Bumble’s app redesign lets women automate conversation starters

Bumble’s redesigned dating app has a new “Opening Move” feature that’s supposed to take the legwork out of starting conversations. Women on the app can now choose from a list of prewritten prompts — or come up with their own — that the app will send to all their matches.

Unlike dating apps like Tinder and Hinge, Bumble lets women take the first move when they get a match. The new Opening Move option should at least make it less intimidating (and less time-consuming) to send out those first messages.

Some of the prewritten prompts include questions like “Who’s your dream dinner party guest (real or fictional)?” or “What do you like about my profile?” Once the match responds, women can choose whether or not to carry on the conversation, which will expire after 24 hours if no move is made.

Bumble notes that for same-gender and nonbinary matches, either user can set or respond to an Opening Move. “In listening to our community, many have shared their exhaustion with the current online dating experience, and for some, that includes making the first move,” Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones says in a statement. “We want to evolve with our community, shifting from a fixed approach to giving women more options in how they engage.”

Along with a new Opening Move option, Bumble is adding to its “dating intention” badges, which are displayed on users’ profiles to help potential matches know what they’re looking for. Bumble will now let users choose from up to two badges, such as “‘fun, casual dates,” “intimacy without commitment,” “life partner,” and “ethical non-monogamy.”

Additionally, Bumble will display common interests and favorite musicians at the very top of profiles to make it easier to parse through potential matches. It also now requires users to upload four photos when creating an account instead of two. Users with less than four images won’t show up in Bumble’s For You (previously Best Bees) algorithm, which surfaces four daily profiles based on a user’s preferences and past matches.

This latest update has arrived just months after Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped down as CEO. It also comes at a turbulent time for dating apps in general, as surveys suggest that more users are moving away from the algorithm in favor of real-life interactions.