Statistics

The app industry saw revenue spike to $50.1 billion for the first two quarters of 2020, in part due to people isolating at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Dating app Tinder topped the list of non-game app revenue earners.

This marks a 23.4% increase from the first half of 2019 according to Tech Crunch, compared with a 20% increase for the same time period between 2018 and 2019. The data seems to also point to a growing new user base. First time app installs were up 26.1% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019, and reached a total of 71.5 billion downloads.

Topping the non-game app list was dating app Tinder, followed by YouTube, and popular social apps TikTok and Tencent. Netflix was the fifth-highest earner.

Dating site eHarmony has found that quarantine helped solidify new relationships at an accelerated speed as people partnered and navigated lockdown together. The company also found that it helped long-term couples feel more connected, too. 

Relate, a non-profit that provides mental health and counseling services, worked with eHarmony to gather the data. According to Good Housekeeping, they found that 63% of respondents say their relationship feels stronger after quarantining together, and 58% say they know they want to be with their partner forever.

Dating apps like Grindr, Hinge and OkCupid have been weighing whether or not to keep an ethnicity filter on their apps in the wake of protests against police violence in the U.S. and around the world. 

According to Forbes, Grindr announced that it would be dropping the filter as an option from its app in its next update. The company posted a statement on Twitter, adding: “We will not be silent. Black Lives Mater.” But this decision created a backlash among many who saw this move as too little, too late. @guillotineshout responded: “In solidarity we are removing our racism button” is the most tech company thing I could imagine.”

Grindr had received criticism before for the ethnicity filter, but other dating apps like OkCupid and Hinge who also have them, have chosen to keep theirs.

As summer begins, more places around the world are preparing to re-open public places after shuttering due to the spread of COVID-19 - including parks, beaches, and some restaurants and offices. Many daters have spent the last several weeks virtual dating from the comfort of their homes, but now according to Mashable, they are considering whether or not to take those dates offline and meet in person. They are also navigating what that might look like. 

COVID-19 has interrupted typical dating practices, but it’s also introduced us to the upside of virtual connection. Zoom dates have become popular in recent weeks not only because the pandemic has forced people to rely on technology for interaction, but also because people like the idea of getting to know someone better before actually meeting.

Tinder has announced that it will be releasing a new video chat feature in the second quarter of this year. This news comes as people around the world continue to socially distance in the wake of the coronavirus, and as its parent company Match Group shared that the app’s subscriber growth had slowed.

Match Group didn’t give specifics about Tinder’s new video chat feature and what it would look like, but they did indicate they were testing the waters with a new video chat platform on another one of its apps, Plenty of Fish. POF offers a live stream video platform where users can observe and weigh in with likes and comments on other user’s live streams. The app is also offering a virtual speed dating feature called NextDate, which allows users to meet and talk briefly with several matches before deciding whether to take the video chat to a one-on-one conversation.

CEO of POF, Malgosia Green

Image: POF

Plenty of Fish (POF) has had a reputation as a hookup app among dating app users, but under the direction of CEO Malgosia Green the last two years, the company is pivoting to create a more engaging and authentic experience for users.

In a recent interview with Green posted on the company’s blog, she discusses her primary goal to create a more authentic online dating experience at POF. The company’s research found that 84% of singles said they wanted more authenticity in dating and think all face filters should be banned. As a result, POF was the first to implement a face filter ban and committed to auditing 70 million images and removing face-filtered images.