Bumble changes the feature that made it different from other dating apps. Tuesday, 11 August 2026 Launched in 2014, Bumble rose in popularity as a unique alternative among dating apps with a policy requiring women to message first in matches between men and women. With Tuesday's update, Bumble will let either person in a match send the first message. The app's previous requirement that matches must respond within 24 hours, or the match would expire, has been extended to 72 hours. "While women making the first move was a radical idea, being women-first was never about prescribing just one way to connect. It was about designing an experience with women's needs in mind to create better outcomes for everyone," Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said in a statement (PDF). "Today, our community is asking for more flexibility, less pressure and more opportunities to create real, meaningful connections and that is what this new experience provides. This evolution isn't a departure from our founding vision, but the realization of it." CNET reached out to Bumble for comment on how it plans to stand out from other dating apps, including Hinge, Tinder, Match.com and OkCupid. The company said the changes reflect "member-backed insights around how dating has grown over the past decade." The company said a recent survey of users found that nearly two-thirds (66%) of women preferred that men send the first message, and that more than half of those surveyed said that increasing the reply window from 24 hours would improve their experience. The survey also found that expectations in dating are evolving, with 62% of respondents saying they are more confident when given flexibility in how and when to begin a conversation with a match. The company says these changes build on other updates "to improve every stage of the dating journey." For instance, Bumble is one of many dating apps that incorporate AI-powered features such as AI-generated prompts and profile feedback. Macy is a writer on the AI Team. She covers how AI is changing daily life and how to make the most of it. This includes writing about consumer AI products and their real-world impact, from breakthrough tools reshaping daily life to the intimate ways people interact with AI technology day-to-day. Macy is a North Carolina native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in English and a second BA in Journalism. You can reach her at (Originally posted by Macy Meyer) When you subscribe to the blog, Mgicomputers will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them.

Bumble changes historic rule and lets men send first message. After 12 years in which only women made the first move, the dating app extends the response window to 72 hours and says it has observed an increase in initiated conversations. Bumble: men can now message women on the app (Bumble/Publicity) Artificial Intelligence and Technology Reporter Published on August 11, 2026 at 10:45 a.m. Bumble announced this Tuesday, the 11th, a change to its app. From now on, anyone in a connection can send the first message - not just women, a rule that had defined the platform since its launch in 2014. Those who receive a message got more time to respond: the deadline went from 24 to 72 hours. Only one initial message can be sent, and the chat only opens when the other person responds. Very short messages, such as a single word, receive an alert asking for more elaboration before sending. The company credits the decision to "years of member feedback, product testing, and behavioral analysis" - but this is not the first relaxation of the original rule. In 2024, Bumble had already launched the "Opening Moves" feature, which allowed men to start conversations by answering pre-selected questions chosen by women. Today's change goes further: anyone can write the first message, without relying on a ready-made question. What the tests showed. According to Bumble, tests conducted with users in Canada between June and July this year indicated an increase in the number of initiated conversations, with messages distributed more evenly between men and women. The company also claims that women saw an increase in the rate of mutual conversations - when both parties respond and the chat actually opens - more than double that observed among men in the same test period. And 92% of them said they felt they maintained control over their own experience on the platform, even with the new rule. The company also reports a decline in chat expirations and connection cancellations during the test - a sign, according to it, of healthier interactions. The benchmark that sustained the brand's identity. The idea that only women make the first move was, until now, the central pillar of Bumble's positioning - what the company calls its women-first philosophy. A previous survey by the company itself had found that 63% of male users said they had joined the app precisely because of that rule. "We created Bumble on the belief that when we make the relationship experience better for women, it becomes better for everyone - and that remains true today," said Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of the company, in a statement. "Although women making the first move was a revolutionary idea, our women-first positioning was never tied to the goal of prescribing a single way to connect," she continued. "This evolution does not represent a departure from our original vision, but rather its realization." What underpins the change. The company cites a commissioned survey of 11,001 singles aged 18 to 35, active dating app users, surveyed between February 27 and March 9 this year in eight countries - the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, India, France, Germany, Spain, and Mexico. Brazil is not among them. According to this survey, 66% of women consulted in a previous 2024 survey said they preferred men to send the first message - a data point the company uses to justify the turnaround. In the more recent survey, nearly two-thirds of men and women said they feel more confident when they can choose how and when a conversation begins. The change also accompanies a broader product movement: revamping profile prompts and AI-powered profile feedback are part of the same package of recent updates, all aimed, according to Bumble, at taking users from match to in-person meeting.

Bumble is moving away from swiping and towards in-person meetups to attract Gen Z users tired of traditional online dating. CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd announced on the company's Q2 earnings call that its new app Plans, which connects people in low-pressure group settings, has shown "promising results" in early tests. Wolfe Herd said Bumble is developing a new interaction model to replace swiping entirely, focusing on "more intentional, fewer, better, more considered signals" that mimic real-life interactions. The exact replacement remains undisclosed for competitive reasons. This shift mirrors similar moves by Tinder, signalling a major industry trend. However, Bumble remains in turnaround mode, with Q2 revenue down 15.2% year-over-year to $210.5 million, despite beating earnings expectations.