Design

Popular dating app Bumble has decided to nix mixing business with pleasure. It will now enable users of Bumble Bizz and BFF to search for new relationships outside of dating by turning off the app’s dating mode.

Bumble Bizz, the networking platform to help people find new business opportunities, and Bumble BFF, which helps people connect with others seeking friendships, were both launched in 2017. However, they were connected to the original Bumble dating app, so if you were looking for a job or a friend, you also shared your profile with potential dates. This wasn’t ideal for those who were only looking for platonic connections.

Now that Bumble has officially separated these areas, they are looking to expand their user base beyond singles.

Image: Recode

Last month, Facebook announced that it will be launching a new online dating feature, and since then details have come out about what it will look like. According to website Recode, an interesting benefit to users is that the new dating service won’t include ads.

Specifically, Facebook stated that it won’t be running ads alongside dating profiles, and they won’t use personal data associated with users’ dating profiles to send targeted ads to these users.

According to Recode, Facebook will provide users with a separate dating profile page, distinct from a personal Facebook page. It will match users according to location and interests, typical for most dating apps. (With Facebook, the more groups you “unlock,” the more matches you can potentially meet.) Facebook will also provide a separate messaging service specifically for dating, so you won’t have to message matches over your personal account. The dating messaging feature will be text only – no videos or images can be shared. (This seems intended to make it a more female-friendly experience, since women often get unsolicited photos and videos over online dating apps.)

Match Group has a new CEO, and she’s determined to provide a better online dating experience for women. In a recent interview with Marketwatch, Mandy Ginsberg revealed that Tinder will be debuting a new feature that lets women choose whether or not they want to make the first move. She has female-friendly plans for their other properties as well, including Match and OkCupid.

Tinder’s new feature competes directly with dating app Bumble, which has seen incredible growth since its debut. Bumble differs slightly in that women automatically get to make the first move, rather than choosing.

Ginsberg has also launched a new campaign for OkCupid that “emphasizes shared hobbies over hookups.”

Augmented Reality is the future of dating, at least according to the folks at Feeld. The company whose original app was marketed to those interested in threesomes is betting their new app Signal will be revolutionary for the online dating market.

Signal will hit the market in the summer of 2018 according to Feeld. It works by giving members access to a secret location visible through the app, allowing them to meet people this way instead of endless matching and messaging.

The company notes that most dating apps operate in a way that is counterproductive to what people want. Instead of encouraging folks to meet in real life and leave the app, the apps have created a game-like stickiness. App users become addicted to swiping and being on the app rather than pursuing “real-life” relationships.

Launched in London as 3nder in 2014, Feeld began as a dating platform for singles and couples looking for the illusive ménage à trois. The media quickly branded it “Tinder for threesomes,” and before long, the company found itself on the wrong end of a lawsuit served by Tinder itself.

Though that would be disastrous news for almost any other fledgling startup, 3nder bravely rebranded and came back better than ever. As Feeld, the app now calls itself “a space where you can find your people and experience what you really desire.” The focus is on community, and the app caters not just to those looking for group action in the sack, but to anyone kinky, open-minded, into polyamory, outside the gender-binary, or simply curious.

Feeld was recently re-released with a new design to enhance the mobile experience for iOS and Android users. This marks the first of many updates intended to bring Feeld back into the spotlight, including an account pairing option, a revamped navigation system, and a location changing feature.

How Chemistry looked before the update.

It looks like on May 3^rd 2017 Chemistry.com was completely redesigned and switched over to a new version of the service. This redesign not only affect the look of Chemistry but the features as well.

Chemistry which is part of the Match Group of online dating services was originally designed as a personality matchmaking service similar to eHarmony. With the original version of Chemistry you could not search through all members of the service using your own search parameters, you could only search through and communicate with the matches Chemistry assigns to you based on their matchmaking algorithm. The matchmaking algorithm used was very complex and designed in part by the relationship expert Dr. Helen Fisher.

Unfortunately Chemistry.com had seen it's popularity wan over the past few years which is why we assume they decided to do a complete service overhaul.

The new version of the online dating service Chemistry.com appears now to be run by People Media (which is owned by Match Group).