the bear app got sold and lost its live streams in the same 24 hours. the new owners say: not us. be so for real.

via Queerty, Bear World Magazine, Instinct and Global Dating Insights

On Monday, Growlr pushed version 16.51.0 to the App Store. The release notes, in full, read "Bug fixes and performance optimizations." The bug, as far as a lot of bears were concerned, was that live streaming was gone.

By the end of the day there were 13 one- and two-star reviews on the US App Store saying so. "Useless app without live feature," said one. "I met a lot of people on live friends that I've made for a lifetime," said another. "This is one feature you should've never taken from us."

On Tuesday, the news arrived that explained the timing, or seemed to.

who bought growlr

Perry Street Software, the independent company behind SCRUFF and Jack'd, has bought Growlr from The Meet Group, according to Bear World, Instinct and Global Dating Insights. The Meet Group paid $11.8 million in cash for it in 2019, per Global Dating Insights; terms of this sale were not disclosed. Perry Street says it will spend millions over several years rebuilding the app, with a new logo, redesigned profiles and an all-new version expected in early 2027. Growlr's own website footer now reads "© 2026 Perry Street Software."

The pitch is aimed squarely at bears who have spent years on an app that, per one of those reviews, had a "super dated interface." "The bear community has always had its own distinct, vibrant culture that exists alongside, but apart from, mainstream queer culture," Perry Street co-founder John Skandros said in the announcement, quoted by Bear World. CEO Eric Silverberg leaned on independence: "We don't sell user data to third-party data brokers. We don't let our apps get overrun by spammers or bots." That line lands differently in a year when Grindr is buying a PrEP clinic.

so who killed live

Not us, says the new owner. "The decision to drop live streaming was made by the former owner, not Perry Street," Silverberg told Queerty, which first reported the removal. Queerty noted it is unclear whether The Meet Group owning the streaming technology is part of it. There are hints this was coming: one App Store reviewer asked on Sept. 24, "Why are yall shutting down the live feed?" and on X, users posting in Indonesian were saying a day before the update that live would end on Oct. 5. A lot of the goodbyes on X were in Indonesian and Tagalog, which tells you exactly how global that little living room was.

Which leaves Growlr's new owners in the funny position of buying a beloved app the day after its most beloved feature left, and saying it is rethinking the role of video in the app while the people who used it are writing farewell reviews. To be fair to the bears, losing the one room where everyone actually hung out is a real loss. Ask anyone who has watched their local bar get sold.