How does Hornet measure up as a gay dating app? Does it succeed where others have failed? We conducted a full review of the Hornet app. We wanted to get the full user experience in order to provide our readership with the information that they need to determine if Hornet lives up to its claims or if you will just be stung.

— Pros and Cons —

Pros

• Combines elements of a social network and a dating platform
• Over 15 million members worldwide
• Available for iOS, Android, and desktop
• Includes access to news and articles pertaining to the gay community
• Good source of reviews of gay-friendly businesses near you.

Cons

• Requires a paid membership to make full use of the features
• A high number of inactive profiles
• Requires linking to your Facebook or Google plus account to register

— In-Depth Hornet App Review —

Are you a gay man not currently satisfied with the dating app that you are using?

Do you find your current dating app to be shallow and focused almost entirely on physicality and short-term relationships?

As fun as those apps can be, maybe you also want to have the option of something more serious, more profound. In other words, you don’t want some stuffy and prudish dating app, but you also don’t want to feel like you are trapped in a perpetual meat market.

Hornet is a gay social dating app that takes a universal approach to gay dating. Developed to help gay men find short-term as well as long-term partners, it provides a platform suitable for whatever stage you happen to be in your life.

The image that is portrayed in the marketing of the Hornet app is that of an open and diverse social network specific to the gay community. Hornet is presented as a community more than a pure dating platform. The dating component is integrated into the fiber of its social network.

Well, that sounds like a wonderful service, doesn’t it? Of course, as many of you undoubtedly know, a lot of gay dating apps promise this sort of synergy between the casual and the serious, but many wind up failing to deliver on it.

— Availability —

Hornet is available as a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. There is also a web-based version that allows you full access to the platform via your computer’s web browser.

Both the mobile and web versions of Hornet functioned smoothly during our tests.

— Registration Process —

Registering for an account on Hornet requires you to link to your Facebook or Google Plus account. The app will import some of your basic personal information from Facebook along with your images. Beyond that, it does not interact in any other way with your Facebook account.

— Features —

The features available on Hornet reflect its hybrid architecture combining elements of both a social network and a dating platform. For example, when you first open the application you will be shown a tiled mosaic consisting of the profile images of other members who may be compatible with you who are nearby. By clicking on any of those profile pictures you will be redirected to that member’s profile page. On their profile, you will be able to find out more about them and also access additional images that they have uploaded.

Users can upload public as well as private albums. The images in the public albums will be visible to anybody visiting your profile. Your private images would be accessible only to members who have been specifically invited by you.

On the upper left-hand corner of your mobile screen, you will find an icon in the shape of a folded map. By clicking on that icon you can modify the geographic location of the suggested matches that are being presented to you. This can come in very handy if you are planning a trip to another city. This allows you to establish contact with other men in the area that you are planning to visit before you actually get there.

By clicking on the “feed” icon in the bottom left-hand portion of your mobile screen, you will be able to scroll through your Hornet feed. This includes status updates of members who you follow as well as the first status updates made by new members of the platform.

From your feed screen, you can toggle to the notifications section. This will provide you with a scrollable feed of specific mentions of your username made by other members as well as any messages sent to you.

Hornet also has what it calls a “discover” feature. This will show you the newest members of the platform as well as members who have visited your profile recently. Additionally, as you scroll down the “discover” page you will find the latest general interest stories focused on the gay community. You will also find information pertaining to businesses in your area. This can include restaurants, coffee shops, clubs, etc. These listings are accompanied by ratings determined by other members of the Hornet community.

If you like any of the stories or business reviews that you find in this section, you can “like” them in order to bring them to the attention of members who you follow on the platform. The “discover” section also allows you to search for specific hashtags on the platform.

The chat and messaging features on Hornet are up to contemporary standards. You can engage in text-based chats, send files, and, yes, emojis as well.

— Quality of Members —

Hornet claims to have over 15 million members worldwide. While we were not able to confirm the accuracy of that claim, our testers were able to ascertain that finding active members on Hornet was not difficult. It did not matter if they were searching for members in densely populated metropolitan areas or more rural regions, there always seemed to be an abundance of actively engaged members.

The majority of Hornet users are between the ages of 21 and 32. This does not mean that there aren’t older men on the platform, just that they are fewer in number and tend to be less engaged.

One thing that our testers noticed that was a bit disconcerting was the presence of stale profiles on Hornet. By stale, we don’t mean boring. These profiles apparently belong to members who opened a Hornet account at some point and then never bothered to continue engaging on the platform. By our testers’ estimation, as many as 25 percent of the Hornet user base could be described in this way.

— Cost —

Hornet is free to join. However, in order to get access to the all-important features such as chat, messaging, and to learn who has viewed your profile, you needed to pay for a premium membership.

A 7-Day pass will cost you $4.99. One month of premium service will cost you $9.99. If you pay for three months in advance the cost will be $21.99. One full year is $39.99.