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Jack'd review
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Good for: Black, Latino and Asian gay and bi men who want an app where they're the majority, not a filter.
Skip it if: You can't get past its 2019 photo leak (it has had new owners since).
Visit Jack'd
Jack'd has long been the app many gay and bi men of color prefer, because it is one of the few where they are the main audience rather than a box someone ticks to exclude them. It works much like Grindr: a grid of men nearby, chat, and private photo albums you can share.
Those private albums are where it went wrong. Under its old owner, Online Buddies, private photos, nudes included, were readable by anyone who knew where to look, and the New York Attorney General found management had been warned a year before it was fixed. The company paid New York $240,000 in 2019. Perry Street Software bought Jack'd the same year and took over the security work. We found no incident since.
Pro is cheap by app standards ($9.99 to $16.99 a month on the App Store, or $7.99 for a week). It is a good second app alongside Grindr, and in some cities the better first one. Whatever app you use, our privacy guide covers what to keep out of private albums.
Is Jack'd safe now?
We found no security incident since Perry Street Software bought Jack'd in 2019 and took over the fixes the New York Attorney General required. Private albums still aren't a vault: anyone you unlock them for can screenshot them. Our privacy guide explains what to keep out of them.
The facts
- Cost
- Free with limits. The US App Store lists Jack'd Pro at $7.99 a week and $9.99 to $16.99 a month, with longer plans up to $21.99, plus paid boosts.[1]
- Who uses it
- Perry Street Software reports more than 3 million monthly active members across Scruff, Jack'd and Growlr combined, with no separate figure for Jack'd.[2]
- Verification & safety tools
- We found no published photo- or ID-verification feature. Treat every profile as unverified until you have video-chatted. (Our own check: no published source found.)
- Privacy record
- Under its previous owner, Online Buddies, Jack'd left users' private photos, including nudes, readable by anyone with the link for about a year after management was warned. It paid New York $240,000 in 2019. Perry Street Software bought the app that year and took over the security fixes.[3][4]
- Bots, fakes & regulators
- We found no regulator action or credible investigation about fake profiles here. That is not proof there are none: report anything that looks automated. (Our own check: no published source found.)