Tinder trials Bumble-like women-message-first feature

TinderTinder has taken a leaf out of rival dating app Bumble’s book and begun trialling a feature which puts women more in control of their experience on the app by enabling them to have to be the ones that initiate conversation.

The ‘My Move’ feature, which is being tested in India, enables women to adjust their setting so that only they can start a conversation after they have matched with a male on the app. In Tinder’s default mode, the app gives both people in a successful match the right to message each other first.

The popular dating app has been testing the feature in India for several months and aims to rollout it out across the world, if the trial is successful.

Taru Kapoor, India general manager at Tinder’s parent company, Match Group, told Reuters that the feature is being tested in India due to a need to attract more women to the app in the South Asia country.

Women in India are said to be reluctant to join the app with the huge number of reports of sexual violence and rape in the nation – and there’s also the fact that dating is still not viewed as the norm in many parts of India.

Despite the issues surrounding dating in India, the nation has become Tinder’s largest market in Asia and, according to Tinder, users use the app’s messaging feature more than any other country in the world.

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