Features

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?’”

Singles are turning to their travels to find romance this summer, a term that’s being dubbed “wanderlove.”

According to a new survey from Bumble, a majority of 53 percent of people on its app are looking for a holiday fling this summer instead of searching for longer-term options closer to home.

Part of this trend could be due to the number of singles who choose to travel alone to explore new destinations and are looking to meet new people along the way. Bumble found that almost 30 percent of its users meet people over the app when they travel alone, and 52 percent say that dating people abroad is a fun way to learn about new cultures, according to UK website Indy 100.

Tinder is heading in a bold new direction that includes regenerative AI and a “fresh and new feel” according to its chief product officer Mark van Ryswyk.

At the Reuters Momentum Festival, the CPO shared that he and his team have been studying common user problems and have identified three key elements to focus on: realness, respect and relevancy. Van Ryswyk said on stage: “There’s an opportunity for us to deliver something by end of year that’s going to start to tackle these things,” he added.

According to Fast Company, Match Group refused to expand on these comments, but the company has been focused on rolling out premium features and appealing to its fastest-growing market Gen Z.

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble has partnered with the much buzzed-about Warner Bros. movie Barbie, which premieres in July in theaters across the world.

Bumble’s partnership is to promote its new Compliments feature using images of the movie’s stars to bolster confidence and encourage people to try it out, according to marketing news website Campaign Asia. In addition to images, the app will have pre-recorded messages from the stars to motivate users to engage positively with each other.

Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, has a dialog bubble on Bumble’s app that states: “your taste in movies? Sensational. Now it’s time to show them how sensational your Compliments are.” Other stars featured include Simu Liu (Ken #2) and Issa Rae (President Barbie), and Ryan Gosling (Ken #1).

Dating app Bumble has launched Healthy Queer Dating Guide for its users to promote kindness and encourage an inclusive dating experience on the app.

The Guide covers a range of relevant topics, including how to start an online conversation with someone new when you are feeling nervous, and how to set clear boundaries when you connect. According to Hindustan Times, the Guide also offers advice for how to communicate that a match has misgendered you in the early stages of dating.

First date advice (and navigating to a second date), kindness in conversations, and how to approach dating when you prioritize your own emotional needs are included among other topics, according to Indulge Express. The Guide also offers important advice on how to deal with rejection, something every dater experiences.

A dating app launched by two friends in San Francisco has already gained 6,000 new members, thanks to its clever hook of getting you to a real-life date as quickly as possible.

Soon works like a traditional dating app, allowing members to set up profiles, swipe and match. But once a match is made, instead of messaging first, the app presents a calendar and list of options for where to meet so you can schedule your first date. The idea is to get you meeting IRL, where you aren’t wasting a lot of time on texting a match that goes nowhere.

The meet-up places are not restaurants, but rather bars, coffee shops, or parks, because as the twenty-seven-year-old co-founder Cora Kyler told San Francisco Gate: “There’s no dinner. That is way too much of a commitment for a first date. We call it a ‘zero width’ date. It’s a vibe check, mostly coffee or a drink.”