Design

Tinder is testing a new height feature, which sparked controversy among daters after a screenshot from a Reddit forum disclosing the feature was leaked.

According to Tech Crunch, Tinder confirmed that it is testing the height feature, but only among its paying users. In other words, subscribers to Tinder Gold and Tinder Premium who are participating in the test group can now filter their matches according to height preferences. The testing is taking place globally.

According to Tech Crunch, the feature allows paying users to set preferences for height, but the app won’t block or exclude matches who don’t meet the requirements. Instead, the company says the feature will “inform recommendations.”

SmashTogether, a new dating app that was to launch in beta version on May 15, received a cease-and-desist order before the platform went live.

The new dating app was meant to bring together fans of Super Smash Bros, a popular video game, with its name being a cheeky reference to hooking up. SmashTogether doesn’t say who ordered a cease-and-desist, but likely it’s from the Smash Bros. game’s company Nintendo.

The legal news was announced via a Twitter post from SmashTogether, alongside a picture of Yoshi from the video game perched on a wall and looking off into the sunset. 

Hinge has launched a new feature called Match Notes, which allows users to privately share details about themselves that they don’t want to post to their public profiles.

Match Notes instead allows users to share these details only with their potential matches, including important information like if they are non-monogamous, sober, have a disability, or are recently out, according to Mashable.

Now when a user updates their settings, they can add the Match Note, which appears only to users they match with. According to Mashable, If someone has added a Match note, another user must acknowledge it in order to actually match (or they can also choose to not match with the person). The Match Note is automatically shared when two people Like each other (or in other words, when they officially match).

Match Group said its plans for the future will be centered around AI, according to remarks company executives made at Investor Day. 

Executives from some of its more popular apps like Hinge, Tinder, OkCupid and more, teased how they were planning to implement AI on their platforms with the goal of transforming the way users interact with them, according to CNN. For example, Justin McLeod, the CEO of Hinge, said that they intend to “fully embrace” AI to personalize matching and to create smarter algorithms, as well as implementing AI coaching for struggling singles.

“While AI is not going to be a panacea when it comes to the very deeply and personal problem of love,” McLeod said at Investor Day, “I can tell you that it is going to transform the dating app experience, taking it from a do-it-yourself platform to an expertly guided journey that leads to far better outcomes and much better value to our daters.”

Match Group is refocusing the strategy for its most popular dating app Tinder, the company announced this week. It faces increasing pressure from activist investors to improve its financial forecast.

Match Group said in its recent investor day meeting that it plans to “prioritize improving user experience over monetization,” According to Bloomberg. The idea is if Tinder moves away from its reputation as a hookup app it can reverse the continued decline in paying users.

The company also shared that revenue will be flat or in decline through 2026, but will start to turn around in 2027 with slow, single-digit growth, according to Bloomberg. Shares in Match Group fell during the meeting as these proclamations were made.

Hailey Welch, the “Hawk Tuah” girl who rose to fame from a viral video moment has now launched a new dating app dubbed Pookie Tools.

Pookie Tools is AI-based and acts like a virtual wingman, offering everything from conversation prompts to outfit recommendations to profile enhancement tips.

The app targets the Gen Z market with some of Welch’s “cheat codes,” as the description in the app store reads. The cheat codes include a “Conversation Assistant” and “Text Responder” that offer personalized prompts to keep conversations going and an “Astrological Insights” feature that helps determine a match’s compatibility based on zodiac signs.