The dating app Hinge, founded in 2011 by Justin McLeod, just underwent a total overhaul. The goal? To make the app less about casual hookups and more about finding a real relationship, according to Fortune.
The app has always been unique in that it matches users with friends of their Facebook friends, making it a little more likely that you'll have something in common with a match. However, the makers behind Hinge still felt it wasn't giving its users what they were really looking for: a serious relationship. They've been working on a new approach to a dating app that goes beyond just swiping through photos—the most common approach, but one which for a lot of people has become more of an aimless game than a true search for their other half.
On Tuesday, Hinge revealed their new app, which they are referring to as a "relationship app" rather than a "dating app." It's no longer designed to match you with as many people as possible, McLeod told Fortune. It's set up to help you really make a connection.
In the new Hinge app, a user's profile will be designed to give a more in-depth view of the person rather than just a few photos. To connect with someone, you must "like" or post a comment on one of their photos or something else in a user's profile, much like Facebook. If the user is interested in connecting with you after seeing your like or comment, then they can choose to talk to you.
This new app will cost $7 a month, and it will still be based off of the user's Facebook friends to find comomon connections. McLeod feels users will pay for the app because it's different from other dating apps available for young people. TechCrunch notes that the fee will make it more likely that all users are there for the same reason and really are serious about finding a match.
This is a pretty cool idea that addresses a well-known problem among college students and other millennials: joining a dating app hoping to find a relationship, only to get matched over and over with people just looking for one-time casual sex. Now the only question is if people will actually use it the way it's meant to be used—or if they'll even use it at all.