Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined …
Hinge’s new feature makes it easier for you to be upfront about your dating intentions
Hinge is introducing a new “Dating Intentions” profile feature that is designed to encourage users to be upfront about their expectations. With the launch of this new feature, users can select a dating goal to be displayed on their profile. You can select from one of the following optio…
Hinge’s latest feature aims to help users spark conversations about self-care
Dating app Hinge is introducing a new “Self-Care Prompts” feature that is designed to inspire initial conversations between matches about self-care priorities. Hinge’s in-app prompts are conversation starters that users answer as part of their profiles and are displayed to potenti…
Flox, an app to help friend groups meet each other, is wooing college students in NYC
There’s nothing like the growing pains of new adulthood, but for college-aged Gen Zers who have spent these formative years in lockdown, it can be even more difficult to form meaningful friendships. While attending Columbia University remotely during the pandemic, first-generation college stu…
Hinge launches a new ‘Voice Prompts’ feature to give users a new way to interact
Hinge is rolling out a new “Voice Prompts” feature to give its users a new way to connect with their matches. Voice Prompts will allow users to answer a prompt through a 30-second voice recording. The new feature is rolling out globally starting today. Hinge says the new feature allows …
The public markets have been so active lately that it’s hard to drum up excitement for yet another company making its way to the bull market. But, in the case of Bumble, a dating app where women message first, next week’s public debut is worth paying attention to. The market for dating startups has…
Match beta test targets dating app complaints like frustration with swiping, ghosting
Match today is introducing new features that aim to address some of users’ complaints with modern-day dating apps — like how much time it takes to find a relevant match and how frustrating it is when users ghost one another after the initial conversation fades. As part of a new strategy…
TikTok says ‘Project Texas’ will bolster security for U.S. users in wake of China data access concerns
Over the weekend, TikTok wrote to Republican Senators to assure them that it’s working on a program called “Project Texas” to bolster data security for U.S.-based users. This was in response to the Senators’ letter to the company dated June 27 that questioned its data access…