Recon App Overhaul

A much needed and well executed update

Quite a bit ago I wrote about the original gay kink and fetish app called Recon. I wouldn’t call the commentary I had scathing, as there were many benefits to having an app like this. It’s an app I still use in my journey of pursuing good kink and fetish interaction. However, it was outdated—clunky to navigate with modern smartphone gestures, visually behind the times of most dating/hookup apps today, and a bit of a pain to use certain features around messaging…

But now there’s a new Recon in town and it’s beautiful! It feels/looks like the 2020s as opposed to the early 2000s. The user interface (where buttons and things are) makes a lot of logical sense. They’ve also updated some of the terms around how you interact with members. Instead of having favorite members and friends, you now have followers and friends.

There’s a feed on each user’s profile now. However, I cannot figure out what it’s for. It seems to be different than the general feed similar to what you might see on Facebook or Instagram. Said differently, if there’s a way to “post to your own wall” or add content on your account, I haven’t found it yet. But this user feed seems to suggest that such a thing is possible.

You can now search for members starting in a map view. The results will then appear in a grid. You do not see where members precisely are like with Sniffies. I like this. What I can’t say, however, is if this exploration feature is paid or not. I do have a paid membership and am not certain how this revamp of Recon adds to my experience. In addition to exploring by location, you can use a “Nearby” function to find people that are already close to you.

People who “cruise” you (like “taps” on Grindr) and who visit your profile are still feature of the Recon app. And messaging wise, it’s a lot clearer to know when someone has read your message. This, I know for certain, is a paid feature.

The last thing I noticed, which is Apple’s fault, is you still can’t view nude content on the app. I have no idea why Apple restricts this but they do. This means if there is a nude or otherwise explicit photo publicly posted on a profile, you have to sign in on a web browser to view the photo if using an iPhone. Of course, you can see all the dirty photos you want via private messaging. It’s only the photo album experience that restricts this.

I hadn’t planned on writing about this. But I opened the app this morning and was wowed by the update. I felt compelled to share the news. I’ll be writing about the importance of a physical and mental environment in D/s dynamics in time.