Could you create a dating app profile for your dog without resorting to bone-related innuendo? A new app for dog lovers is putting that to the test (and also helping canine-obsessives find each other).
Elsewhere there’s less fun news in the form of what looks like a crackdown on gay spaces from authorities in China, manifested recently in popular dating apps being removed from Apple’s app store.
All this and more in our latest dating app news roundup.
Gay dating apps pulled in China
Apple said it removed the popular gay dating apps Blued and Finka from its app store in China earlier this month, sparking fears that Chinese authorities are squeezing LGBTQ+ spaces.
The move was made following a demand from the Chinese government’s Cyberspace Administration, Apple told the Associated Press. “We follow the laws in the countries where we operate”, an Apple spokesperson told AP.
Blued and Finka became unavailable to download on iOS devices in China, although Android devices could still download them through the apps’ official websites. An ‘express’ (aka ‘lite’) version of the Blued app was still available on Apple’s app store in China.
Blued reportedly has around 56 million registered users, and apps like these often offer Chinese users vital communication lines in a society where many people still keep aspects of their sexuality private.
‘Sham’ marriages between homosexual men and women are common, and although cities like Beijing and Shanghai do have gay venues, public displays of affection between LGBTQ+ people are rarer than they are in many Asian countries.
Some Chinese LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have closed recently, and the app removals have been seen by many as further evidence that sexuality acceptance isn’t moving in the direction it should be in China.
Woof: Doggy dating app profiles are here
Dating apps targeted at dog lovers aren’t new generally, but a new canine-focused app called Frolly has upped the ante by allowing you to make profiles for your dog.
The app has been rolled out in Charlotte, North Carolina, with plans to expand to other US cities soon. To use Frolly, as well as making a profile for yourself, you make one for your dog, which is then linked to your profile.
The idea is to show your dog’s personality and characteristics because, presumably, whoever you match with on the app is likely to also come with a hairy friend in tow.
The app’s creators say that you don’t have to be a dog owner to use the app, so you don’t have to create a doggy profile along with your own, but you do have to be a “dog lover”. Which makes sense.
Tinder cooks up AI Chemistry
Tinder is planning a broad rollout of an AI function called Chemistry, that will analyse users based on them answering questions plus the AI, with user permission, rifling through their phone photos.
The idea is that the AI builds a better notion about the user’s personality, for example perhaps by noticing that if they have a large amount of photos of dogs on their phone, they may well like dogs a lot. The AI can then push potentially better matches to them, like, for example, another person who really really liked dogs.
Chemistry is already being piloted on Tinder in Australia and New Zealand, with Match Group telling investors this month that it will be a “major pillar” of Tinder’s 2026 “product experience”.
Match Group executives will be hoping that AI functions such as Chemistry will help reverse the decline of the dating app industry, with Tinder recently reporting declines in the amount of paying subscribers for nine straight quarters.
Catholic matchmaking influencer launches dating app
What’s the next logical step if you’re a successful Catholic matchmaking influencer on Instagram? Launching your own Catholic dating app, obviously.
That’s the path Emily Wilson, who casually started matchmaking her Instagram followers recently, has taken. Wilson has over 125,000 Instagram followers, and when she started matchmaking among her Insta-flock, it led to marriages and engagements (as well as, presumably, engagement).
Now Wilson has launched Sacred Spark: an app for Catholics serious about finding love and marriage with another faithful. After the app was announced over 12,000 people got on the waitlist, presumably largely from Wilson’s heavyweight social media follower pool.
When you first open Sacred Spark you answer questions designed to determine if you’re a proper practising Catholic, before you start swiping. From there, images and videos on profiles are initially blurred, although you can listen to audio introductions to a profile and see information about a person’s interests and hobbies.
The profile images and videos unblur when a match is made, hopefully leading to more thoughtful matchmaking. “We’re not leading with the physical, we’re leading with the inner,” said Wilson.
Amen to that.
HER embraces stereotype with NYC van stunt
There’s a stereotype about lesbian couples involving them advancing relationships to cohabitation super-quickly. Comedians have made jokes about property sales apps essentially being lesbian dating apps.
Now sapphic app HER, which was acquired by Match Group earlier in 2025, has embraced the stereotype with a new marketing stunt.
For the wheeze, a large removals van was branded with HER logos and slogans and driven around New York, while much social media content was garnered. There were gags about the removal van being for a second date, and influencers were enlisted to sit on the back of the vehicle.
The van was driven around the city on the same week New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani won a city election largely based on renters’ rights promises. So, as well as applauding HER for making a decent gag out of a stereotype, we’ve got to commend their timing.
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