Finding your soul mate through a dating app still seems to be popular, especially among those under 30, even if downloads are less frequent and dating habits are changing.
At the top of the dating app market, Tinder began to lose steam with annual downloads down more than a third compared to its peak in 2014, CNN noted.
The number of users signed up for Tinder’s paid option also fell 8% over the past year, according to the latest report from owner company Match Group.
The same is true for its rivals Bumble, Grindr, Hinge and OkCupid since Americans made more than 36 million application downloads in 2023, according to data from data.ai. Thus, this is a drop of 2% compared to 2022 and 16% compared to the peak reached in 2020 during the pandemic.
Tinder soon to be outdated?
Tinder is not completely ignored since it remains the most used dating application by Americans since its launch in 2012.
Other applications are still popular with virtual lovers and are starting to gain ground against this giant, particularly its rival Bumble which is on the verge of overtaking Tinder for downloads this year, according to data.ai.
More and more singles are also turning to Hinge, when applications dedicated to the LGBTQ+ communities Grindr and HER remain stable.
Half of Gen Z on apps
Those under 30 continue to favor dating through these apps, with 53% of Americans aged 18 to 25 reporting using at least one of these platforms, the Pew Research Center observed.
Faced with this popularity, the companies behind these applications have decided to adjust their strategies to keep these young people who see meetings and romantic dates differently than previous generations.
“One in three US Bumble users say they practice slow dating and actively reduce the number of dates they go on to protect their mental health when it comes to dating,” explained one Bumble spokesperson to CNN.
“This figure was slightly higher for Generation Z and millennials, and lower for Generation X and baby boomers,” he said.
For example, Tinder has decided to offer short-term subscriptions for young people who are in no hurry to commit.