Tinder adds the ability to make video calls directly from the app. Here’s when the feature will be available
New features coming to Tinder, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish, Tinder, Hinge, Match.com and all other Matchgroup dating apps and sites: it will soon be possible to launch video calls directly from within the app or site. The company announced this in a letter to shareholders on May 5.
Pushing Matchgroup toward this new feature, long avoided in order to prevent some malicious user from sending unwelcome photos and videos to its “matches,” were the users themselves and, above all, their new life in quarantine. The coronavirus, therefore, has also upset the development plans of dating apps. From internal surveys addressed to its users, Matchgroup found that 70% of Hinge users are available for phone or video dating, while 94% of OkCupid users would like to continue physical encounters in a virtual way (i.e. video call). This is all in a very group-friendly context, as the use of dating apps and sites increased dramatically during the lockdown.
Lockdown drives online dating
Since the start of the epidemic, Matchgroup has seen a significant increase in activity among users, particularly those under the age of 30, across all geographies and on all apps and sites. Users were much more likely to “meet up” online: matches increased and conversations lengthened. The average number of daily messages sent increased 27% higher than in the last week of February (+35% for users under 30 years of age). Tinder even hit its all-time highs, with a 37% increase in Swipes by 30-year-olds in April (compared to the last week in February). Noticeably increased, then, is the involvement of women, who are worth more than gold on dating sites and apps. And, in fact, Tinder’s financial performance was up 31% (year-over-year) in the first quarter of 2020.
Video calls on tinder: when they’re coming
In its shareholder communication, Matchgroup doesn’t specify when the new video chat will arrive, but it states quite clearly that users want it and the company wants to give it to them: “We don’t know how long this pandemic will last. But we can’t wait for our singles to be able to meet live with the person they’ve been texting and video chatting with for the past two months.” Not least because Matchgroup knows full well that if two users can’t see each other on Tinder or another of its apps, they will on some other company’s app.