Bumble Inc

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 app Bumble announced a new in-app crowdsource campaign to nominate LGBTQ+ organizations that support BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) who experience police violence and racial injustice, a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement. Bumble plans to donate $5,000 each to these selected organizations.

Bumble explained the campaign on its website: “…we can’t support Pride without acknowledging the intersection of the LGBTQ+ movement with the Black Lives Matter movement. Many queer Black activists have been on the frontlines of these fights for fundamental human rights for decades, and the Stonewall Riots—which are widely credited with starting the gay liberation movement—were an uprising in reaction to police brutality against LGBTQ+ people. It was the same kind of unacceptable police brutality and abuse of power that we’re still seeing today, only now more focused on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).”

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.

Bumble and Airbnb announced a partnership to provide a curated list of virtual dates to its dating app users featuring experiences from around the world.

Like most dating apps, Bumble has seen an increase in usage and messaging the last couple of months as people shelter at home in the midst of a global pandemic, and has sought to engage their users through its new video chat feature. The partnership with Airbnb is its latest effort to encourage connection while we shelter at home.

According to Travel + Leisure magazine, some of the date options include going to a speakeasy jazz club in Amsterdam or learning to cook Mexican street tacos with a professional chef, which have relatively low price points for a date ($12 and $9 per person, respectively).

Dating app Bumble has released new features to help people connect better over the app as most of us around the world stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

One of the new features is the in-app audio/voice note ability, so you can leave a voice message for a match without having to exchange phone numbers, according to The Verge. This is a way to personalize messages with your matches, as texting can feel kind of generic after a while. It’s also another way to filter matches ahead of agreeing to a video chat.