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Bumble Spotlight makes you the center of attention for 30 minutes
If you're still looking for a date before Valentine's Day, Bumble may be able to help. The company announced a new feature called Spotlight that puts you front and center whenever people in your area open up the app. Once activated, you'll get 30 minutes of line cutting and will be seen by far more Bumble users than you would during a normal swiping session.
Facebook gave Lyft and others special access to user data
Since the Cambridge Analytica revelations came to light earlier this year, there's been quite a bit of scrutiny on what companies Facebook has given user data to. And now, documents released by the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which is investigating Facebook, show how the company gave certain companies special access to user data. Among those receiving favored access were Airbnb, Lyft, Netflix and Bumble, while the documents show that Facebook also pointedly denied data access to some competitors, like Vine.
Tinder borrows Bumble's women-message-first feature
If Tinder was hoping to bring its feud with Bumble to a quick end, it's not helping matters. It has been testing a "My Move" feature in India that gives women more control over conversations. If women enable the feature in their settings, only they can start a conversation after a match -- you know, like Bumble. Tinder had launched the feature in the country as it needed to draw more women to the app by making them feel safer, the company's Taru Kapoor told Reuters. India also uses the in-app messaging more than anywhere else, so it's an ideal testing ground.
Bumble forges ahead with Tinder countersuit while pursuing an IPO
Earlier this year, the Match Group, which owns the dating service Tinder, filed a lawsuit against rival Bumble, alleging that the company had infringed on patents and misused intellectual property. Just weeks later, Bumble countersued the Match Group for accessing trade secrets fraudulently. Now, Bumble has filed court paperwork for the lawsuit while "actively pursuing an IPO," CEO Whitney Wolfe told TechCrunch. We've reached out to Bumble for a comment.
Bumble adds a 'Snooze' feature to encourage digital detox
More and more app developers are recognizing that sometimes, it's good to take a break from your phone and other devices. Bumble is the latest company to take part in this trend. The dating, networking and friendship set of apps now offers a "Snooze" mode, which allows you to take a break for a day, three days, a week or indefinitely.
Facebook removes the middleman with its own dating feature
During the F8 developer conference keynote today, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be launching a dating feature. The CEO said that people often tell him that they met on Facebook and since so many relationships now being online, a dating feature seemed like a logical next step. Of course, a dark cloud of data privacy concerns are hanging over the conference and in light of that, Zuckerberg made sure to note that the upcoming tool was designed from the beginning with privacy and safety in mind. The dating feature won't suggest any of your Facebook friends as a match and your friends, even those that have also opted into the feature, won't be able to see your dating profile. And only your first name will be displayed.
You don't need a Facebook account to use Bumble
You don't need a Facebook account to sign up for Bumble anymore. Starting tomorrow, you can use your phone number to register for a new account on the dating app, according to Wired. Like Tinder, Hinge and countless other apps and services, Bumble streamlined the process of setting up a profile and adding photos by offering Facebook as a login option. Last week Tinder users had trouble logging in due to a glitch with Facebook privacy settings.
Bumble sues Tinder's owners for stealing company secrets
Bumble isn't done swiping left on Tinder's parent company Match Group. After publishing an open letter excoriating Match, the women-focused dating app has filed a lawsuit against Tinder's owner, accusing it of stealing trade secrets, among other things. Match started the legal battle when it sued Bumble for allegedly violating its patents, but TechCrunch says this isn't Bumble's response to that lawsuit -- it's a separate one altogether. In the complaint, Bumble argued that the patent lawsuit is baseless but admitted that the two were discussing acquisition over the past few months.
Bumble ‘swipes left’ on Match Group’s lawsuit allegations
Match Group, which owns Tinder, Match.com and OKCupid, recently filed a lawsuit against Bumble, claiming that its rival violated two of its patents. Now Bumble has clapped back. In an open letter published on its website, Bumble says in no uncertain terms that it believes the lawsuit to be an extension of Match's ongoing attempts to acquire it and calls the lawsuit "baseless."
Tinder's parent company sues Bumble over patents
It's no secret that Tinder (or rather, its parent company Match Group) and Bumble are arch-rivals in the swipe-right dating app space, and that battle just escalated. Match Group has sued Bumble for allegedly violating two patents, one for the "ornamental" look of its app and another for the all-important swipe-based system. The Match team wasn't exactly subtle about its claims -- it asserted that Bumble (founded by former Tinder execs) explicitly copied Tinder's core formula with subtle variations on the same interface elements. However, the motivations behind the lawsuit might not be so clear cut.
Tinder opt-in feature would give women control over conversations
Tinder is taking a page out of Bumble's book and will soon give women the option to control the initiation of conversations, MarketWatch reports today. Bumble, helmed by Tinder co-founder Whitney Holfe Herd, has amassed some 22 million registered users and what sets it apart from other dating apps is that only women who use the app get to decide whether to start a conversation with a man they've matched with. Now, Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group -- which owns Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder -- says that Tinder will soon allow its women users to decide whether they want to have control over initiating conversations. Through a future app update, women will be able to opt in to the feature. "Often, women don't really want the pressure of kicking off the conversation, but if they want it, that's great," Ginsberg told MarketWatch. "Giving people the choice versus telling people how to engage is the big difference."
OKCupid unveils major overhaul to cull spam messages
OKCupid (OKC) realizes that it needs to evolve if it wants to stay relevant in the ever-changing online dating world. Specifically, it'll start retooling how messaging works very soon. Starting next week the only way you'll see messages from randoms is if you visit their profile page; the only messages that populate your inbox will be from people you've already liked or already responded to. Sure, there's the risk that you might not see a message from someone special, but if you've been proactive on the site that really shouldn't be an issue.
Dating app Bumble launches Bizz for professional networking
A few months ago, Bumble announced that it would be adding business networking features to its dating app. Now it's here, and it's called Bizz. It launches in the US, UK, Germany, France and Canada today. Bumble's claim to fame in the crowded dating app market is that it allows women to choose who they want to talk to; men must wait to be contacted. It's a measure that's also integrated into Bizz. Bumble told The Verge that they hope by allowing women to make the first move, they'll "help clear up the gray areas in networking that often make women feel uncomfortable."
Facebook is testing Stories beside your desktop News Feed
Facebook's Snapchat-like Stories feature launched on its mobile app earlier this year and now it looks like the company is testing it out on its desktop site. As TechCrunch reports, for some users, Stories are now showing up in the top right corner of the page.
Dating app Hinge is back on Android after nine-month break
Android fans haven't been able to use the Hinge dating app for around nine months, but that's all changing. The relationship-minded dating app is now available on Google's mobile OS. Hinge says based on its previous Android user-base that it expects that to grow by 30 percent from current numbers. Which in turn means better chances at finding long-term love. What's more, the company says that its amount of daily active users has grown by 50 percent in the last two months alone -- more potential matches can only be a good thing for everyone involved regardless of what software their phone runs.
Videos are the latest way to seduce people on your dating app
The dating app Hinge has just added a video option to its users' profiles. Now, any of a user's six profile photos can be swapped for a video that will autoplay whenever someone scrolls through their profile. The videos can be uploaded from Instagram, Facebook or a phone's camera roll.
Snapchat adds another feature Facebook will copy
Snapchat is in a tough spot right now and we're not just talking about all of those insensitive filters. Users love Stories, but because of that, everybody from Medium to Bumble to Facebook is adding its own version of the feature to its platforms. At this point, Snapchat needs to do whatever it can to stay one step ahead of its many imitators. It made a move to do just that today with a new search tool for Stories.
Tinder just bought a Snapchat-like video app
With Tinder's acquisition of collaborative video messaging app Wheel, the swiping app of choice may soon offer more than photos of available people in your area. Tinder expanded beyond dating last July with the introduction of Tinder Social, which connects groups of friends to hang out. As Business Insider notes, Wheel is similar to Snapchat's "Live Stories," which allows users to post to a public feed of themed videos.
Disappearing videos are coming to a Bumble profile near you
The next way dating app Bumble is separating itself from Tinder is video. If you're familiar with Snapchat Stories or Instagram's ephemeral offerings, BumbleVID should sound be pretty recognizable. Users can make a story out of an unlimited amount of ten-second video clips from within the app. Anyone swiping past your profile can see them and after 24 hours, they disappear.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 13: A Chicken with its Head Cut Off
Editor in chief Michael Gorman and executive editor Christopher Trout are in town this week and stop by to talk Peter Thiel, Vine and online voting with host Terrence O'Brien and reviews editor Cherlynn Low. Then, after they've had their fill of beating up on Thiel, the four will explore how dating and sex have changed in the age of apps. Warning, things get a little NSFW.
