Features

Have you ever wondered what the future of dating apps looks like when artificial intelligence is woven into every swipe and message? Grindr is offering a glimpse with its newest pilot subscription tier called *EDGE*, powered by its own proprietary AI stack known as gAI. The idea is to deliver smarter, more personalized connections, but it also comes with some eye-opening price tags.

If you use Grindr now it’s worth understanding what this new tier offers and how it might change the way you find matches and start conversations.

Ever feel like you’ve swiped so much your thumb hurts? That’s not just you. Meta is pushing back against dating-app burnout by embedding a new AI “dating assistant” and a weekly surprise match feature called “Meet Cute” directly into Facebook Dating. These innovations are designed to help skip the endless scroll, but do they bring connection—or risk?

Swipe fatigue—dating burnout from browsing match after match—has become a real barrier for many. To counter that, the assistant enables you to type specific prompts (for example, “find me someone who loves poetry and dogs”) and get help refining your profile and matches. Meet Cute will automatically pair you with someone once a week using algorithmic matchmaking according to the Meta press release.

Ever wish dating apps could match not just your type, but your vibe? Tinder’s latest update, released September 10, 2025, introduces “Modes”—new ways to connect depending on what you’re feeling or where you are. With Modes, you can switch between different matching styles, starting with Double Date Mode, College Mode, and the classic-style For You Mode. Tinder’s press release explains how this aims to give people more control over how they meet others.

Tinder’s latest campaign which launched August 25, 2025 is all about that thrill, chaos, and joy of having a crush. Called “Crush Feelings,” it’s designed especially for Gen Z to remind them that those sparks still happen—and often on Tinder. Tinder’s press release lays out all the details.

Tinder isn’t just selling matches—they’re selling moments. According to their own data, the app has facilitated over 100 billion matches globally to date. In 2024, nearly 16 billion Likes or Nopes were sent every week. That tells us people aren’t just swiping—they’re hoping, feeling, reacting.

Dating app Hinge is taking payment processing for its app into its own hands, and out of the control of the App Store.

Hinge CEO Justin McLeod was recently interviewed on the Decoder podcast and said the company would like to introduce the new payment system by the end of the year.

This is big news for dating apps, and for developers in general who have litigated to bypass the monopoly-like hold Apple and Google have on their payment platforms. To make their apps available on the iOS App Store for users to download, Hinge has had to agree to giving a percentage of every purchase made by its users to Apple.

Hinge has teamed up with renowned psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel to create new prompts for users to engage in conversation.

Perel was involved in creating new “Your World” prompts, including a collection of ten questions designed to help Hinge users share more about themselves in their profiles and hopefully attract better matches.

“[The prompts] are intended to help someone reading them have a bit more imagination about how your world and their world might connect,” Jackie Jantos, Hinge’s president and chief marketing officer, told Fast Company. “Esther contributed what she knows about getting into deeper, more intimate conversation.”