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Image: eHarmony

eHarmony announced that it is adding an expanded list of genders for its members to choose from, aiming to give them a more inclusive experience. The company worked in partnership with GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Awareness ) to develop the new updates.

Users will now be able to choose from an expanded list of genders, and during the registration process, they will be asked what gender best describes them to best match them with potential dates. Members will also be given more opportunity to talk about and add more detail about their gender when they complete the “personal information” form in the process. Users can also choose to display their gender on their profile, according to GLAAD's website.

Members will be able to list their gender preferences when it comes to matches as well, including whether they are seeking men, women nonbinary, or any combination of these.

Match Group has hired a new Vice President of Innovation, a role that will direct the use of AI over its suite of apps.

Mark Kantor comes from his previous role as head of growth at Zynga, and co-founded startups like Yellowbrick and Grafitti, according to Tech Crunch. He will lead a team of engineers and product designers in harnessing AI technology for new features. According to an internal memo received by Tech Crunch, the new team is called ASL, which stands for Art x Science Lab, but is also a reference to an online pickup line (“age, sex, location”).

AI has been a tool that dating apps have incorporated in various ways, including in algorithms to better understand user preferences when delivering potential matches. Now with tools like ChatGPT, daters are using AI for profile-writing and messages, so dating app companies like Match Group are seeing opportunity.

Dating app Bumble is releasing new features for its free and premium services, aimed at fostering a kinder, more curated dating experience, according to the company’s press release.

Mashable noted that one of the new features is Review Before You Send, and will be part of its Compliments feature. While Compliments is intended to encourage positive interactions over the app, sometimes the message isn’t received well, no matter the intention of the sender. In fact, as Bumble tested Review Before You Send, they found that 46 percent of people chose to edit their Compliment after they received the prompt, because it encouraged them to reread their message and think twice about sending it.

Another new feature the app is launching allows users to add their interests to the top of their profile (modeled after the app’s hit “Top Artists” feature, where a favorite band or singer is placed front and center in a user’s profile).

Match Group announced in its quarterly earnings call that its star app Tinder will be launching a “high-end” subscription tier this fall. In addition, Tinder will debut a product refresh to cater to the Gen Z dating market.

The company has been testing price points in different markets, including a $500 subscription that was called Tinder Vault, according to CPO Mark Van Ryswyk. In an interview with Fast Company earlier this year, he noted that there’s a market for daters who are willing to pay for good matches, as evidenced by the success of its exclusive dating app The League.

However, the price point was arguably high for an app that will not include human matchmakers, but instead will continue to rely on technology to serve up better matches.

Parents in China are taking matters into their own hands with their single adult children and using dating apps to help them find someone to marry.

Parent-facing dating apps are taking off in China, according to Rest of World, which reports on tech trends globally. Many parents are using online matchmaking platforms like Perfect In-Laws, Family-Building Matchmaking, and Parents Matchmaking to set up dates for their grown and unmarried children.

On platforms like these, the parents set up profiles for their children, sometimes without their knowledge or consent, according to Rest of World. When the match is made, it’s the parents who meet and get to know each other first, similar to matchmaking apps used in India.

Dating app Tinder is testing an AI feature that will select the best profile photos for users, according to reports from parent company Match Group’s latest earnings call.

Tech Crunch noted that the AI feature will examine a Tinder member’s photo album and select five that “best represents them for their dating profile.” According to Match Group CEO Bernard Kim, choosing pictures is a stressful process for daters, and typically they have doubts about which ones they pick, what he labeled as a “pain point” on the earnings call.

“Sometimes, people are really excited to jump into the Tinder experience,” Kim said. He continued: “then in that exact moment where you upload five pictures, people get generally nervous or uncomfortable, like, ‘What is the right picture that I’ve taken over the last year to make my dating profile more me?’”