For the unfamiliar, GRINDR has quickly emerged as one of the hottest apps for any gay with an iPhone in North America. It's GPS-based hooking up. Basically, it displays men in your area in order of geographic proximity. He looks hot, and he's only 1048 feet away from you! Holy cow! As soon as this app burst into our sexual psyches, it quickly initiated a confusing debate: How accurate is this damn location feature? This led to amusing conversations like these recently had with my friends in Boston over New Year's:
Me: Um... it says this guy is 0 feet away! He's in my apartment!
Friend (in creepy voice): The call is coming from inside YOUR ASSHOLE!
Thankfully, my asshole was trade-free upon closer inspection. But I remained haunted by the vision for weeks -- until GRINDR released their latest update last night clarifying just how far potential trade is from one's asshole. It's nifty. When you log on, you see this screen. Note the new "finding location" icon at the bottom left corner of the screen (click to enlarge):
And once you're all logged in and comfortable, magically GRINDR now will tell you just how precise it's location estimates are, quelling any future fears of messages coming from inside one's rectum:
Neat, eh?
It is not clear, given it is a military top secret, what if any intentional GPS inaccuracy is being imposed by the American military. I have had access to this information, but I would be put in jail if I told you everything I know about gaydar accuracy.
A single GPS receiver, such as an iPhone, is limited in accuracy for two reasons:
First, there is a theoretical limit based on having only one receiver. This is why professional surveyors use a differential method that can be accurate to less than an inch, but it requires placing radio equipment at a fixed location and using a separate GPS receiver to find the difference from that location.
Second, since GPS was designed for military applications, special military codes are required to get more accuracy. During the first Gulf War, due to a lack of military GPS units, the military was forced to buy civilian GPS devices. In order to get the accuracy needed, the military was forced to turn off the security feature that makes GPS less accurate for civilians and unfriendly military forces.
I need to update my software!!