MASHABLE – Hinge has released its first audiobook as part of its No Ordinary Love campaign. Five authors wrote and narrated stories about real couples who met on Hinge, with the couples adding their own epilogues. The audiobook is available on Spotify, Apple Audiobooks, Libro.fm, Libby, Barnes & Noble Audiobooks, and Substack. Written versions are also available on Substack.
MASHABLE – Singles are increasingly meeting through shared hobbies and activities, according to Eventbrite. Events using “meet cute” language grew 117% year over year. Trivia nights, mahjong, birdwatching, Pilates socials, plant swaps and pottery workshops are gaining popularity. Eventbrite also found that 58% of young adults prefer socializing to be a secondary part of an event rather than its main purpose. This suggests that singles favor relaxed settings over formal dating events.
MASHABLE – Ditto has raised ~$9M for its AI matchmaking service, which operates through iMessage and sends verified college students one match each week. The system analyzes user preferences, conversations, interactions and post-date feedback, with Ditto claiming that 65% of matches lead to dates. Founded by Berkeley dropouts Eric Liu and Allen Wang, the company is expanding through campus marketing and in-person events, including run clubs, reading clubs and planned yacht parties across the U.S.
MASHABLE – Archer, the gay dating app launched by Match Group in 2023, will shut down on June 17. The closure follows Match’s recent $100M investment in gay app Sniffies and signals a shift in focus within its LGBTQ+ portfolio. Archer positioned itself as a more relationship-oriented alternative to hookup apps and reached ~685K downloads in its first year, but struggled to gain meaningful scale in a market dominated by competitors such as Grindr.
MASHABLE – Hily is pushing back against the dating industry’s AI trend by promoting “Human Intelligence” (HI) instead. The move comes as apps like Bumble and Tinder invest more heavily in AI features. According to Hily’s August 2025 survey, 69% of Gen Z and 74% of millennials believe AI makes dating less authentic. More than half said they would be less attracted to someone if they thought AI had been used to create their profile. Despite this, many daters still use AI to write bios or suggest conversation starters. Hily says it will use technology where useful, but does not want AI to replace the human side of dating.
MASHABLE – Pure’s new feed is even more colorful and easy for users to express themselves in the loudest way possible. Users choose their profile’s aesthetic and color pattern with a single tap: bright pink, periwinkle, black, and more. The new redesign prioritizes one profile at a time; there’s no grid in sight. There’s a new “Mutual Turn-Ons” view. Pure wrapped up 2025 with close to $100 million in gross revenue and a 95% year-over-year increase in registrations. Revenue grew 46% year-over-year in 2025.
MASHABLE – New Tinder users in the UK must complete a facial scan to sign up, using a feature called Face Check. Users take a video selfie, which is checked against their profile photos and used to detect duplicate accounts, after which they receive a verification badge. The requirement is already in place in the U.S., Canada, Australia, India, and other regions. The rollout follows earlier verification steps, including photo, video, and ID checks, and aligns with new UK regulations such as the Online Safety Act.
MASHABLE – CasualX is a dating app focused exclusively on casual, no-strings-attached encounters, positioning itself as an alternative to platforms where users seek serious relationships. It offers standard swiping and a social “moments” feed, manual profile review to reduce fakes, and privacy features like private albums and app locks. The app targets users looking for hookups or friends-with-benefits and gained early traction with tens of thousands of users and high daily match activity.
MASHABLE – Coffee Meets Bagel’s 2025 Dating Realness Report, based on a survey of 1K U.S. daters aged 21–35, finds that most people are serious about relationships. 61% want a spouse and 31% want a long-term partner, but 93% say dating is difficult. The biggest pain points are endless swiping (54%), ghosting or unmatching (47%), and not knowing how to start conversations (43%). 80% are comfortable with AI helping with dating tasks, but 65% would be less likely to engage with someone if they knew that person used AI to write their profile or messages. Emotional connection is a must for 73%, ahead of physical attraction (63%), shared values (59%), and ambition (57%).
MASHABLE – In May, Match Group acquired HER, a dating app for queer women, nonbinary, and trans sapphics. While things have been relatively quiet since the buy-out, HER did roll out a new feature this summer called “Feelings”, which are short-term status tags like “Flirty” or “Go on a date” that appear across profiles, chats, and matches. Users can select up to three tags, each with optional notes, and these expire after 48 hours. The goal is to reduce awkward intros, clarify intentions, and make conversations feel more natural.
Curated by the Courtland Brooks team