Gymder is a weird app that'll help you find a 'workout buddy'
Let's get one thing straight: people don't want to be bothered, let alone hit on, at the gym. It's sweaty, it's smelly, and no one has their makeup or hair done. The gym is a place to just put on headphones, focus on improving yourself, and tune the rest of the world out.
A new smartphone app called Gymder is aiming to change the atmosphere of the gym from a place of solitude to an all out social get-together. After you create a profile on the app, it shows you other Gymder users nearby that you can meet. Sound familiar? It's a way to find workout buddies, share tips, and find people who are as annoyingly enthusiastic about keeping their bodies right and tight as you are.
So...this is basically a dating app, right?
In their press release, Gymder asserts that it's not a dating app by stating,
GYMDER is a Munich-based company with focus on social fitness. Its flagship product is a free location based discovery app that uniquely connects people in a fitness context. Thereby users can find each other and train together anytime and anywhere. The GYMDER team includes fitness lovers that have found motivation in each other and celebrated success together. Besides, the team includes experienced and passionate counterparts that have a joint vision and strongly believe that GYMDER will transform fitness.
However, according to Gizmodo, someone from Gymder's press described the app as "Instagram/Tinder for athletes" (blech). Not to mention Gymder sounds exactly like Tinder and they are both used to "connect" people. Huh.
If that description alone doesn't give you a reason to avoid the download button, according to Gizmodo, Gymder requires access to all your photos, and without this access, you won't show up in the location-based home screen that shows other users nearby. The app is also designed more like Grindr than Tinder in the way that there's no swiping left of right - just a home screen with a bunch of floating heads to find.
Notice how every person in this picture is physically fit and gorgeous. Suspicious.
If even after learning about those creepy features, you're still curious about how the app could work for you, check out this Gymder trailer.
Oh, is this what the gym is for? We had no idea. Good to know.
Contradictions aside, download Gymder at your own risk. We're not sure what they do with all the location data and photos it collects. If you use it, be sure of everyone's intentions. This non-dating, dating app could be just an easier way for people to ogle you at the gym.
Have fun with your new "workout" buddy!
Topics Apps & Software
Samantha was a Watercooler Web Culture & Lifestyle intern at Mashable. Follow her on Twitter @samiscelz.
