogunquit, Maine; the Scottish Highlands; the Smoky Mountains and Malta.

When a homophobic killer armed with an assault rifle perpetrated one of the worst mass shootings in United States history in an Orlando gay bar this month, the reassuring idea that such places are sanctuaries was upended for many of us. Gay bars are supposed to be refuges from intolerance; judgment-free zones that are, for many people, the only public places you can be truly, essentially, you. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people often travel with the thought in mind that almost anywhere we go, we’ll be able to find a neighborhood, a club circuit or a beach town where acceptance is a given.

Big and sexy, that’s how I like ’em. And so do many gay men. SCRUFF, like Grindr, connects gay men using geographical proximity. But these gays usually have a bit more heft, and hair – ya know, scruff. The app boasts being a “global community with over 10 million members worldwide.”

Life is Terrible for LGBT People in Pakistan but Facebook, Scruff, and Grindr are Helping: WATCH

In BLACKOUT, a series made possible by Jigsaw, VICE News takes viewers across the globe, from Pakistan to Belarus, to examine technology’s role in the ongoing fight for free expression. Watch the rest of the series here.

Trans men have been cruising alongside nontrans gay and bi men for as long as men have been cruising. With the addition of the “trans” tag, many apps such as Grindr and Scruff are starting to recognize us. Lots of people use the “trans” tag if it’s available — including trans women, trans men, nonbinary folks, crossdressers, and cis men looking for any of the above. Plenty of men with trans histories don’t use it for a plethora of legitimate reasons: Perhaps they don’t identify as trans, they prefer to disclose during chat, or they’re trying to deemphasize the trans part of their profile.

In an informal, non-scientific poll conducted by social app Scruff over the weekend, Clinton resoundingly defeated Sanders among gay voters, with 59% of respondents saying they intend to vote for her in Tuesday’s primary. Scruff surveyed users residing in California and asked which candidate they intend to support for president. Of the survey’s 1,104 responses, 34% said they were planning to vote for Sanders, and the remaining 7% said they were either not planning to vote or were undecided. In the same survey, Donald Trump received nine votes, and underdog candidates Roque de la Fuente, Jill Stein, and Michael Steinberg garnered one vote each.

According to Scruff, the popular dating app for gay and bisexual men, nearly 60 percent of the 1,011 “likely voters” who responded to the survey are throwing their support behind Clinton, compared with 34 percent who support Sanders.

An informal, unscientific survey conducted this past weekend by gay social app Scruff shows that voters in New York State who plan to head to the polls on Tuesday overwhelmingly support Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. The app has 10 million users worldwide, 250,000 of whom live in New York.

There was a time when the Internet was anonymous. It’s not now. The protective facelessness of the online world is a myth – largely of our own doing. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, Snapchat, Youtube, SCRUFF, Grindr, Tindr, Lavendr, blogs, vlogs – we willingly broadcast our gay lives to the world 24/7. And the world is paying attention. You can lead an otherwise virtuous life and still have your orientation, and any number of personal facts (true or not), found out with a little research; just Google my name and you’ll figure out where my predilections lay in a flash.

We’ve heard of candidates courting the LGBT vote. But if presumptive party frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump want to find some of their staunchest supporters, perhaps they should start courting gay dating app users. Last Friday, Scruff, a social app for gay men, released the results of an in-app presidential campaign survey, aptly called “Scrufftistics.” Out of the 15,000 who responded, an overwhelming majority are Democrats, and both Clinton and Trump are overwhelming favorites when it comes to selecting a presidential nominee.

Scruff conducted an in-app survey of nearly 15,000 US users, asking them about their party and candidate preferences.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, and you find yourself single, as I am, you might find yourself looking online for “the one.” As the Founder of SCRUFF, one of the largest gay dating apps in the world, I’m regularly asked if it’s realistic that guys can find real love and long lasting relationships on apps. The question is so prevalent it has even made its way into pop culture; it’s a central point in Hulu’s new series Casual.

Mathieu says that she used RyePRIDE as a way to meet other LGBTQ students while Michael says he met the few others through the Ryerson Engineering Students’ Society and Manhunt, a website for gay men to find other gay men. “The one other gay engineering friend I met because I saw she had the rainbow flag on her coveralls and the other I met because he recognized [me] from Manhunt,” says Michael. “After I graduated, I used apps like Grindr and Scruff to meet other friends which contributed to me feeling more comfortable with who I am.”

Tartar Inform Russia

Étonnant mais personne n’a donné son avis sur la nouvelle version de Scruff, l’application de drague géolocalisable, forte de 8 millions d’inscrits. Deux mois après son introduction, premier bilan.

Promoter Bruce Yelk had been looking for a venue to throw “a raw, sexy dance party” in D.C. when he learned that the DC Eagle was getting ready to open its top floor.

Scruff presents Distrkt C, a monthly dance party, at D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 p.m. through Sunday, Feb. 14 at 8 a.m. DJ Manny Lehman and DJ Mark DeMarko will play music for the night. Rocco Steele and Ray Diesel will make appearances. The promoter is Bruce Yelk. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door and $40 after midnight.

In 2013, we added “Poz” to the list of communities with which a member on SCRUFF can identify. It is visible on profiles and can be used as a filter to find other guys who identify as Poz. In addition, guys can indicate that they are “into” various communities. This allows guys to be welcoming to Poz members, whether or not they are Poz themselves.

Scruff founder Johnny Skandros spoke to HuffPost Live about the resurgence of beards and other facial hair within the gay popularity. Skandros said the spike was partly a reaction to the clean-cut look of many gay men, at least as they were represented in popular culture.

I get goosebumps thinking about this party — or maybe it’s just the Cialis/Levitra combo kicking in. I’m preloading for Whistler, after all. A military ball in the heart of the snow brought to you by Scruff. Get out your favourite gear, whether it’s army, police, leather or sports. Just be prepared to lose a piece or two along the way if you’re anything like me. A party to get deep and dirty — and you’ll be out of town so who will know how dirty you can get? DJ Phil B is used to driving San Francisco men wild with his dark and dangerous ways.

For gay travelers, a GPS-enabled dating app can prove quite useful when away from home. Land in Miami or Madrid, fire up Scruff or Grindr and, voilà, immediately find a bunch of guys in the area who are available for dates or casual hookups. But with its latest update, soon to be released, Scruff is more fully incorporating travel with the introduction of a feature called Scruff Venture.

The Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global nonprofit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to over 1,000,000 people in 45 countries. We are currently the largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world.

Aside from choosing the right hotel, knowing which neighborhoods, restaurants and hot spots welcome LGBT visitors is essential. “Being in the wrong bar can put you in a dangerous situation,” Johnson says. She recommends LGBT travelers research where they want to travel to fully understand the current social issues and places that are safe. And should you decide to go somewhere that explicitly bans homosexuality, you can also rely on gay dating network sites and apps, like Scruff, which now offer advisories for users when they enter a country where homosexual acts are illegal and even punishable by death.

When Wildstorm became a DC Comics imprint, Midnighter became one of DC’s greatest gay characters. As part of DC’s recent publishing revamp he’s finally gotten a new solo series, a first in nearly a decade—and so far, Midnighter represents one of the best portrayals of an out superhero in comics right now.

Did you hear the one about the three gay guys who walked into a piano bar? On a recent June night in New York City, we tagged along with a trio of Hollywood’s most out-and-proud stars, Billy on the Street and Difficult People’s Billy Eichner, 36, Looking’s Jonathan Groff, 30, and Girls’ Andrew Rannells, 36. Over a few boozy rounds at Sid Gold’s Request Room, the real-life friends shared their coming-out stories, what they really think of closeted actors in Hollywood, and—naturally—which Golden Girl they identify with.

The creators of GPS may not have envisioned that in addition to helping people navigate a cross-country road trip, or just find the nearest Starbucks, the tool would be a key component of gay dating and hookup apps like Grindr and Scruff. Finding the hot guy is only half the battle, after all. The other half is figuring out if he’s near you.

As part of a new installment on its blog called “SCRUFFtistics” gay dating app SCRUFF took an “in-FUR-mative” look at the state of manscaping in America, attempting to determine where in the U.S. guys like it hairy and where smooth is in. The results?

Gay social network SCRUFF is back on Windows Phone, with the app getting a significant update in terms of functionality. There’s now a pro version that brings unlimited messaging, advanced filters and a search option along with the ability to share albums. Cortana integration is baked in, and the app also comes with pinnable profiles.

SCRUFF, one of the most popular gay dating apps on the market is launching a new feature called “SCRUFF Match” which will match men who are looking for relationships with other like minded men on the app.

As football fans make the drive to Arizona’s University of Phoenix Stadium for the Super Bowl, they will see two 48- by 14-foot digital billboards featuring a couple of buff men in a locker room, holding footballs. The first ad is on the highway leading up to the arena, with the second directly next to the stadium in the parking area. At first glance, the ad seemingly could be for many things: T-shirts, sports gear or, given the company’s name, Scruff, perhaps even shaving equipment. The ad, however, is a bit more risqué than that: Scruff is a dating app for gay men—athletic men in particular—that has 7 million users worldwide, and its message reads, “Play on our team.”

In July 2013, gay app Scruff’s newest update included a function that had been a longtime staple for websites like GayRomeo or Gay.com: the ability to define yourself as any number of ‘communities,’ and also state which ones you sought in a partner.

The SCRUFF team invaded Columbus for an incredible night of fun at Axis Nightclub in early November. Quorum Columbus chatted with Johnny Skandros, the founder of SCRUFF, about the visit, his company’s impact on gay culture, how they give back to the community and what’s next for SCRUFF.

What it does: Unlike Grindr, Scruff is for more than just hooking up. Its more extensive profile-building features allow gay guys communicate for just about any purpose, from one-night stands to networking. Why you need it in your life: Seeing the same old fellas at the same old Village bars can get fatiguing—expand those horizons. Works with: Android, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Windows Phone Get the app: scruff.com

Hookup apps like Grindr and Scruff are working with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and other health organizations to educate users about HIV and other diseases, encourage testing, and reduce stigma.

The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) has teamed up with gay social networking app Scruff to promote HIV education and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), according to a press release from NMAC and Scruff. For the yearlong partnership, Scruff is donating a portion of its advertising platform to NMAC.

The privacy and security of location-based apps has become a major concern for smartphone users around the globe. Recent headlines say it all: “Tinder flaw left users vulnerable.” “Grindr security glitch exposes gay users in Uganda, Russian Kremlin.” As the CEO of SCRUFF, one of the largest gay dating apps in the world, I take these reports seriously. While there are measures we have taken to protect our community, it’s critical that all users understand the benefits and limitations intrinsic to location-based apps.

SCRUFF founder Johnny Skandros took to YouTube earlier this week to announce BeneveolAds, a new, free ad-platform available to nonprofits interested in advertising on the popular gay social application. Since its launch in 2010 SCRUFF has offered paid advertising space within its iPhone and Android applications for major brands. A growing demand for community-focused ads, Skandros says, inspired the team to create a free, more specialized alternative.

Drag Race has done integrations with several brands, among them Absolut Vodka, which had a major presence in the show’s early seasons, including brand spokesman Jeffrey Moran’s appearance as a judge. Last year, the dating site Scruff sponsored the show’s Pit Crew, RuPaul’s hunky, scantily clad sidekicks.

Gay social networking app Scruff has selected MWW as AOR to increase brand awareness globally, following a three-month review.

Gay Fox Sports crew member Ryan Sifferman will be sharing his thoughts from Sochi as an out gay man throughout the Winter Olympics. For this entry, he talks about using Scruff to navigate Moscow.

Because the need to hook up can strike any place, any time, the folks behind location-aware social networking app Scruff have provided a multi-language gay slang dictionary.

App Scruff App Scruff: Brasil é o segundo maior país em usuários neste aplicativo dedicado ao público gay masculino. Expectativa é que base aumente ainda mais

r Johnny Skandros, it really got better. After spending his preteen Summerlin years being relentlessly bullied, he befriended some popular girls at Palo Verde High School and found the confidence to come out.

In the works for six months, the latest version of SCRUFF 4 has over 100 new features including video, and in a first for social apps, a transgender community profile option and search.

It’s not just because I am on Scruff. It’s not just because, spending much time in Asia, I sometimes get a craving for thick chest hair. It’s a genuinely objective observation: Beards are back in fashion around the world. I’ve been to 18 countries in the last year, and everywhere I see hair sprouting on boyish cheeks.

Scruff is a gay hook-up service that allows you to check out dudes living anywhere in the world and basically take a gay vacation without having to leave your apartment. You can enter the address of your childhood home, for example, and you’ll probably run into most of the dudes you thought were gay in high school looking for sex. If you punch in Saudi Arabia, you’ll get a bunch of hairy headless torsos and pictures of cars. But if you select Afghanistan, you end up with dozens of US Armed Forces personnel posing in their uniforms or with their assault rifles, desperately looking for distraction.

For the uninitiated, Scruff is an app that gay men around the world use to spot each other. Maybe it’s for a hook-up, maybe for dates, maybe for a sense of community. Using GPS technology, Scruff will tell a user who is in his immediate vicinity, sometimes registering a reading so close the babysitter may indeed think the call is coming from inside the house. In Scruff’s case, however, it’s not a phone call, but a ”woof.”

We cruised co-founder Johnny Skandros and got him to unlock info on the company, its impact on gay life and where he’s taking SCRUFF next.