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Fitness app created by Chris Hemsworth crashes after laying off Australian staff

Centr, the fitness and wellbeing app founded by actor Chris Hemsworth, is under fire after it became unusable for some subscribers just weeks after it laid off many of its Australian staff.
Hemsworth no longer owns the app, having sold it last year.
While the exact number of impacted workers wasn't announced, it is understood about 20 staff, including those in the engineering and product departments, were cut by the company.
Chris Hemsworth
Centr is a fitness and wellbeing app founded by Chris Hemsworth. (Brook Mitchell)
Shortly after those Australian workers were let go, subscribers began complaining about the app becoming unusable, with many saying they were being continually logged out.
The app's listing on the Google Play store, for example, was inundated with one- and two-star reviews as people said their subscriptions – which range in cost from $29.99 per month to $119.99 a year – had become worthless.
"Content is great, but the app just doesn't work reliably anymore. It's not little glitches either, nothing whatsoever loads. It would be frustrating in a free app, but in an expensive one it's unforgivable," one person wrote.
"It was great. I really enjoyed the format and the workouts. Unfortunately, the app is completely broken. Constantly kicks me out and major sections of the app just not accessible. Someone tell Chris Hemsworth to fix his app," wrote another.
Centr has offered one-month credits to affected users, but hasn't apologised for the issues. (Centr)
"App has been down for over two weeks now. Constantly getting timed out and having to log in only to immediately get kicked out again. Will be cancelling membership if this isn't fixed before my next payment," another added.
In a statement to 9news.com.au, a Centr spokesperson confirmed the app had been experiencing technical issues which had since been resolved.
The spokesperson said they would be offering affected users a one-month credit.
"Centr has experienced intermittent access issues over the past couple of weeks that have impacted some Centr customers," the spokesperson said.
Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky
Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky sold the business in 2022 to HighPost Capital. (Getty Images for AFI)
"As of Monday, August 28 (US Pacific time – Tuesday Australian time), these issues have been resolved and impacted Centr customers now have access across all platforms.
"We understand the frustration this has caused some of Centr's customers and have offered a one-month credit to those whose app access was temporarily unavailable."
Centr was launched by Hemsworth in 2019 and, as of March last year, had gone on to amass more than 200,000 subscribers.
He and wife Elsa Pataky sold the business in 2022 to HighPost Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jeff Bezos's younger brother, Mark.
The Marvel star still features heavily in the app, which sells itself as providing users with "personalised training and tools inspired by Chris Hemsworth's team of experts".
9news.com.au has contacted Hemsworth's management for comment.
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