Bumble is testing optional first moves and rolling back its women-make-first rule amid 4% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3 2024.
Bumble shares rose 3% on strong US retail sales data. Its 5th August Q2 earnings will test whether a 30% workforce cut and $40M in savings pay off.
PowerPoint matchmaking nights are selling out in Sydney and Melbourne pubs, as 75% of Gen Z users reported dating app burnout in a 2024 Forbes survey.
Taimi, an LGBTQ dating app with 20 million downloads, has launched free event promotion tools and a First Move conversation starter feature.
Roblox plans dating features limited to users aged 17 and over with identity verification, according to a company announcement this week.
Match Group has added Qloo's Taste AI to BLK, Chispa, Upward and Yuzu. Qloo claims a 70% increase in likes in initial testing.
QuackQuack's 'Quantum Dating' survey of 8,974 urban Indian users aged 18-27 claims casual exploration over marriage, a monetisation challenge.
Bebs, a US dating app, launched this month with QR-coded cards and prepaid restaurant dates at 2,000 claimed venues, rated 4.6 on iOS and 2.7 on Android.
Hily is selling mystery donuts in Los Angeles to promote spontaneous dating, citing its own survey claiming 74% of young Americans would skip algorithms.
Google searches for "yearning" are up 102% in two years, but dating apps' time-on-platform revenue models conflict with rewarding vulnerability.
Aisle, backed by Info Edge India, offers verified women free premium features until 20th February while men still pay.
A December 2024 Bloomberg survey says nearly half of Gen Z UK singles use AI for dating profiles, while 60% are uncomfortable with AI matching.
Single Riders is recruiting beta testers for a dating app that matches Disney fans in real-time at theme parks, ahead of a launch later this year.
QuackQuack survey of 7,685 users finds 43% have reconnected with someone they previously unmatched or ghosted, most after six to twelve months.
Walnut, a new dating app from ex-Amazon employee Richa Raval, locks matching behind daily emotional intelligence and attachment theory lessons.
Greed Dating says its facial verification costs £0.80 per thousand users, a self-reported figure that challenges big platforms' cost objections.
Coffee Meets Bagel now mandates Singpass verification in Singapore, and says 70% of users there have completed it.
Match Group's Hinge IRL and Meetic's Resonance are hackathon prototypes designed to speed up in-person dates, with no confirmed launch dates.
Tawkify's survey of 1,014 active daters says 58% reconsidered pursuing someone after early oversharing, or "floodlighting". Only 13% felt more connected.
Albanian dating app Dua.com has reached 1.1 million users, serving singles across a 3-4 million person global diaspora.
66% of dating app users don't trust platforms to protect them from fraud, and 81% want safety measures but only 61% would pay, a survey says.
Hinge, Bumble and DateGuard add voice features as UK swipe-based dating engagement drops 16%, per app analytics data.
India's Supreme Court has granted Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal interim protection in a criminal case over alleged fraud through its Select Shaadi tier.
Muzz held its first offline singles event in India, with around 100 participants in Mumbai, using structured activities and QR code profile exchanges.
Grindr has begun requiring all UK users to verify age by facial biometrics or government ID before Online Safety Act enforcement on 25 July.
Match Group says AI usage across its dating platforms rose 300% year-on-year, and 20% of users prompted by AI moderation revise or cancel messages.
Gleeden claims 3 million Indian users; its survey says 35% of 1,500 respondents in tier-1 and tier-2 cities are in open relationships.
Cherry Blossoms Dating has operated since 1974 and turned 51, surviving by serving a regulated international matchmaking niche mainstream apps avoid.
Hily has launched a "manchild-free" profile badge that shows a preference but does not filter matches. The company says 55% of women surveyed had dated one.
Trifler, an Indian social meetup platform, has reached 10,000 users and facilitated 150 matches in nearly two years. Users pay upfront before matching.
Tinder has made Face Check video selfie verification mandatory for new users in California, the first compulsory check from a major dating app.
Feeld has signed Kesha to front Freedomme, a summer-long sexual self-expression initiative, as it reports 30% growth from mainstream users.
Grindr reported 25% revenue growth while Bumble trades at $6, down from a $43 IPO price. CEO George Arison says Grindr stayed product-led.
Happn has launched Perfect Date, an AI tool using Foursquare data to suggest date venues. The company says 62% of users in India trusted it in early testing.
An estimated 10 million Chinese women now use virtual boyfriend apps instead of dating, a challenge for Match Group and Bumble in China.
Meet Kinksters closed its web platform 30 months after launch, after selling its mobile assets to rival BeeDee. Neither app is available on iOS.
Grindr is testing AI-to-AI match vetting in its Wingman AI assistant, which is in limited beta with 10,000 users.
Bumble is cutting 30% of its workforce, about 240 employees, to save $40M annually, after a 7.7% year-on-year revenue decline in Q1 2025.
Kinsey Institute research says 26% of US LGBTQ+ singles have changed how they date due to politics, rising to 43% among Gen Z aged 18-25.
Only 15% of dating app users are enthusiastic about AI, the lowest of any app category surveyed, according to Instabug research.
Matchmaker Maclynn reported its strongest sales month in 15 years in January, as Tinder faces eight consecutive quarters of subscriber decline.
Ysos, the dating app spun out of Sexlog, is entering the US with 3 million registered users and says behavioural data from 23 million users improves matching.
Perth matchmaking services charge $3,000 to $8,000 per client, according to ABC, as professionals aged 30-45 quit dating apps.
Pawsome Pair has launched a pet-centric dating platform that will donate 20% of subscription revenue to animal shelters, entering a crowded niche.
BLK's survey of 1,000 straight Black men found more than 30% admitted joking at queer Black men's expense, as part of its Pride Month allyship campaign.
A YouGov survey finds 55% of Britons back dating app height filters, but 36% of under-30s oppose them, as Tinder adds a paid height feature.
QuackQuack survey of 7,500 Indian Gen Z users: 19% see a full stop as passive-aggressive, and 21% monitor typing indicators and 'last seen' status.
Grindr expects 26% revenue growth in 2025, its CFO said, as users spend over 60 minutes daily. Match Group is growing in the low single digits.
Dating app Feeld has logged 30% year-on-year growth since 2022, while heteroflexible identification grew 193%, the fastest growing sexuality category.
Dutch court upholds €50 million in fines against Apple for forcing dating apps onto its in-app payment system. Apple will appeal.