A World Without Swiping

While dating apps have become a pervasive phenomenon in our culture, they’re also a new phenomenon. They may have hijacked and thrown off balance one of our oldest, most central and most basic instincts as human beings, but it’s important to remember we’re likely very early in their evolution. Swiping and hookups may continue to stay relevant for some, but most of us will mature and moderate in response to our natural need for deep, long-term connection.

Although Hinge is already seen by our users as the most relationship-oriented dating app, 70% of them are now telling us they want something even further in that direction — though most are not willing to join the baby boomer generation on expensive, old-fashioned websites like Match and eHarmony. We believe technology has incredible potential to help people find compatible partners with which they can form successful relationships. Given the current state of our culture, it’s now more critical than ever that there exist a service that helps those bold enough to seek real relationships find meaningful connections, while still being accessible to the millennial generation. What became clear through our research was that swiping would never achieve that mission. This new service would have to break the mold.

At the end of 2015, despite the fact that Hinge was as big as ever and still growing, we decided to cut bait. Starting fresh, we embarked on what became a nine-month journey to develop that new service which would ditch swiping, matching, timers and games and replace them with a way to help people meaningfully connect.

On October 11, this new service will launch on iOS in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and India. With it, we hope we can pave the way for a new normal in dating culture that treats people with dignity and helps those seeking relationships find what they’re really looking for.

Justin McLeod is the Founder and CEO of Hinge