Kim Harris

LinkedIn has passed 100 million verified users and launched a Verification API that lets other platforms authenticate users against them.

Hinge's new Convo Starters feature uses generative AI to write personalised first messages for users based on match profiles.

Hily won a Red Dot Award for its 2024 rebrand, which centres on less polished profiles, but its announcement details no product changes.

Date Draft plans a January 2026 launch with a 'Trade Room' where users pass on unwanted matches; no research is cited for its founder's claim.

Meta says more than half of Instagram time is now in Reels, pushing dating apps to swap static ads for video or face higher CAC.

Meta is making Advantage+ automated ads the default for all advertisers, removing manual targeting as standard, which affects dating apps.

Digital Dudes moved its 29 regional UK dating brands to HubPeople's Affinity platform, reporting conversion rises exceeding 80 per cent.

The Weekend Club says it has run 10,000 AI-matched brunch tables in six cities, with dynamic pricing based on attendance history and no-show risk.

Higo has launched profile verification and a celebrity look-alike feature, branded 'Authentic-First Matching', without disclosing user numbers.

Happn has launched AI venue recommendations in chat in France, Brazil, Turkey and the Netherlands, to help matched users turn matches into first dates.

X has made end-to-end encrypted DMs, video calls and disappearing messages free for all users, adding a new off-platform route for dating app chats.

Pop the Balloon or Find Love, a YouTube dating show, has launched a dating app with its cast members, testing whether spectacle can keep users.

Gen Z daters are rejecting compatibility vetting for 'vibe dating', which threatens the algorithmic matching model of Match Group and Bumble.

Tinder is testing camera roll AI in Australia and New Zealand, a pilot Match Group says costs about $14 million in foregone revenue.

Nexuus launches in mid-November as India's first AI voice-based dating app. It claims vocal analysis predicts compatibility but has published no validation.

Bharat Matrimony has invested $500,000 in AI startup Ask My Guru to add Vedic astrology compatibility to its matchmaking engine, regulatory filings show.

London dating app Sonder has replaced text prompts with visual mood boards and has no subscription tiers, but has not disclosed how it will earn money.

Plenty of Fish says 42% of UK singles now combine first dates with errands like grocery shopping, a trend it calls "choremancing", in its annual trends report.

Breeze has added sign language matching, letting users specify BSL, ASL, Auslan and others, which Match Group and Bumble do not offer as a filter.

Gaydar has migrated to HubPeople's white-label infrastructure, and says it ended six-figure annual tech costs and gained 4× return on ad spend.