Milestones

Image: Hinge

Match Group announced in its first quarter earnings report that Tinder’s paying users were down for the sixth quarter in a row, but Hinge’s paying users continue to rise.

According to Tech Crunch, Hinge has seen a whopping 31 percent increase in paying users year over year, now up to 1.4 million. This is far less than Tinder’s 10 million paying users, but as Tinder continues on its downward trend, its paying users dropping 9 percent from this time last year, Hinge offers a beacon of hope.

Dating apps in general have struggled in the last year, and companies like Match Group and Bumble have been trying to address it with more exciting paid features and additional security protocols, like Verification on Tinder. However, dating app users continue to drop their subscriptions and opt not to pay for features, especially younger users who are turning to free platforms like social media apps to connect.

Bumble has unveiled the newest feature of its dating app, removing the requirement for women to make the first move with their matches. The app’s new CEO Lidiane Jones said that this is part of a larger relaunch of the app.

Until now, Bumble has required women to send the first message to a potential match, keeping them in control of who they want to communicate with. Now, the dating app has jettisoned its requirement to automate the process with the launch of “Opening Moves,” which lets female users choose from a list of prompts where matches can reply and start a conversation themselves. (Women can also create their own prompts.)

For same-gender and non-binary users, they can either set or respond to an Opening Move.

Grindr says it will be offering the biggest change to its platform in the app’s history, describing the app’s new purpose to be a “gayborhood in your pocket.”

According to Axios, the gay dating app was under pressure from both users and investors to give a facelift to the app, which has remained essentially the same for the past few years. Arison has been teasing these changes lately, including the new feature Roam which will allow users to set a location on the app to where they are traveling, so they can match and message with people before arriving.

The new features are currently being tested and Arison plans to launch them later this year.

Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones sat down with Tech Crunch to discuss women on the platform no longer making the first move, potential new safety features, AI, and other plans to enhance the app.

In a recent interview Jones shared that she is reconsidering the basic premise of Bumble: that women make the first move. Instead, she said that women should be given the choice of whether they want to make the first move or not, giving them more control in their dating experience.

Jones assured Tech Crunch that her goal of empowering women on the platform remains steadfast: “Our brand awareness is so high, it’s amazing. And if you ask anybody about Bumble, they’ll say it’s about women, and the core of that is not changing. We are a company that really cares about women’s empowerment.”

Actress Lily James will reportedly star in a film inspired by the life of Whitney Wolfe Herd, the legendary founder of dating app Bumble.

According to Deadline who broke the story, the film won’t be strictly based on Herd’s life, but the former CEO’s struggles and triumphs are meant to inspire the script. James will produce the film alongside 20th Century Studios and Ethea Entertainment, the production company formed by Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, according to Deadline. They are currently in pre-production for the untitled film, which is expected to be released in 2025.

Wolfe Herd got her start in the dating app business as a co-founder of Tinder, and then famously left the app in 2014 amid allegations that she was sexually harassed by her former boyfriend and Tinder co-founder. She went on to found Bumble that same year, and made it her mission to give women power on the platform, ensuring that they are the ones who can reach out first to a match.

Dating app conglomerate Match Group has attracted its second activist investor Anson Funds Management LP, who have built a stake in the company.

Bloomberg, who broke the news, also noted that shares of Match Group fell 0.9% in mid-day trading the day the news was released.

Bloomberg also reported that Anson is trying to “change the composition” of Match Group’s Board of Directors, citing reputable sources. The investment firm also discussed with Match Group’s management about embracing AI in its products, which Match Group has already been doing.