Shutterstock It’s Valentine’s Day, and if you’re single, you might be swiping on Tinder. The app has become one of the world’s largest online dating platforms, with an estimated 50 million users. But in 2017 and beyond, it may increasingly have competition. Although Tinder has a huge user base, other dating apps, like Bumble and Coffee Meets Bagel, are starting to meet a larger percentage of their users’ expectations. A recent study looked at user reviews of 97 dating apps and analysed how their quality scores changed from 2015 to 2016. Of all of the apps in the study, Tinder experienced the largest year-over-year decline. When users started using Tinder in 2012, every match felt like an adrenaline rush, or at the very least, a spark. However, those matches are no longer quite as novel. They might lead to quick hookups, sleazy come-ons, or nothing at all. That leaves a big opening for Tinder’s dating app competitors. Considered the pioneer of “swiping apps,” Tinder’s photo-based interface probably contributed to its hookup image. Photos of people nearby pop up, and you swipe right if you like them, left if you don’t. When two people swipe right on each other, they “match” and can chat. Since Tinder is primarily photo and location-based, it has garnered the perception among users that most of the people on it are looking for sex. This reputation is a boon for newer dating app startups looking to compete with Tinder, like Bumble, Hinge, Happn, Coffee Meets Bagel,…more detail
