PHONEDOG – Aug 20 – There are lots of changes coming with iOS 13, including some tweaks to location tracking. Some developers, including dating app Happn, aren't happy with the location tracking changes, and they've let Apple CEO Tim Cook know about it. They have written to him to complain that the "Always Allow" option is no longer available in iOS 13's location pop-up. In iOS 13, users' options for giving their location to an app include "Allow While Using App", "Allow Once", and "Don't Allow". In iOS 12 and earlier, there was an "Always Allow" option, but the update to iOS 13 moves that to the Privacy section of the Settings app. The devs also say that the change is anti-competitive because Apple's own apps don't need to get permission to access the user's location, pointing to the Find My device tracker app as an example. An Apple spokesperson said that the changes are meant to help protect the user and their privacy.
Category: happn
Q&A With Happn Founder, Didier Rappaport
FEMALEFIRST.CO.UK – July 23 – Didier Rappaport co-founded Dailymotion and turned the video-sharing platform into a multi-million-pound success story. He then set his sights on dating and launched dating app Happn.
Q: Explain the ethos behind Happn.
A: We decided to create Happn because we felt that dating apps were too virtual. Our mission was to bring the real world into the dating space. The question is, why should we go online to meet new people when we cross paths with so many people every day. The answer for us was to develop the model that became Happn.
Q: So if you saw someone for a fleeting moment and wish you spoke to them, Happn might allow you to grab back that moment?
A: Precisely. We want to give people a chance to develop relationships with people who they may have met briefly or who they saw earlier on in their day. The idea is to go out with people who are around you already and who you don't need to go and search for.
Q: Has the attitude changed towards people using dating apps now?
A: Absolutely. This is now the normal way to meet people.
Q: What is the next big development in dating apps?
A: Video, video and more video. At this moment, too much of the focus is on the appearance of the person in their profile image. We need to allow people to hear the voice, to see the mannerisms and understand the person better. Video will be the next big enhancement to our service.
Q: What has surprised you about this successful venture into the dating business?
A: India was a huge experiment for us. Well, we are now the No.1 dating app in India and have double the amount of people than Tinder in that region. It shows that Happn can be a success everywhere in the world.
Half of Dutch Young Adults Use Dating Apps
NLTIMES – June 25 – Nearly half of Dutch between the ages of 18 and 34 are active on dating sites or apps like Tinder, Happn and Grindr. Just over half of all Dutch think that getting a date online is just as normal as using more traditional methods, according to a survey among 1K Dutch people by research agency Ipsos, and researched by Rutgers and the Volkskrant. In total, one in five Dutch have an online dating profile. Tinder is the most popular dating app, with 13% of Dutch using it, followed by Happn with 3% and Grindr with 2%.
by Janene Pieters
See full article at NLTimes
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China’s Tinder – Tantan – Is Rising in India
QUARTZ – May 9 – Tantan, China's favourite dating app, is now the fifth-most popular in India by combined monthly active users on iOS and Android phones, according to App Annie. In May 2018, Tantan did not feature among the top 10, but zoomed to the 4th position by July. It has since slid one spot following the launch of Bumble in December.
Top dating apps in India
(as on May 2018) (as on March 2019)
1. Tinder 1. Tinder
2. Happn 2. Happn
3. Azar 3. Azar
4. Badoo 4. Bumble
5. OkCupid 5. Tantan
Tantan translates in Mandarin to "talk." Launched in 2014, the app bears a high resemblance to Tinder, and was acquired by the Chinese social network Momo in February 2018. Tantan has ~90M registered users in China. The dating app has been advertising aggressively on TikTok.
New Tool Shows How Facebook and Google Track You
FOX NEWS – Apr 29 – A new free toll, called vpnMentor, shows how Facebook, Google, Instagram and other apps track you, right down to your device's battery level and email you've sent. The majority of companies tracked users current location at all times when using the app. Major dating sites will share your data with affiliated dating sites, vpnMentor added, noting some also have access to your private messages to potential suitors. There are exceptions, though. Happn states that it does not keep track of users movements. "Instead, it only keeps track of when members are in close proximity and where they were when they crossed paths with another user," vpnMentor added.
Happn CEO Didier Rappaport Is Bringing Digital Dating to Life
EUROPEANCEO – Mar 7 – Happn, a dating app based on the premise of reprising chance meetings, is the product of serial tech entrepreneur Didier Rappaport. The app launched in 2014. "We now have 60M users around the world and Happn is the #2 most downloaded dating app worldwide," said Rappaport. After studying economics at the University of Bordeaux, Rappaport went into the family textiles business, where he was charged with sourcing materials from Asia to be sold across Europe. He created the world's first B2B marketplace for textiles, Textileeguide, in 1998. Then in 2005, he co-founded Dailymotion, the second-most popular video-sharing website in the world today. Rappaport stayed on as COO at Dailymotion until 2008, when he co-founded Nomao, a personalised social network based on geolocation technology. "It has never been so difficult to connect with people in real life than today," he said. "Most of the existing dating services are very virtual and often very time-consuming." Happn uses 'hyper-location' technology to proffer matches when users have crossed paths in real life. While users can use the service for free, premium features are available for purchase. When asked what advice Rappaport offers to aspiring entrepreneurs, he said: "It takes confidence, strong motivation and vision. You have to be ready and eager to go all the way, and then it's mainly about getting the help of the good people and always being two steps ahead."
US Dating Apps Woo Indian Market
FINANCIAL TIMES – Dec 30 – Bumble launched in India earlier this month, with the high-profile backing of Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. At the same time, Tinder has rolled out new features designed to cement its foothold in the country, where it has been operating since 2015. Happn, which matches app users who have crossed paths in real life, has become one of the most downloaded dating apps since coming to India last year. Yet the companies may find Indians difficult to woo. Homegrown matchmaking services with names such as Shaadi.com and Mumbai-listed Matrimony.com, which went public last year in a $78M listing, flourished in India since long before smartphones. According to Matrimony.com almost nine in 10 marriages in India are arranged. But Matrimony.com's share price has fallen 45% over the past year, and profits in the most-recent quarter fell 30% YOY to $1.9M. The foreign apps have yet to prove that the Indian market can be lucrative. Whitney Wolfe, Bumble's CEO and founder, said: "We're entering with purpose, with mission, with a really nuanced, customised product." Far more men in India use dating apps than women, who often stay away due to safety concerns and stigma. ~85% of Happn's users in India are men. But Bumble argues its women-first brand and safety features mean it is best placed to attract female users. In September, Tinder introduced a tool that also gave Indian women the prerogative to initiate a conversation with a match.
by Benjamin Parkin
See full article at Financial Times
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Dating App Happn Launches Happn Map
Dating Now Dominates The UK’s Top Grossing Lifestyle Apps
by Zen Terrelonge
See full article at EliteBusiness Magazine
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Happn Partners With Gameloft Advertising
PRESS RELEASE – July 10 – This partnership, with an international company like Gameloft Advertising Solutions, will allow Happn to optimize advertising revenue with a global reach on par with its presence around the world, and allow all brands to finally have access to its audience and its qualitative inventory. Launched in 2014, Happn is the first mobile dating app to use real-time geolocation to help you discover people users've crossed paths with in real life. To date, Gameloft Advertising Solutions has delivered ~3k campaigns for prestigious brands such as Air France, Coca-Cola, Ford, FOX™, Kellogg's, McDonalds and Netflix.