Hinge is a dating app that’s been trying to push back against the swipe-right hookup culture since its 2012 relaunch. Instead of endless swiping through photo after photo, Hinge prompts users to build detailed profiles with personality-revealing answers to conversation starters, the idea being that you’ll actually connect with someone you want to meet in real life. It’s literally branded as “the dating app designed to be deleted” because the whole point is to help you find a relationship and get off the app.
Since Match Group acquired it in 2019, Hinge has become one of the fastest-growing dating apps in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, raking in $284 million in revenue by 2022. The app got a major PR boost when Pete Buttigieg revealed he met his husband on it. Hinge has also launched Hinge Labs to study what actually makes matches work, and keeps rolling out features like voice messaging to help people connect more authentically. As we’ve covered in our
May dating appdates, Hinge continues experimenting with features like longform love stories to emphasize deeper connections over quick hookups.