I thought that is a well know fact. If more than 5 people opened a new application, kept their session alive and were able to submit their application at the end, homeowners may receive more than 5 applications.
I dont think this is possible. I have never seen more than 4 applicants listed, I think never even 5 as then instead it says āreviewing applicationsā. So I think that even before this, and still, the system is coded to show maximum 4 applicants.
@anon42303101 in the old days- pre 5 Applicant limit- you saw way more than 4 apps- occasionally 50+ Apps!! And you could always see how many other applicants were competing with you after applying. Also you could apply to any sit (even if booked elsewhere) to arrange overlap sits/ask HOs a question/express future interest etc
These are 3 significant changes that many of us old timers wish they would restore.
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Also @LOVEANIMALS after applying for a sitting, I used to be able to see how many applicants applied so far.
Now, it just says āYouāve already applied for this sittingā.
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I do wish there was a way to reach out to Hosts, the same way they can already reach out to sitters unsolicited.
I just came across someone this morning whoās from my city but recently moved to the same country/city Iām retiring to this year, but I couldnāt apply or send a note as my previous sit overlapped. Now Iāll have to wait until they hopefully someday post a new sit, when we might have made contact & been able to be a support to one another, with so much in common. 
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I have only been here 2 years, and never knew it was like that before. it sounds such a sensible way to have done things, why on earth did they change it? I like to network, put out feelers, express future interest, and the only way currently is to apply for ones on dates when I am not available due to my social calendar, holidays etc, but AM AVAILABLE according to THS Calendar.
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THS changed it so they could spread good sits across more sitters. They said that specifically when they made the change ā they didnāt want only a fraction of sitters (presumably the most experienced) to get all of the best ones.
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Yes, those were the days, I loved especially the overlaps being possibleā¦But I do remember that you did not see how many applicants, but instead ā1-4ā or ā5-7ā (I dont remember the exact numbers, but it gave you just a ball park).
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Hmmmā¦that feels a bit āthumbs on scales.ā Seems counterintuitive to disenfranchise your most reliable/regular sitters.
Thanks for the elaboration. Iād just assumed it was to discourage people taking sits as āplaceholdersā & then canceling them because a more desirable one came along later.
I think that was also part of the reasoning. Some members were frequently cancelling confirmed sits if a better one came along.
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@MerryPuppins it has never been possible to contact hosts if they do not have live dates. Yet hosts have always been able to contact sitters directly. It is an unfair discrepancy, made even more unfair now that you cannot even make contact at all if you are already booked elsewhere when their live dates pop up
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A sitter that sits only 4 times a year is more valuable for THS than a sitter that sits 8 times a year. And when the 8 timer now only gets 4 sits per year, they direct the blame on ābad luckā of not being there on time, instead of taking their bags and moving to another platform. Or they get 4 super popular sits, and then as they still want the 4 more, they will look for less popular sits, and THS wins again as this has those 4 less popular sit hosts happy.
I think this is the logic behind the change, also elaborating from the messaging of THS from that change.
If THS had serious competition, they would not be able to pull this off - but as they are āthe bestā, enough of the unhappy users will just suck it up and rationalize it to themselves.
Itās like a buffet ā if a fraction of the customers consume a large quantity of the best inventory, it leaves the others with less desirable product.
Many marketplace businesses face similar challenges. Countering that is sometimes known as āmaking chicken saladā when you have limited chicken.
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Iāve been first in the lineup, Iāve been last in the lineup, and there is no guarantee if Iāll even get a response no matter what number I am, and I have a LOT of reviews. There are a lot of variables in how HOās make their decisions and Iām not going to get overly involved or invested in positioning and whether or not Iām chosen just because Iām first or second. Who cares, just move on!
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Sure. You do you. We others want to do differently, and are asking for THS to enable us to do it the way we like to do it. Our way of doing it does not in any way inconvenience you, it does not block you from doing it the way you like to do it, and I believe seeing the number on the hosts profile will not bother you. Its ok that you want to do it differently, but to answer to your closing question, āwe careā.