WallaX, Indonesia's #10 social Top Grossing app, is not a new app: it's Blued's overseas version (HeeSay) in new clothes that don't mention sexuality
What it is A nearby-people dating and live-streaming app for gay men. The store page never mentions sexuality. It's a disguised version of HeeSay, Blued's overseas app, and is only listed in Indonesia, Malaysia, and India.
Why it took off In Aug 15, Indonesia demanded the removal of a similar app, Hornet. Ten days later, WallaX launched with neutral packaging and absorbed Blued/Walla's long-time local users and payment habits. Almost all the competitors were pushed out.
DHow you could follow this Don't follow into this market. What's worth learning is the playbook: for regulation-sensitive categories, split the app by country. Use the main brand in permissive markets and a neutral disguise in strict ones, all connected to the same backend. Keep shell apps ready, so when a competitor gets named, you can fill the gap within ten days.
- Data (updated daily) · Launched 2026-08-25 · Indonesia rating 310 · 11-08 best overall Top Grossing rank #153 (Indonesia) · Charted in 11-08 stores (3 total)
iOS · Top Grossing rank · by store Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Lower rank is higher; gaps mean it wasn't charted that dayiOS · Number of stores charted (top 200 on any chart) Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations)iOS · Ratings count · Indonesia Data 2026-10-28 → 2026-11-08 (12 days, 12 observations). Apple doesn't publish download counts; rating growth is a proxy for downloads.
WallaX launched in Indonesia at the end of August. Within two months, it was holding steady around #10 on the Indonesia App Store social Top Grossing chart. Its store page presents it as a plain app for meeting nearby people, chatting, and watching live streams, with not a single mention of being gay. In reality, it's the same codebase and backend as HeeSay, Blued's overseas app, aimed at three countries where HeeSay itself couldn't get listed. Its users are Blued's ten-year Indonesian base, and those users aren't available to anyone who follows later. What's worth noting is the approach: the main brand operates openly in permissive markets, and in strict markets a neutral disguise catches the same users.
Aug 15: Indonesia names Hornet for removal
Aug 15, 2026 was a Saturday. Alexander Sabar, director of digital space supervision at Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), issued a statement in Jakarta: the ministry had received public complaints that Hornet, a gay dating app, was "linked to the LGBTIQ+ movement" and didn't comply with Indonesian rules. The ministry had asked the App Store and Google Play to remove it from the Indonesian store. The statement closed with one more line: "Besides Hornet, Komdigi will also deal with other apps offering similar services."
About ten days later, an app called "WallaX: chat and meet by HeeSay" appeared on the Indonesia App Store (Apple's page now lists the release date as Sep 3). By Nov 6, it was ranked #157 on the Indonesia App Store overall Top Grossing chart and #10 in social Top Grossing. For the past 10 days, its social Top Grossing rank has stayed between 9 and 12, behind names like Facebook, Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, MiChat, and BIGO.
Who it really is
The store description reads as completely neutral: "See who's nearby," "chat and share photos," "join live streams," rated 17+. But several details line up:
| Detail | WallaX | What it matches |
|---|---|---|
| Developer account | iRainbow Hong Kong Limited | Same account as HeeSay (formerly Blued International) |
| Version number | Launched at 5.14.5 | HeeSay is currently at 5.15.1. A newly launched app wouldn't start at 5.14 |
| Website | wallax-app.com | Identical to the old disguise Walla's walla-app.com. The title is in Indonesian, "Male chat and dating", and the images are hosted on Blued's image server |
| Android version | Walla X: Meet Nearby, developer Catch Me LLC | Catch Me is also the developer of the old Walla (package com.blued.international.qy) |
| Countries listed | Only Indonesia, Malaysia, and India | These three stores happen to be where HeeSay can't be found. HeeSay is in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and the US, and WallaX isn't in any of them |
The last point says the most: the two apps' store listings fit together like puzzle pieces (checked store by store on the App Store, 11-06).
Two more details show the shell was prepared well in advance. WallaX's Apple ID range was likely registered around spring 2025 (inferred from release dates of nearby IDs), but it wasn't activated until late August 2026. On Android, the package name co.sapapa.app still carries an old line in the store's "What's new" section: "Sapa is a brand-new social app…" That package used to belong to a different app called Sapa before being switched to Walla X.
Where users come from: ten-year veterans, coming in through a new door
Blued has been in Indonesia for nearly ten years. In 2021, its Indonesian official TikTok @wallaidn recruited creators with #blued #wallaindonesia, with single posts hitting 990k views; its Facebook page WallaIDN literally says "Walla dari Blued" (Walla from Blued). In 2023 September, Bandung police asked the communications ministry to block Walla over "homosexual activity," and local media like Kompas and Republika covered it heavily, which only made the name more famous. Today the old Walla has 10.9M installs on Google Play, but it's no longer on Indonesia's top-grossing charts; it only charts in India and Malaysia (Google Play, 11-06).
The name is "Walla" on X with the suffix "by HeeSay," so old users recognize it at a glance. It has almost no promotional content of its own on X or TikTok. This audience is mostly reached by word of mouth within the community; whether it runs programmatic ads can't be verified from outside.
The real volume is on Android: Walla X has 209k installs on Google Play, 16.6k new in the past 7 days, and ranks 8 to 10 on Indonesia's Play social top-grossing chart. iOS is small in volume but high in payment: 377 ratings total, 300 of them from Indonesia; daily new ratings have climbed from 10-29 of 1 to 11-06 of 11, and it's still accelerating (App Store, 11-06).
Where the money comes from: memberships, plus so many ads that users complain about them
Monetization follows the HeeSay playbook: nearby people, direct messages, live-stream tipping, and SVIP memberships. The October 27 version added a "live map" that shows who's online nearby.
The other half of the revenue comes from ads, and there are so many of them they've become the main topic in the reviews. Indonesian users in their own words:
"ads 90%, using the App 10%, it's just forcing you to buy membership." (Google Play, 10-26)
"This isn't a dating app, it's an ad app, popping up every two seconds." (Google Play, 10-28)
"I already paid for SVIP and the ads still pop up." (App Store Indonesia, 11-01)
Across the 150 visible reviews on Google Play, the average is 1.7 stars; on iOS it's 3.9. Users complain and keep using it anyway, because in Indonesia, almost no other comparable apps can be normally downloaded from the stores.
No public revenue figures exist. Judging by the Indonesian iOS social top-grossing threshold of 10 and comparable apps on the same chart like MiChat and Omi, a rough estimate is tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars a month on iOS (estimate); adding Android and ad revenue, the total pie is likely larger than iOS alone (inference).
Who's competing for it: almost no one, because they've all been pushed out
| Competitors | Situation |
|---|---|
| Hornet / Hornet Stories | Openly serves LGBT users; asked to be taken down in Aug 15; Hornet Stories still ranks #25 on Indonesia's iOS social top-grossing chart |
| Grindr | Global leader; named in Indonesia in 2016; Malaysia blocked its site and Blued's in February 2026 |
| HeeSay itself | Same company, openly plays the LGBTQ+ card, can't be listed in these three countries, hence WallaX |
| MiChat, Omi, Litmatch, BIGO LIVE | General-audience stranger social and live streaming, also selling memberships and tips, but not targeting gay men |
In Indonesia's iOS social top-grossing top 30, the only apps aimed at gay men are this one and Hornet Stories, which is being taken down. No third party is copying it; what exists is Blued's own three layers of disguise: HeeSay, Walla, and Walla X.
If it were you
In one line: don't follow. This position is held by Blued's decade-long user base and live-streaming ecosystem; the only one that can take the spot left open by regulation is Blued itself. A new app has no way to cold-start in this audience, and it would have to be ready to be pulled at any time.
Who it fits: only dating or live-streaming companies that already have a large user base and can't get listed in certain countries. Split the package the way they do.
Who it doesn't fit: indie devs and small teams wanting to build a dating app from scratch. Dating is a network-effect business; if no one is nearby, no one stays. Running a gay social app in Indonesia and Malaysia carries real legal risk, and users can be targeted by enforcement.
How to do it (the transferable part): if you're in a regulation-sensitive vertical (dating, live streaming, certain adult or religiously sensitive content), split your package by country. Use the main brand openly in permissive markets; in strict markets, use a neutral name, neutral description, and separate developer name and bundle ID, sharing backend and accounts. Register a few shell apps in advance so that when a competitor is named, you can fill the gap within ten days.
How to acquire users: rely on the old brand's recognizability (keep a word in the name that veteran users recognize) and community word of mouth, with no public paid campaigns. That is exactly what outsiders can't copy.
When to get in early: not applicable; this isn't an opportunity with a window.
How I'd be wrong: ① within six months, a third-party gay social app unrelated to Blued charts in the top 30 of Indonesia's iOS social top-grossing and stays there, showing newcomers can capture this audience; ② conversely, WallaX gets pulled in Komdigi's next round of cleanup and a new shell appears, showing this business is a constant game of whack-a-mole, and even Blued can only earn short-term money.
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Data and sources: App Store chart positions and ratings for Indonesia, Malaysia, and India (2026-10-28 to 11-06); Google Play installs, chart rankings, and reviews (as of 11-06); App Store and Google Play store pages; wallax-app.com, walla-app.com; Komdigi press release (2026-08-15); reporting on Bandung police asking to block Walla (Pikiran Rakyat, Republika, 2023-09); reporting on the Malaysian site block (PinkNews 2026-02-25, Metro Weekly 2026-03); TikTok @wallaidn. Revenue is estimated from chart positions and not verified.
Research notes: competitor table, acquisition evidence, full research report
- Competitors
Name Where Launched Scale How it differs from this one HeeSay (formerly Blued International) iOS 2016 39M Play installs; #2 on Vietnam's Play social top-grossing chart Same company, same codebase; openly plays the LGBTQ+ card, can't be listed in id/my/in, which WallaX fills in Walla: Live & Social(Catch Me LLC) Android 2020-08 10.9M installs, #9–12 on India's social top-grossing chart The same company's previous-generation disguise; named by Bandung police for blocking in 2023, now not charting on Indonesia's Play store; WallaX replaces it with a new package name Hornet / Hornet Stories iOS 2011/2022 #25 on Indonesia's iOS social top-grossing chart Western brand, openly LGBT; Komdigi asked for takedown in 2026-08-15 Grindr iOS 2009 Global leader Openly LGBT, no local disguise; Malaysia has blocked its site (2026-02), Indonesia named it in 2016 MiChat / Omi / Litmatch / SUGO / BIGO LIVE iOS 2014–2022 Indonesia iOS social top-grossing 5–15 General-audience stranger social and live streaming, not targeting gay men - Where users come from
- Inference Migration of old users (Blued/Walla's existing users in Indonesia): keeps the Walla name and the "by HeeSay" suffix; the website is a copy of walla-app.com with images on Blued's CDN; @wallaidn TikTok collabs with 990k views in 2021
- Verified Platform/regulatory events: 2026-08-15 Komdigi asked for Hornet's takedown and said it would handle similar apps; WallaX launched on iOS 2026-08-25 with a neutral description and a new bundle (co.catchme.voca)
- Inference Store search / community word of mouth: no WallaX promotional content on TikTok or X; daily rating growth is accelerating, spreading through the community
- Inference Paid acquisition: not found in the Meta Ad Library (which only tracks listed products); no evidence
WallaX: chat and meet by HeeSay (iOS id6744953380) research report
In one line: WallaX is not a new product. It is a reskinned disguise of HeeSay, Blued's overseas version, deliberately aimed at markets where HeeSay itself can't be listed or has already been named by regulators (Indonesia, Malaysia, India). It reached #10 on Indonesia's iOS social top-grossing chart because it inherits the gay male users and payment habits Blued/Walla built locally over more than a decade, not because of product differentiation or new demand.
1. What it is (identity verified)
| Evidence | Item | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | iRainbow Hong Kong Limited, the same developer account as HeeSay (id1090274263, formerly Blued International) | iTunes lookup,2026-11-06 |
| Version number | WallaX launched as 5.14.5, HeeSay is currently 5.15.1, and the Android version Walla X is 5.15.0: same codebase | iTunes lookup / AppBrain |
| bundleId | co.catchme.voca, "Catch Me" is the developer name of the Android Walla (com.blued.international.qy) | iTunes lookup; Google Play library |
| Website | The wallax-app.com and walla-app.com pages are identical (title "Walla: Obrolan&Pertemanan Pria," meaning "Men's Chat and Friendship"), and the images are all hosted on Blued's CDN web-sg.bldimg.com/cblued | r.jina.ai scrape |
| Store description | Fully neutral: "meet people nearby / chat / live"; the full text never mentions LGBT or gay; age rating 17+ | iTunes lookup |
| Listed regions | Only listed in id / my / in; HeeSay itself is not found in these three regions. Conversely, HeeSay is available in vn/th/ph/us/tw/sa/ae, where WallaX is not. The listing regions are perfectly complementary | iTunes lookup region by region, 2026-11-06 |
| Apple ID block | 6744953380 This ID range dates to around 2025 April registrations (the neighboring 6743444196 went live on 2025-03-19). Our database lists the launch date as 2026-08-25, while Apple now shows 2026-09-03: the shell was ready early, but it didn't go live until late August 2026 | appstore DB + iTunes |
Takeaway: WallaX is a de-LGBT rebrand of HeeSay/Walla, built for markets with sensitive regulators.
2. The data (our DB)
- iOS total ratings 377 (id 300 / in 50 / my 27), 7 new in 40 days; daily new ratings grew from 10-29 on 1 to 11-06 on 11 (appstore DB app_day).
- Indonesia iOS: Top Grossing overall #140–181, Social category Top Grossing #9–12, stayed in that range for 10 days, very steady (appstore DB). Ahead of it on the same chart: Facebook, Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Omi, Bumpy, DreamLike, MiChat, BIGO.
- Malaysia Social Top Grossing 26–37, India Social Top Grossing 24–91; both fluctuating.
- Android is the bulk (googleplay DB):
co.sapapa.app"Walla X: Meet Nearby" (Catch Me LLC): installs 209,203,7 days +16,628 (10-29 is 192,575); Indonesia Play Social Top Grossing #8–10, App Top Grossing overall #86–114. The package name has no "blued," unlike the old Walla.com.blued.international.qy"Walla: Live & Social" (Catch Me LLC, listed on 2020-08-18): 10.9M installs, 35,986 ratings; now charting only in in / my (India Social Top Grossing #9–12, Malaysia 29–35), no longer charting in Indonesia.com.blued.internationalHeeSay itself: 39M installs, Vietnam Social Top Grossing #2, Thailand and Philippines #8.
- Rough math: at the ratio of iOS ratings to downloads of about 1–2%, WallaX's cumulative iOS downloads are probably tens of thousands (unverified); the monthly revenue bar for the top 10 Indonesia iOS Social Top Grossing is roughly tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of USD (unverified, estimated from peers MiChat and Omi on the same chart).
3. Competitors
| Competitors | Where | Launched | Scale | How it differs from WallaX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HeeSay (formerly Blued International) | iOS/Android | 2016 | Play 39M installs; iOS Vietnam 26k ratings, Thailand 12.5k | Same company, same codebase; HeeSay openly markets to LGBTQ+, can't chart in id/my/in; WallaX fills that gap |
| Walla: Live & Social(Catch Me LLC) | Android (iOS may have had it before, unverified) | 2020-08 | 10.9M installs, India Social #9 | The previous-generation disguise from the same company. 2023-90k: police asked the communications ministry to block Walla; it no longer charts on Indonesia Play. WallaX is very much its Indonesian stand-in. |
| Hornet / Hornet Stories(Queer Networks) | iOS/Android | 2011 / 2022 | Indonesia iOS Social Top Grossing #25 (Hornet Stories) | Western brand, openly LGBT; 2026-08-15 Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) formally asked Apple and Google to remove Hornet |
| Grindr | iOS/Android | 2009 | Global leader | Openly LGBT; named in Indonesia in 2016; Malaysia blocked its website 2026-02; no local disguise |
| Jack'd / SCRUFF / ROMEO / myBOY, etc. | iOS | 2010– | Very small in the Indonesian storefront | Small Western app, no localized live streaming, no disguise strategy |
| MiChat, Omi, Litmatch, Boo, tantan, SUGO, MICO, BIGO LIVE | iOS/Android | 2014–2024 | Indonesia Social Top Grossing #5–28 | General social/live/stranger dating, not split by orientation; same monetization model (membership + live tipping + ads), but a different user base |
No direct competitor: in the top 30 Indonesia iOS Social Top Grossing, the only app aimed at gay men besides it is Hornet Stories (and Hornet is being asked to be removed).
4. Where users came from (growth tactics)
- Legacy user migration (main cause, indirect evidence): Blued has operated in Indonesia for nearly a decade. In 2021 the official TikTok @wallaidn ran creator collabs with #blued #wallaindonesia, with one video at 990k views; the WallaIDN Facebook page says "Walla dari Blued" (Walla from Blued). In 2023 Bandung police cited "homosexual activity" to ask for Walla's block, and local media covered it widely (Kompas, Republika, JPNN, IDN Times), which spread the name. WallaX keeps the name "Walla" with the suffix "by HeeSay" so legacy users recognize it at a glance.
- Regulatory action cleared the spot (timing): 2026-08-15 Komdigi announced it would ask Apple and Google to remove Hornet, saying "other similar services' apps will also be handled" (Komdigi press release at komdigi.go.id; reported by Investortrust and RMOL 8-18/19). 10 days later (2026-08-25) WallaX launched on iOS with neutral copy and new bundle IDs
co.sapapa.app/co.catchme.vocato get around review. Malaysia blocked the Grindr and Blued websites in 2026-02 (PinkNews, Metro Weekly); HeeSay disappeared from India's stores starting in 2024 (Reddit r/LGBTindia). - Store search / word of mouth: new ratings over the last 7 days are accelerating, but neither X (x-radar: 60 posts in the last 0 days) nor TikTok turns up any WallaX promo content of its own; this audience spreads it through community word of mouth and private chats, so external visibility is very low.
- Paid acquisition: the Meta Ad Library (which only tracks a fixed list of products) shows no Walla/HeeSay advertisers. That doesn't mean there's no spend; following Blued's playbook, there are likely programmatic/affiliate ads (unverified).
- In-app ad monetization: reviews are full of complaints about "too many ads, still ads after buying SVIP" (Indonesian reviews, 10-28 to 11-04). It means ad revenue and membership revenue are both in play; pushing ads hard may also be pushing users toward paying for membership.
5. Why it took off
- Real demand + supply squeezed by regulation: social demand among gay men in Indonesia and Malaysia has always existed, but Grindr, Blued and Hornet were named or removed one after another. Compliant disguises are among the few options still downloadable normally from the stores.
- Inheriting an existing community and payment habits: same backend and account system, with live streamers, a membership tier (SVIP) and legacy user relationship chains; cold-start cost is close to zero, which is why it held steady in the top 10 Indonesia Social Top Grossing within two months.
- Two legs: the Android Walla X gained +7k installs in 16.6 days and is the main driver; iOS handles high-paying users, sitting around #150 on Indonesia iOS Top Grossing overall.
- "De-labeled" packaging: the description, screenshots and name never mention orientation, so store review and government patrols both have a harder time spotting it at a glance.
6. Differentiation
The product itself has no differentiation: it is HeeSay (nearby people + chat + live + membership), with a "live map" added in the 5.14.5 version. Its real edge is in the distribution and compliance layers: a neutral brand, an independent developer name or bundle, and packages split by country let it be found and downloaded in markets where HeeSay can't be listed. That's why it took off; for an ordinary developer, the key assets behind it are the user pool and live-streaming ecosystem Blued built over a decade.
7. Visibility and copycats
- Visibility: spreading within small circles. No public revenue figures; neither the media nor big X accounts have written about WallaX itself. Indonesian media only covered the old Walla in 2023 and Hornet in 2026-08.
- Copycats: none (no third-party clones found; Blued's own multi-brand matrix of HeeSay / Walla / Walla X doesn't count as copycatting).
- Risk: Komdigi has already said it will handle "similar services"; if WallaX gets recognized, it could be removed at any time. That's also why it keeps changing its shell.
8. What to borrow
- Regulation-sensitive vertical social apps (LGBT, dating, live) can be split by country: the main brand runs openly in permissive markets, while strict markets get a neutral brand and an independent bundle ID that plug into the same backend.
- When a competitor is taken down by regulators, having pre-registered shells on hand (here the Apple ID was registered in 2025 and only activated in August 2026) lets you fill the gap within 10 days.
- Monetization stacks "ads + membership"; ads are heavy enough to be annoying and in turn push people to buy membership; the cost is ratings (now 3.9).
9. Uncertain
- Whether the old Walla had an iOS version, when it was pulled in Indonesia, and whether WallaX directly replaces it: unverified (iTunes search is rate-limited).
- Whether there is paid acquisition: the Meta Ad Library shows nothing, and the TikTok Ad Library only covers Europe.
- Revenue scale can only be roughly estimated from chart rankings.
- Parent company: public reports say Blued's parent BlueCity was acquired by Newborn Town after 2022; not verified this time.
Sources
- iTunes lookup: id6744953380 (id/my/in and other storefronts), id1090274263 (per storefront)
- Our DB: appstore (app_profile, app_day, v_chart Indonesia Social Top Grossing, 2026-10-28 to 11-06); googleplay (app_profile, app_day, chart_rank: co.sapapa.app, com.blued.international.qy, com.blued.international); metaads (nothing found)
- www.wallax-app.com/ and walla-app.com/ (same page; images on bldimg.com)
- www.komdigi.go.id/berita/siaran-pers/detail/komdigi-tindak-h… (2026-08-15)
- www.instagram.com/p/DcOH9MpSBjb/ (Investortrust 2026-08-18), www.instagram.com/reel/DcGLJNXgduV/ (RMOL)
- prfmnews.pikiran-rakyat.com/bandung-raya/pr-137179990/polres… and news.republika.co.id/berita/s1n511436/ (2023-09)
- www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/25/malaysia-blocks-grindr-and-bl… and www.metroweekly.com/2026/03/malaysia-blocks-grindr-blued/
- www.reddit.com/r/LGBTindia/comments/1dkvfti/ (India HeeSay removal)
- www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/china/china-gay-dating-apps-removed-i… (Blued removed in China in 2025-11)
- TikTok (TikHub search): @wallaidn collab videos from 2021 with 990k views; searching "walla x" turns up no WallaX promo content
- x-radar: "WallaX", "Walla HeeSay": 60 posts in the last 0 days