Letting women make the first move has been Bumble's modus operandi since its launch in 2014. Ten years later, the company wants to give women more control. “Opening Move” is a new feature introduced to allow women to pre-write their opening lines, allowing them to instantly send a message without having to come up with new words for each match.
The feature is part of a major revamp of the app announced Tuesday that will allow women to prepare questions to send to their matches, as well as set additional dating intent preferences and prompts.
In non-binary, same-sex pairs, both users can create and respond to opening moves, the company said.
The update brings significant changes as dating app fatigue becomes more prevalent, especially among Gen Z users who are fed up with swipe culture. Bumble's recent updates show that the dating app is stepping up its strategy and trying to appeal to younger users. The company plans to introduce new AI-powered features and improvements later this year, including allowing men to send their first message.
To set an opening move, users can enter a custom message or choose from Bumble's pre-written questions, such as “What do you like about my profile?” “What book or movie changed the way you think?” This new feature not only reduces initial messaging anxiety, but also allows you to send deal-breaking questions to eliminate bad matches. It may be helpful.
“We recognize that starting a chat every time can be a pain, so we're listening to our members in that regard and finding more ways to make that first move a little easier. I wanted to help find that,” said senior Dara Alsulayman. Bumble's product manager told TechCrunch.
Alsulayman revealed that Bumble plans to “add support for dynamic opening moves.” This means that the user can create and select multiple opening moves, rather than only being able to submit one version.
New CEO Lydiaan Jones previously told Fortune that Bumble had experimented with the opening move feature in various markets, including New Zealand and Australia. The company said in a press release Tuesday that in testing, the feature improved response rates and lengthened conversations.
Image credit: Bumble
Bumble has also updated its profile, including expanding the Intentions badge (an advanced filtering option for premium members) to help narrow down your dating search. For example, the dating app has added more specific goals beyond looking for “love,” “casual stuff,” and “marriage.” Starting today, users will be able to choose between Fun and Casual Dating, Commitment-Free Intimacy, Life Partner, and Ethical Non-Monogamy. Additionally, we've added the option to display her dual intentions on your profile.
Additionally, Bumble has launched a new Interests section that showcases which three causes and communities users support, including feminism, environmentalism, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Bumble is helping daters show off their personality in their profiles by rolling out hundreds of new prompts for users and new categories to help users find prompts. Continuing. For example, an “About Me” category has been added, with prompts such as “What am I known for?”, “I'm a real nerd”, and “What's my humble boast?” Other categories include prompts related to dating and self-care.
As part of the update, Bumble now requires new users to add four photos to their profile, up from just two previously. According to Al-Suleiman, this is because users with more photos are more successful in finding connections. One of the common complaints among dissatisfied members is that some users don't add enough photos.
Image credit: Bumble
As Bumble celebrates its 10th anniversary, the company also unveiled a new logo and revamped app design, featuring bold fonts and a more “modern” feel, Al-Suleiman said.
“[The new design] “We feel it's more in line with what users are looking for,” she added.