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Match Group’s new queer dating app Archer launched nationwide on October 11th, which was also National Coming Out Day. And to celebrate, the app hosted parties at popular gay bars across the country.

The app’s headquarters is based in Dallas and Austin (also Match Group’s headquarters), which have some of the country’s most active LGBTQIA+ scenes. Prior to launch, the app was tested in the New York and Los Angeles markets and saw early success, especially among younger users. The company points out that 62 percent of people on Archer were 35 years or younger, according to Culture Map Austin.

The launch parties and events taking place in major cities (though not Austin), are in line with Archer’s mission: an app designed to foster a social environment. The app is marketed as a “social first” app, allowing users to express themselves through photos, messaging (including group messaging), and connecting without any kind of preset label. In fact, the profiles are arranged in feed and grid view options typically found in social media, rather than on dating apps.

Image: BLK

BLK dating app, a popular app for Black singles, has debuted a new animated series called Halloween Horror Stories, featuring real-life dating horror stories from users of the platform.

The new series consists of three animated shorts chronicling the dating horrors of Black singles, according to Cassius Life.

For example, one story entitled “Stolen Hearts & Wheels” features a BLK user getting picked up for a first date in a stolen car. The video is a short, only a minute long, and takes the audience through the man getting picked up by his date as she shows off how fast the car can go. There are some hints that it might not be her car – like the retirement tips book he sees in the passenger seat.

Image: Bumble

Dating app Bumble is distributing campus safety kits to college students to help them date more safely on college campuses.

The Austin-based dating app company will distribute hundreds of drink spike prevention products from NightCap, along with safety alarms from She’s Birdie, to students at the University of Texas in Austin as well as 160 other campuses around the country, according to Axios.

The drink spike prevention product looks like a hair scrunchie according to Axios, and can fit over the top of a glass to cover it, leaving room for only a straw. Another selling point is that women can wear them in their hair or around their wrists until they need them, making them easy to carry and use.

Image: Tinder & Peacock

Dating app Tinder has partnered with Peacock streaming service to launch “Horror Movies” as an in-app Interest and also to host private date night screenings for horror movie fans.

The new Horror Movies Interest badge Tinder is adding allows its users to filter and search for those who share a love of scary films, according to Tinder’s press release. In addition, Peacock is adding a new dedicated “For You and Boo” date night collection to its service, which will be available starting October 5th.

To add the new interest badge to their profiles, users can go to “edit profile” and scroll down through the interests to find “Horror Movies,” and select it. Once added, Tinder users will also be eligible for an exclusive in-app offer, but only between October 4 and October 31.

Tinder has partnered with the Centre for Social Research (CSR) to create a new safety guide for app users in India.

The safety guide, along with 15 safety features that are accessible on the Tinder app, are part of Tinder’s efforts to improve safety for users. The new guide “leverages CSR India’s insights amid the intersection of technology and violence against women,” according to Tinder’s announcement.

Starting in September, Tinder users will get a prompt through the app’s messaging system on how to access the safety guide, according to the Hindustan Times.

The Australian government told the dating app industry that they must improve safety standards on their apps or risk being forced to make changes through legislation. Dating app companies were given until June 30th, 2024 to develop a “voluntary code of conduct” to address user concerns about safety.

According to the Associated Press, the government was basing its decision on new research that found three-quarters of dating app users in Australia between 2016 and 2021 had suffered some form of sexual violence. The research was conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology and published last year.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland noted that dating apps have become the most popular way to meet people, and therefore must improve when it comes to protecting the people using them. “The government is concerned about rates of sexual harassment, abusive and threatening language, unsolicited sexual images and violence facilitated by these platforms,” she said, according to Associated Press.