Matching

Dating app Bumble has partnered with Gymshark to create a UK-based ad campaign centered around fitness, a popular first date activity among younger daters.

According to The Drum, the campaign focuses on compatibility for singles, and how they can bond more easily over shared interests. “For Dates That Workout” includes new interest badges that users can add to their profiles, including weightlifting, HIIT and bodybuilding, which were chosen by Bumble based on what’s most popular with Gymshark members. Yahoo! Life noted that the most popular workout activities for Bumble dates were running, and HIIT, yoga and Pilates classes.

Bumble found that 22 percent of Gen Z and millennials have exercised or attended a fitness class on a first date, according to The Drum. This has been especially popular since the pandemic, where meeting for drinks has taken a backseat to more active dates. According to their research, 32 percent of singles have attended a fitness class with the intention to meet someone.

China has launched a new state-sponsored dating app to boost marriage rates in the country. Palm Guixi is now available in the Jiangxi province and will use personal data on its single residents there to build its matchmaking platform.

The app itself differs from traditional dating apps like Tinder and Bumble in that the state-run operation picks your matches out based on tracking data, and sets matches up via the app’s blind dates platform according to Gizmodo.

Local governments in the province are organizing in-person matchmaking events as well, encouraging single attendees to wear traditional clothes and play games as a way to break the ice and to celebrate Chinese culture  according to The Guardian.

Tinder has announced two significant new features it is rolling out, including highlighting relationship types (including non-monogamy) and allowing members to display their pronouns on their profiles.

With the new update, Tinder users will be able to choose from a variety of terms to describe their relationship type, and it will display prominently on their profile just under their name and age. They can choose from descriptions like “monogamy,” “ethical non-monogamy,” “open relationship” or “open to exploring,” for example.

According to the press release, Tinder is making this shift to put relationship types more front and center, since it found that 41 percent of Gen Z users are open to non-traditional and non-monogamous relationships. This feature complements the Relationship Goals feature the company rolled out last year, which gave users the ability to specify if they are searching for “Long-term,” “short term” or long-term, open to short-term” among other types, like “just figuring out my dating goals.”

Dating app Bumble found that more singles in India are practicing “dry dating” or dating while sober. In fact, the dating app expects this to be the number one dating trend in the country in 2023, thanks to young daters.

A recent poll taken by the app found that 24 percent of single Indians who drink say they don’t plan to do so on dates this year, even past dry January. When asked why, the majority (56 percent) said they wanted to get to know the other person “without being distracted,” according to The Economic Times.

Forty-five percent said they were choosing not to drink on dates to improve their health and wellness by consuming less alcohol.

Dating app Hinge has launched its new top tier service HingeX for $49.99 per month. The company also announced changes to its current subscription tiers to provide more offerings at new price points.

Hinge had been testing its new premium service at different price points around $60, parent company Match Group revealed on an earnings call in January, as well as revising the current subscription model. Executives and investors have seen huge growth potential in the dating app and are focusing efforts right now on Hinge and star app Tinder.

Match Group had said that it was testing the new subscription model, but few details about features were given. Now we know that subscribers who pay for HingeX will have their profiles constantly boosted to attract more matches, according to Fast Company who broke the news, and will be seen sooner than other profiles by potential matches.

Tinder unveiled several new safety features, including “Incognito Mode” where users can control their visibility as well as how they interact with others on the app. The new features were rolled out February 6th to coincide with Safer Internet Day.

According to Tech Crunch, “Incognito” is a bit more advanced than just being able to hide your profile – users who opt for this feature can still Like and Pass on potential matches, but only those they have “Liked” will be able to see them.

The new feature is available for paid subscribers for Tinder+, Gold and Platinum members only.