Bumble Inc

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.

A new study from the research team at Mozilla has found that dating apps are collecting and selling more information than its users might be aware of.

According to The Washington Post, Mozilla found that 80 percent of the dating apps they reviewed – which include popular apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge among others – may share the personal data of users with their advertisers. In fact, the privacy policies that users must agree with to use these platforms make it clear that their personal information could be sold. But how many are reading the fine print?

Spark Networks’ privacy policy was particularly specific and alarming for its apps JDate, Christian Mingle and Elite Singles. It stated that the apps might collect “sensitive information” including political affiliation, union memberships, and your “sexual preferences and experiences,” according to the Post.

Bumble is giving 50 couples who met on its app a free wedding in Las Vegas.

According to People Magazine, the company announced its plan to celebrate couples who met via its platform with a free wedding, travel included. For one weekend, Bumble has rented out the famous Little White Chapel in Las Vegas and is turning it into a branded wedding venue for 50 lucky couples.

The chapel itself will be decorated in Bumble yellow, which the company is calling Little Yellow Chapel for the wedding weekend. The famous venue has hosted many celebrity weddings, including Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck in 2022, as well as Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2019, according to People.

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.

Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones is reconsidering the app’s signature selling point: a dating app where females make the first move. The app is scheduled to relaunch later this year, and it seems everything is on the table.

Bumble’s longtime marketing strategy and company mission was to appeal to women and help them feel empowered while using a dating app. Jones however feels that things have changed, and it has become a “burden for a subset of our customers today," according to Yahoo! Finance.

The company has been testing out alternatives, from sending prompts to help women start conversations (and reduce their anxiety about doing so) or they can choose to let their matches start conversations instead.