Tinder

Hinge has taken a bold new step in differentiating itself in a crowded dating app market. Its new branding campaign was just unveiled with the slogan “designed to be deleted,” assuring users of its intention: to help them find serious relationships and get off the app for good.

According to The Verge, Hinge has also debuted a new redesign to put this message front and center for users. The new profile creation process utilizes animation and prompts for users to add information about themselves, adding the tag at the end of each suggestion: “so you can delete us.”

Image: Sensor Tower

After more than two years in the top spot, Netflix is no longer the world’s highest-grossing non-gaming mobile app. That title now goes to Tinder, which grossed $260.7 million from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in the first quarter of this year.

App store intelligence firm Sensor Tower recently released its rankings of the highest grossing apps in the United States and worldwide for Q1 2019. Overall, global app revenue reached $19.5 billion last quarter, up nearly 17 percent year-over-year. Consumer spending on Apple’s App Store totaled approximately $12.4 billion globally, while Google Play revenue grew 20.2 percent year-over-year to approximately $7.1 billion. The world is increasingly moving to mobile, and for companies that are prepared to capitalize on the change, the potential for profit is huge.

Tinder made headlines in 2016 when a Fast Company article revealed the dating app’s most closely guarded secret: every user received an internal rating that ranked the most (and least) desirable people on the platform. Then-CEO Sean Rad confirmed the existence of the algorithm, called an “Elo score” in reference to a ranking system used by chess players, but declined to go into detail.

“It’s very complicated,” he said. “It took us two and a half months just to build the algorithm because a lot of factors go into it.”

The story spread rapidly and left many users with a bad taste in their mouths. Dating app users are already subjected to judgement after judgement at each other’s hands - does anyone want to feel judged by the app itself, too? Why should Tinder get to decide who is desirable and who isn’t, or who is and is not out of someone’s league?

Image: Snapchat

Snapchat announced that third party developers will soon be able to integrate its Stories feature into third party apps. Most notably, dating app Tinder will be among the first apps to debut the feature.

According to The Verge, Tinder plans its Stories rollout this summer.

Snapchat Stories is the defining feature of the Snapchat app, where users could post videos and photos that would automatically disappear in 24 hours. The service became incredibly popular after it launched, especially among young people who preferred its platform to Facebook, which at the time didn’t have its own stories feature.

Every April Fools’ Day, brands vie to nab headlines by pulling off outrageous public pranks. This year’s notable gags include Google claiming to have invented a plant language translator, Spotify giving listeners disco-infused Discover Weekly playlists, and McDonald teasing eaters with milkshake-flavored dipping sauces. But the award for 2019’s most memorable prank goes to Tinder, which shook up the online dating world and inspired heated debate with a faux feature announcement.

A March 29 blog post introduced the world to the Height Verification Badge, a tool purportedly designed to stop “height fishing” and enforce honesty on the dating app. “Height-lying ends here,” proclaims the post. “To require everyone under 6’ to own up to their real height, we’re bringing truthfulness back into the world of online dating.” The post’s guide to using the feature directs users to input their real height and submit a screenshot of themselves standing next to a commercial building for comparison. Fake screenshots show an error message instructing a dissembling user named Tyler to enter his correct height.

Tinder Co-Founder Sean Rad is continuing his legal battle with Match Group by asking the court to dismiss the dating giant’s counter-lawsuit against him.

Rad, along with other former Tinder employees, filed a lawsuit against Tinder’s parent company last year, claiming that Match Group deliberately devalued their stock options to avoid paying billions of dollars in equity. Part of the evidence he cites is his email correspondence, which has become a sticky point for him and the lawsuit.