Types (Niche)

How to use BumbleVID

Do you think a few photos provide enough information to determine whether or not someone is a good match? The makers of dating app Bumble think they aren't, and that video can help.

The popular female-centric dating app will soon release BumbleVID, which will allow users to create a video "story" with unlimited 10-second videos, which will each delete after 24 hours. According to Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe, the video feature was inspired by Snapchat.

To make sure the videos are current, Bumble asks users to record their 10-second features within the app, which then posts to their profiles. If someone wants to use a pre-recorded video from their phone or another source, it has to have been recorded within the last 24 hours. These videos will also be marked with a tag saying they weren’t posted “live.” The new BumbleVID feature also lets users send their videos to specific matches.

Tinder sociologist Jessica Carbino

Tinder is making some bold moves lately, with the introduction of Tinder’s Apple TV app and a new profile feature that allows users to choose from over 30 gender identities. While Tinder has a reputation for being a hook-up app, the company is focusing its efforts now on helping users connect and find relationships. Its latest move: hiring an in-house sociologist.

It’s no secret that Tinder has revolutionized the online dating industry in engaging new users who were once weary of online dating. In fact, 70% of online daters only use mobile apps thanks to Tinder’s popularity, quite an increase from just a few years ago when most preferred looking for love from the comfort and privacy of their home computers.

Which is why Tinder wants to remain a trendsetter for the industry. In another bold move, the company recently hired an in-house sociologist to help point users in the right direction for making connections. In recent interviews for Grazia magazine and Fast Company, Tinder sociologist Jessica Carbino shares some tips on what makes a good profile, according to her research.

Dating services have had a historically difficult time cracking the Southeast Asian market. While the stigma of online dating has disappeared in the West, it remains alive and well in much of the East. Cultural norms have largely kept the region’s dating rituals in the past.

Things may finally be ready to change. According Forbes, an increase in developer tools has brought more discreet dating options to Southeast Asia, and that may be the key to cracking the market.

Paktor is one of the apps leading the charge into the sector. Since launching in 2013, the company has built a network of around 15 million users and more than 5 billion swipes, making it the largest dating app in the region by both downloads and usage.

Features of AirDates

If you’ve been dreaming of joining the Mile High Club, this could be your shot. A new Tinder-esque dating app called AirDates promises to be the greatest in-flight entertainment since SkyMall.

AirDates, as the name suggests, is designed specifically for travelers looking to make love connections while they fly. The app is only in beta, but it’s caused quite a stir since appearing at the Disrupt London conference in Decemeber.

Users upload their travel itineraries prior to boarding to find other travelers on the same route. The app then scans your surroundings for fellow passengers who match your preferences. You can choose to be visible or remain hidden to other users (either way, you’ll be able to chat).

There’s only so much you can learn from carefully curated photos and sparsely filled out profiles. Plenty stretch the truth, resulting in more disappointing first dates than we’d care to try to count. Spin the Bottle, a new video dating app, hopes to solve the problem by skipping straight to actual eye contact.

"With so many 'swipe left, swipe right' dating apps out there right now, we wanted a way to take people beyond the often misleading, perfectly manicured profile pictures and get them right to face time," said Matthew Cohen, CEO and co-founder of Spin Labs, the company behind Spin the Bottle. "Looking into someone's eyes and having a conversation... can be much more revealing than reading a list of interests and seeing a gallery of heavily edited, perfectly filtered selfies."

A new take on the classic party game, Spin the Bottle reimagines the online dating experience with 30 second live video speed dates. The premise is simple: a player gives the bottle their best spin with a swipe, and when it stops, they begin a 30 second video chat date with their match. If they're feeling a spark, they can tap an icon to give their date a kiss and wait for one in return. Two kisses and it's a match.

Tinder might have gotten a lot of action in 2016, but according to a recent article in The Washington Post, niche dating apps are poised to get more attention this year.

Research from online dating sites and apps have shown that the biggest increase in memberships and activity occur from New Year’s Day through Valentine’s Day. It’s the time when the most people are looking for love, or at least a few dates. Traditionally, people have gravitated to the bigger sites like Tinder or Match in the hopes of having the widest pool of daters to choose from. But this year, people are looking for new ways to connect.

Part of the problem according to the Post is that dating apps don’t necessarily lead to users getting more dates. It’s easy to swipe endlessly, but that doesn’t seem to translate to meeting in real life. In the past year, poor and flaky dating behavior has left a lot to be desired, and daters are increasingly frustrated.