<span style=”color: #999999;”><em>Last updated on 2019-10-20</em></span>

You may already be familiar with the Unofficial Tinder F.A.Q., which is basically responsible for the existence of SwipeHelper. Now, this:

The Unofficial Hinge F.A.Q.

What sets Hinge apart from Tinder and other dating apps?

Well first off, Hinge is not a swiping app per se, so this website’s name betrays its topic for the first time. Instead of swiping, you can dislike (press X) or like a specific portion (Pic; Bio question) of their profile and then comment on it. So liking a profile automatically means opening the conversation. Other key differences:

You can see who liked you for free.

You can only like 5 profiles a day (for free). Make them count.

You can change your location for free.

There is a certain number of pictures you have to and can upload [6], so minimum=maximum.

In lieu of a bio, you answer a number of questions [3] out of a question catalogue. This is both mandatory and easier than coming up with a good bio.

Hinge has an advanced filter option. More below.

How does Hinge’s search filter work?

While creating your profile, you are encouraged to provide some additional info about yourself such as education, workplace, religion, race, or whether you smoke or drink alcohol.

These same pieces of information can be used to filter your potential matches in a soft, or hard setting. I.e. if you set a “Dealbreaker” on your preferred age range, no one from an age above or below your range will show up in your queue (nor you in theirs.) If you leave the Dealbreaker setting open, you will be seeing more of your preferred age, distance, religion, etc. but not exclusively. Notably, the people outside your preferences can still see and like you.

What does Hinge’s paid subscription offer?

For a base of $12.99 per month, you get

Unlimited Likes

See everyone who likes you in a more organized fashion

Set advanced filter options (Education, family plans, politics, and vices)

This is the big one: Get expert advice on your profile. Let Hinge evaluate your welcome mat.

How do I know when somebody liked me?

When somebody likes you on Hinge, you’ll get a notification about it. Additionally, you can see who already liked you in a separate tab of the app, where those profiles are queued up for you to work through just like your normal match queue. You’ll even see what picture of yours they liked and their comment on it.

I disliked somebody, but they appeared in my stack again. What gives?

Unlike Tinder, disliking somebody in Hinge doesn’t mean they’re gone forever. If you’ve ran out of profiles in your area, you’ll get another shot at reviewing all the active profiles.

How does Hinge’s matchmaking algorithm differ from other dating apps?

It would appear that with Hinge’s acquisition by the match group, Tinder has been copying Hinge’s matching system, replacing their own algorithm, or at least incorporated its philosophy into their existing structures.

As opposed to assigning users desirability scores, Hinge’s algorithm tries to guess who might be your type based on whom else other people who historically liked the same profiles as you also liked, and vice versa.

Bumble, meanwhile, seems to still be using the basic Tinder algorithm from way back when. I mean, they would not admit it, but they did get sued over it (allegedly).

How can I get more matches?

Make sure that you answer relevant bio questions in an honest but interesting/fun way, that your pictures include group photos and a (clothed) full body shot, and make sure that your face can be seen clearly in the first photo.

So much for the very basics. For a more detailed guide on profile creation, may I recommend this article? It’s written for Tinder, but works just as well for Hinge.

I get matches but not many responses or interesting conversations, how can I remedy this?

The messages that get the least amount of responses are “hey”, “hi”, “what’s up” and “how are you”. See here for some advice concerning first messages.

Hinge’s system is a bit different here, so if you’re the one first liking someone else, try to make an interesting comment on the thing you liked about them. The good thing is they give you plenty of hooks with the profile questions.

Can I use Hinge to find people in different countries?

Yes, though a bit covertly. You can change your neighborhood in your preferences to any other country’s city, but the people there will think you live nearby, so it’s a bit disingenuous. Make sure to bring it up in conversation right away.

Not quite. With Hinge, it’s not your current location that counts, but rather your set home neighborhood, which you select on a world map. It can also zero in on your current location to select that one as home.

Hinge does request location access, but it works without it as well (though the pop up is frequent and annoying when choosing your location on the map.)

Does Hinge divulge where you live?

Not quite. It does display your home neighborhood, for example Upper West/East Side. Depending on where you live (population density), this may already be too close for comfort. That is something you have to decide for yourself. On the other hand, consider that with Tinder it’s possible for others to triangulate your precise location with a bit of effort, so this neighborhood system may be preferable.

Do people outside of my set age and distance parameters see my profile, and vice versa?

Only if you didn’t make those preferences a Dealbreaker in your search settings. If you did, those outside your preferred range will not see your profile. As you will not see theirs if you are not within their set Dealbreaker parameters.

I get a lot of (or at least some) passive likes, but (almost) never match with anyone I liked first. Why?

There are a couple of likely reasons for this:

Because free Hinge only allows you to like 10 people a day, you get seen by many more people a day than you see yourself. So the chances one out of the presumably hundreds or more people who see your profile daily will like you is much higher than the chance one of the ten people you liked likes you back. Add to that that the first bunch of profiles you get to see are Hinge’s most attractive users, you may go under in all the likes they receive. Your opening messages i.e. comments on their pictures or answers may not make for the ideal conversation starters.

What happens when I run out of people in my area? Can I reset my account?

You can (easily, by deleting and recreating your account), but it should usually not be necessary. Hinge gives you the option of revisiting all the profiles you rejected, or you could widen your preferences to see more people.

I hope you found this F.A.Q. helpful. Thoughts? Criticism? Praise? Something to add?

Do you have a question that isn’t listed here yet? Feel free to leave a comment below, or on the SwipeHelper Subreddit. 🙂