Dating app giant Match Group believes it’s “very possible” that the recent Apple-Epic Games antitrust appeals ruling, though largely in favor of Apple, may result in App Store fee relief for developers. Speaking to investors during Match’s Q1 earnings call, Match Group President and CFO Gary Swidler shared the company’s thinking on the historic ruling, which upheld the lower court’s opinion that Apple was not a monopolist, but directed the iPhone maker to give developers the ability to place links in their apps that point customers to third-party payment options. This change to Apple’s existin ..read more

Tinder today is rolling out an AI-powered update to its Photo Verification feature, which to date has allowed the app’s users to prove to others they’re neither a bot nor a catfisher. In the past, users would take pictures of themselves, posing as instructed, to become verified on the dating app and receive a blue check. Now, Tinder is strengthening this process by requiring a video selfie instead of photos. Plus, it will soon allow users to restrict their chats to only those members who are also Photo Verified. The company says the changes are a part of Tinder’s work to make the app safer for ..read more

Tinder today is rolling out more features aimed at helping people find the right relationships for them, while also being more authentic on their dating profiles. Borrowing a feature from Hinge, another app owned by Tinder parent Match Group, Tinder users will now be able to indicate on their profiles the type of relationship they’re looking for — which today may involve various concepts around non-monogamy. It will also now allow members to display their pronouns on their profile. Tinder and Hinge are starting to look more and more like the same app as Match sets its sights on attracting Gen ..read more

Tinder is rolling out new features aimed at making it easier for users on the dating app to control how they interact with others. The new features, which are rolling out globally, were announced today to mark Safer Internet Day. One of the new features is called “Incognito Mode” and is a step up from fully hiding your profile. Members can still Like and Nope in the app, but only those whom they’ve Liked will see them in their recommendations. The feature is designed to allow users to take complete control over who sees them while scrolling through profiles on Tinder. Incognito Mode is a premi ..read more

Match Group, the parent company to dating apps Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty of Fish, Meetic and OurTime, among others, announced today the launch of a new campaign that will introduce in-app messages and email notifications to give users tips on how to prevent being scammed online. Tinder and French online dating app Meetic will prompt users with in-app messages with tips and common behaviors to watch out for. Suggestions include making sure potential matches have their profile picture verified, video chatting with them before meeting in person and learning how to recognize scammer red flags ..read more

Today, Tinder launched a new “Relationship Goals” feature that allows users to display their dating goals on their profile, whether they’re looking for a “long-term partner,” “long-term, but open to short-term,” “short-term, but open to long,” “short-term fun,” “new friends” or “still figuring it out.” Tinder’s new addition aims to help users find connections that better align with what they’re looking for. Users can go to settings to add a Relationship Goal to their profile. As shown in the image above, each option comes with an emoji and is displayed as a colorful banner on the top of y ..read more

Tinder announced today that it is partnering with dog rescue shelters across the U.S. to celebrate National Dog Week and give Tinder users the ability to add a shelter dog to their profile photo. Unfortunately, this new addition is only around for a short time, however. National Dog Week is over on September 24, but Tinder’s users can use the filter until October 20. Tinder partnered with five animal shelters on this feature: Wags & Walks in Los Angeles, 4 Paws Kiddo Rescue (L.A.), Animal Care Centers of NYC, Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago and Special Pals in Houston. The adoptable dog pr ..read more

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. Global app spending reached $65 billion in the first half of 2022, up only slightly from the $64.4 billion during the same period in 2021, as hypergrowth fueled by the pandemic has slowed down. But overall, the app economy is continuing to grow, having produced a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports. Global spending across iOS an ..read more

Dating giant Match Group announced a series of changes to Tinder’s management team alongside the announcement of disappointing second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Notably, Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg will be departing the company after less than a year in the top job. Match Group is also killing Tinder’s plans to adopt new technology, like virtual currencies and metaverse-based dating. In a shareholder letter, Match Group CEO Bernard Kim expressed frustration with Tinder’s current performance, noting the popular dating app has not been able to realize its typical monetization success over the pas ..read more

Match Group is expanding a partnership with background check service Garbo, a nonprofit female-and survivor-founded organization, bringing the free safety feature to its namesake app, Match, and the single parent dating app, Stir after initially launching on Tinder. The new feature allows dating app users to easily access public information about arrests, convictions, and sex offender registry records. If a user finds out their would-be date has a history of violence, they can report the account for removal and block the user. The demand for increased protections follows numerous reports over ..read more