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Dating app After just launched in Austin, Texas, and is aimed at ending the pervasive problem of ghosting on dating apps.

According to Tech Crunch, when someone “unmatches” a person on After, they are required to let the app know why before they can keep swiping. It can be for any number of reasons – from distance issues to just a general vibe of non-interest, and the app will send a kind message to the other user in return. The idea is to give the person who was ghosted some closure with a reason why the other person is no longer interested, while also reminding them this one match experience isn’t an indication of who they are or what they are worth.

For two people who matched on the app and neglect to message each other, the app will end the match. If one person doesn’t respond to a match’s message, the app will nudge them to send a message. If they still don’t reply to a conversation, the app unmatches them and the user who didn’t respond can’t use the platform until they provide a reason for letting the match expire.

Plenty of Fish has published their annual dating trends study and found that many young singles are using terms like “smutten” and “freak matching” to describe their dating experiences.

Each year there are new words in the cultural zeitgeist to describe dating scenarios, and Plenty of Fish has delved into what is trending. The company surveyed 6,000 U.S. members and found that TikTok and Instagram continue to heavily influence peoples’ perspectives on dating, though terms might have evolved.

According to their press release, one dating trend POF found was that 33 percent of singles said they have felt “smutten,” (a play on smut and smitten), fantasizing about their own dating lives based on characters from tv shows and romance novels that they have enjoyed. (Forbidden love and enemies to lovers are popular romance tropes, and over a third of respondents said they imagine their dates mimicking these storylines.) More women have looked for these fantasies to play out in their dating lives than men (women at 40 percent, men at 28 percent), though both sexes do this.

New York dating service Pique is turning back the clock on how people meet with its debut of the “Love Wall,” a tangible alternative to dating apps.

According to Newsweek, the Love Wall was created by Pique co-founders Cyrus Belsoi and Vaish Sesetty, designed as an in-person experience to help people connect. The founders saw an opportunity to create something different as people became more frustrated with dating apps.

The Love Wall is located in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park, and has generated some buzz among local singles looking for an alternative to swiping. It contains hundreds of polaroid pictures hanging from its structure, as well as a few bio details like you’d find in an online profile.

Bumble plans to enhance its platform with new AI-powered features in the next few months, particularly in the areas of profile creation and conversation support.

According to Tech Radar, Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones spoke at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia technology conference in mid-September and offered the new plans of where Bumble is headed. She said the company was focused on developing AI tools to enhance user experience.

One tool she mentioned was an AI-driven feature to help users pick out photos for their profile, similar to what Tinder launched, to help improve matches.

Gay dating app Grindr has launched a new online show called Host or Travel, which explores different “gayborhoods” (or gay-friendly neighborhoods) around the world, launched in tandem with testing its new travel-friendly “Roam” feature.

According to the trailer for the show, Host or Travel features specific cities with prominent LGBTQ communities, and looks at their local cultures, nightlife, and events that might interest Grindr users. The show has featured destinations like Madrid, Spain; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; Los Angeles, U.S.; Zipolite, Mexico; Berlin, Germany; and Malta.

The show centers on singles traveling to these key destinations and using the Grindr app to meet locals who can share insider knowledge and give them a peek into the gayborhood in each city, including private parties and hole-in-the-wall bars.

According to Mashable, Grindr is developing an interactive map to help users find LGBTQ-friendly hotspots in their cities like those featured in the show. The company is also highlighting its Roam feature which lets Grindr users temporarily set their location to anywhere in the world so they can chat with local matches and make plans ahead of a trip (similar to Tinder’s Passport feature).

Dating app companies like Tinder and The League are betting on in-person events to drive engagement on their online platforms and help attract new users.

According to The New York Post, dating app The League organized high-end events in New York, the Hamptons and even at the U.S. Open to drive engagement on its platform as well as to generate revenue. In fact, senior VP and head of marketing Lisa Kraynak told the Post: “It’s the beginning of a hybrid model in our largest market. The future is some combination of in-person, online and artificial intelligence.”

Dating apps have seen a decline in paying users in recent quarters, leading companies to try new features and even branch out into event organizing to appeal to daters who have become burned out from swiping. This hybrid model could prove effective, since dating apps are still the most popular way to meet people, according to recent studies, but coupling that with in-person events give people a better chance at connecting.