If you’re new to online dating, figuring out which app would be best for you can be confusing. We made an easy cheat sheet for you with all of the most popular apps and how they differ. You can also take our quiz here!
Which dating app is for you? Here are the deets on The Four Most Popular Apps:
TINDER
What can you see of someone’s profile without scrolling? First photo, age, and beginning of bio.
Number of photos: 9
Photo Format: Vertical photos are best. If you add square or horizontal photos, Tinder will crop them so they’re vertical.
Number of characters for bio: 500
Any question prompts to answer in addition to bio? No.
Bio style: Make these 500 characters count! Name a few quick preferences or fun facts, and make sure someone who matches with you has enough to go on to start a conversation.
Swiping or no swiping? Swiping.
How does matching work? If you both swipe right, you’ll match! You can’t see who has already swiped right on you in the free version, but if you upgrade to Tinder Gold you’ll be able to see a full list of everyone who has already liked your profile.
How does messaging work? Once you’ve matched, either you or your match can send a message to start the conversation.
BUMBLE
What can you see of someone’s profile without scrolling? First photo, age, job, and education.
Number of photos: 6
Photo Format: Vertical and square look best, but you can use horizontal photos without cropping — though they will be much smaller, since they can only be the width of your phone. Your first photo must be vertical.
Number of characters for bio: 300
Any question prompts to answer in addition to bio? Yes. You can answer up to 3 Bumble prompts in addition to your bio. Learn more by clicking here about Bumble Prompt Answers.
Bio style: Since you only have 300 characters, keep it short, fun, and eye-catching!
Swiping or no swiping? Swiping.
How does matching work? If you both swipe right, you’ll match! Just like Tinder, you can’t see who’s already liked you in the free version, but can access that queue if you upgrade to Bumble Boost.
How does messaging work? For M/F users seeking the opposite sex, Bumble differs from Tinder because women must start the conversation (men can’t), and the match will expire after 24 hours if no conversation has been started. All users get one free “Extend” to use per day, where you can extend that window by an additional 24 hours (a handy way to indicate you’re particularly interested in someone and don’t want the match to expire). If you upgrade to Bumble Boost, you have the ability to re-match with expired matches, and you’ll have unlimited Extends.
Bumble Bio 101: Crafting the Perfect Biography
1. Be specific in your Bumble Bio
What’s a more interesting Bumble bio?
“I can’t wait to get a dog” or “I’m desperate to own a Chow Chow because of their crazy purple tongues”?
“I love traveling” or “Dream trip: Italy to personally sample and rank each pasta shape currently known to man”?
The more minute, niche details you can include, the more interesting. Start with a generic sentiment and comb through word by word, asking yourself if there’s a way to make each word more specific or in-depth.
2. Keep your Bumble Bio positive
When you’re writing your Bumble bio, how things sound in your head are not always how they’ll sound in someone else’s. Humor and self-deprecation are pros in my book, but make sure you have a few friends tone check your answers. Everyone wants to go on a date with someone who is fundamentally friendly and kind, not mean and sarcastic.
Which sounds better:
“No drama please” or “Looking for someone mature, thoughtful and easy-going”?
It’s fundamentally the same, but I know which profile I’d swipe right on.
3. Use your bio to start a conversation
This is the big one: make it as easy as humanly possible for reading your profile to respond. Say something about you, and then follow it with a question that invites conversation.
“Favorite feeling: pushing 70 on the highway, windows down, belting Motown. What’s the last song you screamed along to in the car?”
“String cheese: bite or peel?”
“Niece asked me if there are more windows or doors in the world, and now I can’t think about anything else. What do you think??”
It gets exhausting to come up with ways to respond to someone’s profile when you’re swiping through a whole bunch. This saves the person from having to expel any mental energy by coming up with a way to start talking to you – all they have to do is answer what you’ve already asked!
HINGE
What can you see of someone’s profile without scrolling? First photo and first Hinge prompt.
Number of photos: 6
Photo Format: Square photos are best. Like Tinder, you can use vertical or horizontal photos, but they’ll be cropped to a square.
Number of characters for bio: Hinge does not have a traditional bio section. Instead, your entire profile is your response to 3 Hinge prompts. You are allotted 150 characters per answer.
Any question prompts to answer in addition to bio? As mentioned, your whole profile is your response to 3 Hinge prompts — Hinge has a list of 60+ prompts to choose from.
Bio style: Since there’s no option to write a holistic bio, make sure that your answers to the 3 prompts paint a complete picture of you (for example: one to show some of your likes and dislikes, one to show your sense of humor, one to tell a great story). See the list of Hinge prompts below.
Swiping or no swiping? No swiping. Hinge’s version of a “swipe right” is to have you interact with one particular aspect of someone’s profile: you can Like or Comment on any one photo or any one Hinge prompt per profile.
How does matching work? When someone Likes or Comments on your profile, they’re put into a queue where you can see their whole profile and what they’ve liked or said about yours. The catch is that you can only see one person at a time, so you have to decide to match or dismiss before seeing the next person who’s liked you. You can see a grid of everyone who’s liked you by upgrading to Hinge Preferred.
How does messaging work? Once you’ve matched, either you or your match can send a message. The nice thing about the Comment ability on Hinge is that you can send a message even before you match, which takes the burden off of the person you’re hoping will match with you — all they have to do is click “Match” and respond to your message, without having to then come up with a conversation starter themselves. Learn more about how to use conversation starters on Hinge here.
Below is an updated list of the Hinge prompts:
- A boundary of mine is
- A life goal of mine
- A quick rant about
- A random fact I love is
- A shower thought I recently had
- All I ask is that you
- Apparently, my life’s soundtrack is
- Best travel story
- Biggest risk I’ve taken
- Change my mind about
- Dating me is like
- Do you agree or disagree that
- Don’t hate me if I
- First round is on me if
- Give me travel tips for
- Green flags I look for
- Guess the song
- How to pronounce my name
- I bet you can’t
- I feel most supported when
- I geek out on
- I get myself out of a funk by
- I go crazy for
- I hype myself up by
- I know the best spot in town for
- I recently discovered that
- I want someone who
- I wind down by
- I wish more people knew
- I won’t shut up about
- I’ll brag about you to my friends if
- I’ll give you the set up, you guess the punchline
- I’ll pick the topic if you start the conversation
- I’m convinced that
- I’m looking for
- I’m weirdly attracted to
- If loving this is wrong, I don’t want to be right
- Let’s debate this topic
- Let’s make sure we’re on the same page about
- Most spontaneous thing I’ve done
- My BFF’s take on why you should date me
- My Love Language is
- My best Dad joke
- My best celebrity impression
- My biggest date fail
- My cry-in-the-car song is
- My favorite line from a movie
- My friends ask me for advice about
- My greatest strength
- My happy place
- My last journal entry was about
- My most controversial opinion is
- My most irrational fear
- My self-care routine is
- My simple pleasures
- My therapist would say I
- Never have I ever
- New year, same
- One thing I’ll never do again
- Proof I have musical talent
- Saying “Hi!” in as many languages I know
- Something that’s non-negotiable for me is
- Teach me something about
- The best way to ask me out is by
- The dorkiest thing about me is
- The hallmark of a good relationship is
- The key to my heart is
- The last time I cried happy tears was
- The one thing I’d love to know about you is
- The one thing you should know about me is
- The way to win me over is
- Therapy recently taught me
- Things I own that just make sense
- This year, I really want to
- To me, relaxation is
- Together, we could
- Try to guess this about me
- Two truths and a lie
- Typical Sunday
- Unusual skills
- We’ll get along if
- Weirdest gift I have given or received
- We’re the same type of weird if
- What I order for the table
- What if I told you that
- When I need advice, I go to
- Worst idea I’ve ever had
- You should *not* go out with me if
- You should leave a comment if
MATCH
What can you see of someone’s profile without scrolling? Primary photo, age, location, and first Match prompt.
Number of photos: 26
Photo Format: All photo formats are accepted, but Match requires that your Primary Photo be a clear, smiling photo of just your head and shoulders, in order to highlight your face – no full-body shots, no hats or sunglasses, and no other people.
Number of characters for bio: 4000
Any question prompts to answer in addition to bio? Yes. You can answer up to 3 Match prompts in addition to your bio.
Bio style: You can keep your bio as pithy and quippy as on your other apps, or, since Match offers you 4000 characters, you can opt to go a bit deeper about yourself and what you’re looking for. Match even has a handy page of possible questions and topics to consider when writing your bio on their website’s FAQ page.
Swiping or no swiping? There’s no actual swiping right or left, but you can “Heart” or “X” someone’s profile to move onto the next person in the queue, just like swiping.
How does matching work? Like Hinge, you have a queue of everyone who has liked or commented on your profile, and you can review each person one at a time. Once you match with a person who’s liked you or someone you’ve liked matches with you, they’ll be moved to your “Matches” tab.
How does messaging work? Also like Hinge, you don’t have to wait until you’ve matched to send a message. In fact, if you’ve liked someone’s profile, Match will put them into a queue so you can remember to follow up with a message later. And of course, once you’ve matched with someone, you’re free to message away.
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