Why people are turning away from dating app swiping. Dating app fatigue is pushing singles offline. See why people are turning away from swiping, what the 2026 numbers show, and the in-person alternatives that work. People are turning away from dating app swiping because it takes a lot of time, delivers too few real dates, and often leaves users feeling burned out instead of connected. In 2026, singles are moving toward in-person events, group plans and apps that put meeting face to face first. If you have ever closed a dating app and wondered why you felt worse, you are not alone. Key takeaways. * Dating app fatigue is widespread. A Forbes Health/OnePoll survey found 78% of recent dating-app users had felt burned out at least sometimes, including 79% of Gen Z. * The big apps are feeling it. Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, ended its second quarter with about 13.3 million paying users, down 6% from a year earlier, while Tinder's monthly active users fell 7%. * The apps are changing course. Tinder has been rolling out an Events tab, and Bumble has been testing a separate app for in-person events. * People still want to meet. They just want less swiping and more real-world time with real people. What is dating app swiping fatigue? Dating app fatigue (also called dating app burnout) is the mental and emotional exhaustion that builds up after weeks or months of swiping, matching and messaging. It tends to show up as boredom, cynicism, self-presentation stress and a sense that dating has become a second job. Researchers and journalists have tracked the same complaints for years: matches that never become conversations, conversations that never become dates, and a feeling that people are treated like options in a catalogue. For many users, swiping apps reward quantity, not connection. 7 reasons people are turning away from swiping. 1. The time adds up. One widely shared survey summary put average time on dating apps at around 51 minutes a day, which is roughly six hours a week. Even if your habits are lighter, swiping, replying and re-opening the app is a real time cost, especially when it does not lead to a first date. 2. Matches rarely turn into meetings. A dating app can feel productive because you collect matches. But a match is not a meetup. Many people describe weeks of messages that fizzle out before anyone suggests coffee. 3. Ghosting and scams wear people down. Ghosting, fake profiles, edited photos and romance scams are repeatedly cited in research on dating app fatigue. When trust is low, every conversation takes more effort. 4. Apps are built to keep you scrolling. A Dutch media professor recently described "algorithm fatigue": people increasingly feel the apps are designed to keep them online, not to help them succeed. That perception is a big driver of the shift. 5. Gen Z wants experiences, not profiles. Younger daters grew up with apps and are often the first to push back. One survey reported by Global Dating Insights found that more than 90% of Gen Z would prefer to meet people through social gatherings, classes or other offline settings. Industry data also suggests a large share of new dating-app installs are deleted within a month. 6. It can feel transactional. When someone always seems to be one swipe away, it is easy to stop seeing people as people. Many users say they want to be seen for who they are in a room, not judged on a few photos. 7. The apps themselves are admitting the format is changing. Industry leaders now talk openly about moving away from pure swipe speed. Tinder's Events tab highlights local activities like trivia nights and classes, and Bumble has been testing a standalone Plans app built around curated in-person events with a "meet first, match later" idea. When the biggest names add real-life features, it is a sign users have been asking for them. Are dating apps dying? Not exactly. Hundreds of millions of people still have a dating app installed, and some platforms, such as Hinge, have kept growing with younger users. What is changing is how people use them. Many treat apps as one tool among several, not the only route to meeting someone. The clearest trend is that the starting point for connection is moving offline. People are searching for IRL apps to meet people, joining interest-based groups, trying speed dating and speed friending, and going to events where conversation is the whole point. What people are doing instead of swiping. * Going to events. Run clubs, trivia nights, classes, supper clubs and open mics put you in a room with people who share your interests. * Using location-based, in-the-moment apps. Instead of browsing static profiles, they check who is nearby and available right now. * Meeting through shared interests. Common ground makes the first conversation easier and removes a lot of small-talk pressure. * Trying slow dating. Fewer, more intentional connections instead of dozens of matches. * Hosting something small. A coffee walk or game night makes you the organizer, not the applicant. Want a practical starting list? Its guide to meeting people nearby without swiping covers nine ways that work. How JoinMeIn helps you Meet People in person. JoinMeIn is one of the apps to meet people in real life, built around the idea that a live people nearby app should end with a real meetup, not a longer chat thread. Here is how it differs from a swipe deck: * See who is actually out. The Live Radar shows people nearby who have chosen to go live, for a window you set: 30 minutes, 1 hour or 3 hours. You are invisible until you tap Go live. * Find something to turn up to. Browse IRL events near you tonight, or host your own plan. * Keep dating optional. Dating is a separate layer that stays off until you switch it on. Chat only opens after a mutual Spark, so nobody can message you out of nowhere. * Stay in control. You decide how visible you are, who can see you, and when you disappear. It is a practical way to meet new people in person and Meet People Nearby without turning your phone into a part-time job. New to the app? See how it works to go from opening the app to being somewhere in three taps. Tips to make the switch from swiping to real life. * Set a weekly rhythm. One or two real-world plans a week beat hours of swiping. * Go back to the same places. Familiar faces turn into conversations. * Start in a group. Group settings take pressure off the first meeting. * Keep apps to short sessions if you still use them, and move quickly from chat to a coffee. * Put safety first. Meet in public, tell a friend your plans, and use visibility and blocking controls. The bottom line. People are not giving up on meeting each other. They are giving up on endless swiping. If you feel burned out, the fix is rarely another app with the same format. It is a different format: one that puts people, places and plans first. Frequently asked questions. Why are people turning away from dating app swiping? What is dating app fatigue? Are dating apps still worth using in 2026? How can I meet people without swiping? Is JoinMeIn a swiping app? Meet people in real life with JoinMeIn. Go live when you are free, see who is nearby, and turn a good idea into a real meetup today. Get in touch. Have a question, a story, or a topic you would like Joinmein to cover? Joinmein is always ready to help.

Investor alert: Bumble (BMBL) $6.05 per share merger with Ithaca Holdco is being Investigated for potential Breaches of Fiduciary duties. Oct 20, 2026, 05:36 ET BFA Law is investigating the announced $6.05 per share merger in which Ithaca Holdco, Inc. is set to acquire Bumble Inc.; current shareholders are notified to contact the firm. NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Leading securities law firm Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announces that it is investigating the merger between Ithaca Holdings (Ithaca Holdco, Inc.) and Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL). Bumble is incorporated in Delaware. If you are a current shareholder of Bumble, you are encouraged to obtain additional information by visiting: https://www.bfalaw.com/cases/bumble-investigation. Key Details of the Bumble ($BMBL) Investigation: * Investigation Overview: Breaches of Fiduciary Duty in connection with the merger under which Ithaca Holdco, Inc. will acquire the public stock of Bumble for $6.05 per share * Action: Contact BFA Law to discuss your rights Why is the Bumble Transaction being Investigated? Bumble, Inc. is a company that is controlled by two majority stockholders - Blackstone Inc. and Bumble's founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd. Those two stockholders alone control 83.7% of the company's voting power. Bumble secured stockholder approval for the merger with Ithaca with the written consent of Blackstone and Whitney Wolfe Herd, with no further stockholder vote planned. Bumble's board of directors reportedly approved the merger on the recommendation of the special committee it formed to evaluate the merger. As a part of the merger agreement with Ithaca Holdco, Inc., Whitney Wolfe Herd's stock in Bumble is being allowed to rollover into the post-merger company - meaning she will continue to own stock in the company after the merger closes. The opportunity to rollover shares is not being extended to any other stockholders. BFA is investigating whether the terms of the merger, including the rollover, comply with Delaware law, including whether the $6.05 per share price is a fair price for the public stockholders' shares of Bumble stock. What Can You Do? If you are a current holder of Bumble stock, you may have legal options and are encouraged to submit your information to the firm. All representation is on a contingency fee basis; there is no cost to you. Shareholders are not responsible for any court costs or expenses of litigation. The firm will seek court approval for any potential fees and expenses. Submit your information by visiting: Why Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP? BFA is a leading international law firm representing plaintiffs in securities class actions and shareholder litigation. It has been named a top plaintiff law firm by Chambers USA, The Legal 500, and ISS SCAS, and its attorneys have been named "Elite Trial Lawyers" by the National Law Journal, "Litigation Stars" by Benchmark Litigation, among the top "500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers" by Lawdragon, "Titans of the Plaintiffs' Bar" by Law360 and "SuperLawyers" by Thomson Reuters. Most recently, The Legal 500 awarded BFA the most client satisfaction accolades of any plaintiff's securities litigation law firm, with clients noting: "[t]here is no better service provider in the practice area," "[t]he interest of the client is always front and center," and "[t]here isn't a better firm in this space." One testimonial described the firm as "nimble and entrepreneurial," with a "relentless focus on adding value for clients." Among its recent notable successes, BFA recovered over $900 million in value from Tesla, Inc.'s Board of Directors, as well as $420 million from Teva Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. SOURCE Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP

Is everything becoming about Mental Health? The Atlantic recently reported that Noom, the weight-loss app, now asks users to look at paintings. Its "Mindful Art Break" features works such as Monet's Woman with a Parasol, alongside breath work and lessons in cognitive-behavioral techniques. Noom launched a stand-alone emotional-health program in 2023, the same year it added GLP-1 medications, and later folded core tools from it into its main app. Dieting apps are not alone. Bumble, the dating app, has added badges for therapy and mindfulness. UCLA researcher A. Janet Tomiyama told the Atlantic that mental well-being "is a huge trend right now, and I could see how it would be good business to capitalize on it." She also pointed to a 2010 study she co-authored, in which the stress hormone cortisol spiked when women were randomly assigned to start a diet. Attitudes point the same way. A May 2025 YouGov survey found that 79 percent of U.S. adults call good mental health essential to physical health. And the CDC reports that 20.2 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 received counseling or therapy in 2024, against 5.0 percent of those 75 and older. The science behind the promise is mixed. The Atlantic notes that one small study suggested a GLP-1 drug improved depression symptoms, while other studies found no significant effect on mood, and some link high doses to depressed mood. A different tradition Mental health as the highest-order benefit may be different from "wellness," which has been with RTi Research for some time. Wellness has a counter-cultural heritage, tracing back to the 1970s, that sets itself apart from traditional Western medicine and pharmacology. Don Ardell's 1977 book was subtitled An Alternative to Doctors, Drugs and Disease. Blurring the boundaries Brands and consumers may be blurring the lines. Anecdotally, non-clinical aspirations like wellbeing, happiness, and enjoyment are often now expressed in terms like "self-care" and "healing." Ulta Beauty, which sells cosmetics, launched a "Joy Hub" on World Mental Health Day in 2024, saying beauty and mental health are "deeply connected." Its content comes from a council of mental health and holistic well-being experts. Words can stretch. Nick Haslam, who studies "concept creep," cites an analysis of abstracts from 875 psychology journals showing that terms like trauma and addiction broadened in meaning between 1970 and 2019. Questions for research Can your brand promise be framed in terms of improved mental health? And, if so, are RTi Research asking consumers about it? What words, for example, do consumers use for feeling good after using different products and participating in specific activities? How does that vocabulary differ from the language of wellness, especially across age groups and other high-priority segments? As "mental health" becomes part of everyday consumer language, research can help brands understand what the term means to consumers, and what, specifically, they expect brands to deliver against it.