United States

Bumble is testing its BFF (Bumble for Friends) service as a standalone app for finding friends, according to Mashable.

Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz (for career networking) have been features on the main Bumble dating app for a long time, and now Bumble intends to spin BFF off into its own entity. The new app is being tested in the UK and select Asian markets, according to confirmation from Bumble. And according to Tech Crunch, though Bumble couldn’t confirm specific countries where it’s being tested, the app is also available in Australia, New Zealand and Philippines for both Androids and iPhones.

Bumble BFF expected to launch in the U.S. this summer.

It’s likely that the dating app’s Bizz service will be a standalone app down the line as well. But for now, the company is focusing on its BFF service, since about 15 percent of Bumble’s active monthly users utilize the feature.

Image: Match

Dating app Match has launched a new feature called 72 Hours, aiming to get people off the app and into a real-life date by creating a time-limited online event. The app will gather participants in close proximity and help them connect.

The time-sensitive feature will be a weekly in-app experience. Users who participate will be able to select profiles on a map and start conversations (with a nudge to make weekend plans) before the 72 hours is up. The map will limit options to 15 potential matches, but users can adjust age and location filters to find profiles that are further away, according to Tech Crunch.

Participants will only have the 72 Hours to message potential matches, and after that, their messages will disappear. (Match will also provide a countdown to remind users the clock is ticking.)

Muzz, a dating app for Muslim singles, is hosting a series of in-person events in major cities around the world, most recently in New York. About 250 of the app’s users attended.

The event was held in a halal Italian restaurant in Brooklyn and included religious observances, such as prayer mats set up in an outdoor dining tent for Maghreb, one of the five daily prayers for Muslims. The dating app has also recently held events in Toronto, New Jersey, Baltimore, London and Dubai in the last couple of months.

According to Indian Express, at the beginning of the Brooklyn event, attendees were anxious and worried that they looked “desperate” for attending. At the start of the event, women mingled with other women and men spoke with other men, even though it was intended for mingling between sexes. (Muzz does not currently serve the LGBTQ+ community. Founder and CEO Shahzad Younas told Indian Express there were no current plans to expand its app for inclusion, noting: “We’re still at a stage where the premise of our app, even for the straight market, is considered taboo.”)

Image: Bumble

After three years heading up Bumble, Inc., President Tariq Shaukat has announced he will be stepping down from his role effective September 1, 2023. He will be moving to an advisory role during the transition period, according to the company.

Shares of Bumble stock fell 6 percent the following day in response to the news, according to Investing.com. (The announcement was made after trading hours.) Shaukat has played an important role in the growth of the company, and is recognized for successfully leading it through its IPO in 2021. He’s also credited with expanding the user base, including in new and developing markets.

Analysts at Evercore ISI reacted to Shaukat’s exit, viewing it as “incrementally negative for the company,” according to Investing.com.

Match Group announced the launch of its new gay dating app Archer on June 1st, just in time for Pride month.

According to Tech Crunch, Archer is a “social-first” dating experience specifically for gay, bi and queer men. The app is distinguishing itself from other gay dating apps like Grindr and Scruff by offering traditional social media features within the app.

For example, the app has interest tags that you can search, making the search process easier and allowing filters to be set. Free-form tags will be available post-launch, so users can customize their own interests. Most similarly to social platforms, users can follow one another, paving the way for similar features. (There are plans down the line to add a Stories feature, too.)

A new user survey from Hinge found that memes were fast becoming the best way to show affection for a match, as well as to display your personal sense of humor.

Almost three-quarters of the 2,000 users Hinge surveyed said they used memes to find out if they share a sense of humor with a match, and 60 percent said they want to get a sense of someone’s “meme humor” before going on a date, according to Mashable.

A vast majority – 93 percent – say that memes reveal a potential partner’s sense of humor, and almost as many consider a shared sense of humor an important factor in a relationship. And if you are worried about what meme to send or what someone’s sense of humor is like, don’t stress: 36 percent of daters said they feel more interested after receiving a meme from someone, even if they don’t think it’s funny.