# GROWLR: Gay Bears Near You — user reviews > 766 indexed App Store user reviews of GROWLR by GROWLR, LLC, rated 4.30/5 from 49,698 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/growlr-gay-bears-near-you/id393402212/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/growlr-gay-bears-near-you/id393402212.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 34,971 · 4★ 5,875 · 3★ 3,271 · 2★ 1,621 · 1★ 3,960 ## What do users think of GROWLR? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 🚀 Efficient app - 👍 Friendly community - 👍 Good for finding like-minded individuals - 👍 User-friendly interface - 🚀 Reliable network **Cons** - 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently - 🔒 Security and privacy concerns - 🔋 Drains battery quickly - 📢 Excessive ads and pop-ups - 🤖 Overrun with spam and bot accounts - 🤔 Confusing and outdated UI - 🚫 Limited features without paid subscription **Commonly reported bugs** - Messages not delivering or disappearing - Notification issues and inconsistencies - Crashes when switching between apps - Profile photo upload problems - Incorrect distance/location display **Most requested features** - Dark mode option - Ability to send multiple photos at once - Better message syncing across devices - Improved location tracking and nearby user display - More granular profile customization options - Enhanced moderation and spam/bot detection ## Newest reviews (17 of 766) ### 3/5 — Good app *2026-09-02, version 16.50.1* Try to call won’t work ### 4/5 — Face ID *2026-09-01, version 16.50.1* Working now ### 2/5 — Face idea *2026-08-30, version 16.50.1* Really bad at getting face recognition.. frustrating ### 2/5 — Glitchy / Unstable *2026-08-26, version 16.50.1* Cant update my profile since the update. That blows. ### 4/5 — Awesome App *2026-08-24, version 16.50.0* This is the app from where i found my husband! We still use it to find friends and playmates! Awesome , easy, and fun. Worth the try. ### 2/5 — SHOUT for iOS not working *2026-08-23, version 16.50.0* SHOUT feature is not working for iOS. The SHOUT form opens, but after entering the message I cannot tap “Done” or proceed to purchase, and I cannot go back. I’ve used SHOUT successfully before, so this appears to be an app issue. Please fix this. ### 2/5 — Ugh *2026-08-18, version 16.50.0* Great app but on the iPhone when you try to change your information on the profile to cancel and done button is unreachable. Ugh ### 4/5 — MODBOT IS A TERRORIST *2026-08-18, version 16.50.0* LIVESTREAMING is the best thing ever: no begging for pictures, no back-and-forth, no lying or tweaking the profile because you're on candid camera. BUT MODBOT IS A DICTATOR. I have been banned for making coffee, wearing a tank top, saying a single cuss word on camera, someone on my panel scratching themselves. This is just ridiculous. Fix your goddamn bot, or else when the next live streaming big thing comes along, we'll just migrate somewhere else ### 2/5 — Unable to airplay screen *2026-08-15, version 16.50.0* Decent app but recently unable to airplay up to my Apple TV screen to read messages and stream live. Just get a blank white screen. ### 3/5 — Cannot make nor receive video chats! *2026-08-13, version 16.50.0* This is a fantastic app I think except lately I with a lot of other members cannot make nor receive video chats. The fault has been logged with only an acknowledgement received, but problem not resolved nor any updates since the last three days. Was thinking of setting up a monthly subscription, but with this fault that would be a waste of money ### 1/5 — Boys. Bots. Bots. *2026-08-10, version 16.48.0* This used to be a great app for the Bear community. Now it was just filled with endless messages from bots. Want to talk off the site? Where are you from? What are you into? What are you looking for? It’s all in the profile, just read it. Can I interest you in some cyber stock? Report, report, report and they still. Profiles still stay. ### 1/5 — Big bugs *2026-08-09, version 16.48.0* This app has been getting progressively worse. The push notifications have stopped working. I’ll have a notification indicator and have to force close the app and open it again before the message will come through. The galleries are no longer shown in any particular order. My feed notifications are no longer in any kind of order. And if you side swipe through a few profiles you get an error, the app crashes and signs you out. ### 2/5 — Significant technical problems *2026-08-08, version 16.48.0* The app has had a bug loading messages for as long as I've used it. Notifications show up on time but the messages don't load into the app when it's opened. You have to restart it. Also, about half of the guys on Growlr are scammers/bots. ### 1/5 — Avoid *2026-08-08, version 16.48.0* Awful app. Just mediocre and boring. ### 1/5 — Message cashing *2026-08-06, version 16.48.0* Horible. Did I get a message? It says so. Wait…no messages. Log out. Log in. There they are. Rinse, cycle, repeat…. ### 1/5 — Eats mssgs *2026-08-05, version 16.48.0* Pro subscription and messages are pushed notified but not delivered.. do better please ### 1/5 — Terrible user experience *2026-08-05, version 16.48.0* Registration process is moronic and agains any standard practice of checking if you have correct email or password. It uses single entry “box”, so if you accidentally made mistake you would never know. For some reason password suggested and stored by “passwords” app do not work( details captured during registration do not match login process later on). So if you log off from the app you won’t be able to log in unless you magically remembered the random generated passwords. “Forgot password “ option doesn’t work. Email with reset link is never sent. Not to inbox not to spam. Contacting support resulted in template pointless instructions that didn’t worked in the first place. UPDATE: The messaging system has a long-standing design flaw. Messages are deleted from the server within minutes and only live on the devices, which is fine for privacy in an app like this. But the delivery layer is unreliable — users routinely get notifications with no message appearing, or have to restart the app/device just to see chats. Support replies under reviews almost always just say “contact us with your device, OS and app version” instead of acknowledging this is a systemic server-side limitation that has been reported for years. Fix the delivery reliability and badge/inbox sync. The local-storage approach is understandable; the constant glitches are not. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Imagine an app that blocks you from reporting spam *2026-09-01, version 16.50.1* The app won’t let me update my profile and now it won’t accept spam/bot report? Are they actively encouraging all this bot traffic or what? ### 1/5 — Can’t make an account *2026-08-26, version 16.50.1* I used to use Growlr for dating for years. Recently came back and haven’t been able to make a new account. I’ve been trying off and on for over 6 months. Not sure why, no explanations. Don’t waste your time. “Registration failed. Based on the data provided, you may not register at this time.” ### 1/5 — Absolutely Disgusting app is constantly hacked and bringing Sexual Stalkers every day! *2026-08-26, version 16.50.1* This App is absolutely full of scammers and Sexual Stalkers hacking the app all the time, people getting your information constantly and the administration of the app doing absolutely nothing about it, since they allowed users create profiles with no information and no clear face pic this is just totally out of control. DONT DOWNLOAD THIS APP FOR YOUR SAFETY OR TOU WILL BE SCAMMED OR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY A PSYCHO! ### 1/5 — Keeps getting worse *2026-08-24, version 16.50.0* The app update they released two weeks ago no longer lets you report spam bots. Great job guys 🙄 ### 1/5 — Growlr cannot be edited. *2026-08-22, version 16.50.0* The edit portion of the app can't be completed. The submit tab it locked far into the corner. ### 1/5 — Trotz Update viele Buggs *2026-08-20* Habe schon echt nicht viel von dieser App erwartet, aber die Entwickler sind einfach ein Witz. Es wurde ein großes Update angekündigt und nun kann ich meine Profilbeschreibung nicht mehr ändern, das das Layout nicht passt. ### 1/5 — Security risk *2026-08-17, version 16.50.0* Too many scammers, and bots. I tried to report an account as spam and the app keeps saying select reason and the report link in the app is broken. API is also leaking data putting accounts at risk ### 1/5 — Terrible app *2026-08-12, version 16.50.0* This app has not been updated in ten years, and frequently requires far too many taps to send a single growl. Very unpleasant to use. ### 1/5 — Where does the money go? *2026-08-11, version 16.50.0* These guys continue to collect membership fees but they don’t maintain the app. New messages don’t appear unless you kill the app and reopen, and it’s been that way for a loooong time. As a result, the user population has dwindled and it’s difficult to connect with anyone here. ### 1/5 — terrible customer service *2026-08-10, version 16.50.0* I am a pro member and it will not let me change my location height and weight to metric, I have contacted customer service multiple times and also sent them screenshots from my app, they are happy to take my money as a pro member but will not help me to fix the issue I have deleted the app and reinstalled it and it is still not working I will be very surprised if somebody contact me to try and help me ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great App *2026-09-01, version 16.50.1* I think this is an all around great app. It’s a great platform for the big guys and the big guys chasers. ### 5/5 — It's a beautiful day *2026-08-26, version 16.50.0* Any day is a fantastic day when you look at growler you never know what you're gonna see or be exposed to that's awesome thank you guys for a wonderful productfritz ### 5/5 — Simple UI 😎 *2026-08-17, version 16.50.0* So far so good founded during college years in 2014. there alittle issue where i have to reopen the app to view the message when it is received ,but im having problems with video chatting connections. I try to troubleshoot on my end. And keep trying. ### 5/5 — Streaming stuff *2026-07-22, version 16.48.0* Please add more benefits to streaming please, I know you guys don’t really update the app much but we really need another update you guys mainly just for the streamers lol!! Been streaming for almost 3 years and nothing new ### 5/5 — The App is Delayed *2026-07-09, version 16.48.0* I have been sent messages I get notifications but nothing is there ? I also have to download the app several times to retrieve my messages can you fix this please ### 5/5 — Great *2026-06-29, version 16.48.0* A very great app, but you guys need to teach us how to do certain things like posting a story for one ### 5/5 — Stocky men *2026-06-13, version 16.48.0* Always good set of stocky and hairy men App easy to navigate ### 5/5 — Mr *2026-05-15, version 16.48.0* Simon ### 5/5 — Repeated False Reports Leading to Unfair Suspensions *2026-05-10, version 16.48.0* I value the GROWLR community and the people I’ve connected with on the platform, especially during livestreams. However, I’ve been experiencing repeated issues where my account is reported and immediately suspended, even when I am following community guidelines. During my most recent stream, I was wearing a vest and shorts, fully clothed and in compliance with the rules. Despite this, I was still reported and my access was instantly restricted again. What’s concerning is that this has happened multiple times, even when I am clearly not engaging in any nudity or inappropriate content. It feels like my account is being targeted by repeated false reports, which is disrupting my ability to use the platform fairly. I would appreciate stronger safeguards or a more thorough review process before automatic suspensions are applied, especially in cases where reports may be inaccurate. I genuinely enjoy the community and want to continue using the app, but I hope there can be better protection against misuse of the reporting system. ### 5/5 — Great app for making quick and various connections *2026-04-25, version 16.48.0* Efficient, easy to use and accessible for those of us using screen readers; also very easy to locate bears locally and globally, excellent! A potential bug with location services in the update released on or around 24 April. Whilst the app correctly displays members close to the current location, the location of the user doesn't appear to update, showing them as being in a prior location, with the consequence local members are displayed as being an incorrect distance away; have tried all suggestions for fixing the issue. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-05.*