Hinge is one of the best dating apps on the web. It stands alongside Tinder, Bumble, and match.com. The demographic group this online dating app is aiming to attract is Generation Z and the millennials.
The main value of the Hinge app is quality over quantity. That means that Hinge users don’t see a huge number of potential Hinge matches but fewer of them that are the most compatible with them, according to the exquisite algorithm.
Is Hinge the best dating app for you?
Statistically speaking, probably not. People who follow our app recommendations have 2 times as many dates on average compared to using Hinge.
The slogan of the company is: ‘The dating app designed to be deleted’. The idea behind it is that everyone deserves love that goes past a hookup (like BeNaughty or Ashley Madison) and goes on to become a long-term relationship (like eHarmony or Tinder), after which the app is no longer needed.
The Hinge online dating platform was created by the company’s CEO Justin McLeod in 2012, evolving from an app that was used to make a list of Facebook friends a person likes.
Hinge features are unique. Unlike some other dating sites, it doesn’t have a million different options asking you to go into irrelevant details. Hinge’s features are intuitive, easily understood, and to the point. In this text, we will present them to you.
If you are thinking about opening a Hinge account, you will be able to make a good judgment about it because we will tell you all about:
Getting Started with Hinge
Hinge is a smartphone app, which means that there isn’t a desktop version to open on your PC or laptop.
You can create an account by using your Facebook profile or your phone number.
The easiest way to do this is to just connect with your Facebook account and have your information found on Facebook transfer to Hinge. Note that, for this, you need to have at least 60 Facebook friends. This is a measure against catfishers or spammers.
In case you are using your phone number, you will need to enter some personal information, such as name, age, height, ethnicity, etc.
You will need to upload 6 photos or short videos of yourself. This number is also a kind of protection against catfishers.
There will be a list of more than 80 Hinge Prompts (questions), and you are obliged to answer three. They are limited to 150 characters. They are there to help potential matches to see whether they like you.
Discover
Discover is a feed where you see suggestions for the profiles that are the most compatible with yours. Its icon is the H on the navigation bar.
When you go to this tab, you will not see the whole match group, but one profile at a time. When you do a Hinge profile review, you need to choose between ‘like’ or ‘pass’ for each of them before moving on to the next suggestion.
The Most Compatible feature is there for you once every day. It is shown at the top of your Discover feed.
You get one suggestion, one profile that you are paired with by an advanced algorithm, based on where you place your likes and comments and on who likes and comments on your profile.
This is a two-way street, so the suggested person is not only compatible with your preferences, but you are also compatible with theirs.
Dealbreakers
Dealbreakers are traits that are important for you because you don’t want to date a person who has them. This feature is very important because of its impact on the choice of potential matches for you.
When you set a Dealbreaker, you will not see any profile that has this trait included. If you don’t set it, though you will be shown people with your preferences, others will appear in your feed as well.
One situation where Dealbreakers are automatically set is when you make a choice in the I’m Interested In field.
Like
Unlike the most popular dating apps, Hinge doesn’t use swiping. Instead, you can like a person’s profile or prompt. This new feature was introduced to Hinge in 2016.
Hinge users that are using the free version can send 8 Hinge Likes per day. The reset time is 4:00 am, local time.
The users of Hinge Preferred don’t have a limitation of the number of Likes that they can send.
The icon you need to tap for this is the red heart found on the photos/videos and prompts. Then, confirm your like by clicking the button Send Like. Between these two steps, you can write a comment. It was calculated that leaving a comment gives you three times more chances to get a response.
If you want to see the people who liked you, there is a Likes You tab. If you have the free Hinge, you can browse through this list one profile by one and either like it back (they become your Match) or skip it (they disappear). If you have a subscription, you will have the option All where you can see everyone who liked you together.
What may happen is that you see that someone liked your profile, but the like disappears before you respond to it. That happens when that person deletes their account.
You cannot see the Likes you sent.
If you like someone and they like you back, you two will become a Match, and you can start messaging each other.
Messaging
You can chat with people you are matched with. You can get to the Matches tab from your navigation bar. The icon is a speech bubble. There are three main features that you should know about.
a. Your Turn
This is a great feature designed to cut down on ghosting. People establish a better connection when they reply to each other in a timely manner.
Sometimes, if you are engaged in many chats, you may accidentally skip someone whom you don’t want to ghost. The chat itself can somehow slip through your fingers and you may lose a valuable match.
However, on Hinge, there are two places where you can find the notification that it is your turn to chat. One is a red badge/counter that appears on the Hinge app icon on your home screen. The number that appears is a sum of your new likes, matches, and chat turns.
The second is a blue badge/counter that appears on the Matches tab when you open the Hinge relationship app. This number indicates in how many conversations it is your turn to respond.
You may not be interested in continuing the conversation. If this is how you generally feel about the person in question, you may unmatch them. If, on the other hand, you don’t want to answer right away but don’t want to remove the person either, you can hide the chat.
b. Hidden Chats
When you hide a chat, you are not removing the person from your matches, you are just removing a chat from the main view. To find the hidden chats, just scroll down to the bottom part of the view where you will find the option Hidden with the number of hidden chats written in the brackets.
A chat is hidden automatically if there is no activity for 14 days.
Also, if someone from a hidden Hinge chat messages you, it will appear at the top of the main view, as if it hadn’t been hidden.
c. Blocking or Removing a Match
To do these two actions, click the three dots at the top of the screen and choose Unmatch or Report, as you want.
If you chose Report, after tapping it, you will be asked to choose the reason. The options are ‘Inappropriate Profile,’ ‘Inappropriate Messaging,’ ‘Fake Profile,’ and ‘Other.’ This is anonymous.
Before you go about unmatching or reporting someone, you should know that these are permanent actions and you two will not see each other’s profile any more. Once you do this, you will disappear from that person’s Conversation and Match.
Video Chat
The option of a video chat is great because, even if you are far away from your match or you are in some other way prevented from seeing them in person, you can still communicate in the best way possible.
This option appears after you have sent one another at least one message each. The comment sent alongside a Like is not included in this. Only after two messages have been sent will the Video Chat option become available.
The reason for this requirement is a minimum communication before a Hinge call, a chance for you two to be polite and respectful towards one another.
To start a video call, tap the camera icon on the upper right of your chat. To start a voice call, tap the phone icon.
Video Prompts
When you start a video chat with one of your matches, you will have the chance to use some of the provided video prompts.
There are 8 themes with 5 prompt cards each. They are used as conversation starters, to ease up the flow into a pleasant conversation.
Both people can see the Video Prompt icon and tap them. However, the person who taps the icon can choose the theme and switch between the cards.
Roses
Hinge Roses are basically super likes. You can send them to anyone from your Discover and Standouts feeds. Roses are shown at the top of a person’s feed, making it virtually impossible for them not to notice you.
The steps to sending a Rose from the Discover feed:
- Find a red heart on a photo or a Prompt answer.
- Tap the heart.
- Optionally, write a comment. This is not obligatory, but it is a great idea.
- Ignore the Send Like button. Tap the Rose icon to send it.
The steps to sending a Rose from the Standouts:
- Find a red heart on a photo or a Prompt.
- Write a comment if you want.
- Tap the Rose button to send it.
The members of the Hinge Preferred subscription get one free Rose every week. However, they are not accumulated. If this week’s Rose isn’t used, it will not be transferred to next week. So it is wise to use it, or you will lose it.
Can you send more Hinge roses per day? Yes, Roses can be bought as well and more than one can be spent in one day. To do it, once you have spent the free one, tap the Rose icon and follow the steps.
Standouts
This is another kind of feed where you can see the people who stand out and get the most attention, according to their prompts. The people who appear here are chosen by the Hinge Standouts algorithm based on your actions (people whose profiles you liked and commented on).
This feed is refreshed every day. The profiles you see there may or may not be on your Discover feed, there is no guarantee.
You can access the Hinge Standouts feed by tapping the star icon that is located on the navigation bar in the lower part of the screen.
You can send Roses to the people in this feed, but you cannot like them. Remember that these people are chosen to be here because they are popular on Hinge, so if you are interested in some of them, don’t waste time and connect with them.
‘Next Refresh’ shows how much time you have left for interaction with a Standout profile before new ones are shown.
Boost
Boost is used to make your profile exposed to more daters. One boost lasts one hour. You will get a notification at the end of this period.
Other Hinge users cannot see that you are using Boost, nor can you see if someone else is using it.
Steps and effects of a Boost:
- To activate it, click the Boost button that is located on the top part of your Likes You screen.
- The button will become a timer counting down until the Boost expires.
- If you get a like that resulted from your Hinge Boost review, you will see a small lightning bolt next to the name of the user who placed the Like.
- If that Like becomes a Match, there will be a lightning bolt next to that person’s name.
We Met
The We Met feature was created to help Hinge work best and choose the most compatible matches for you.
It is activated a couple of days after you exchange phone numbers with someone through the Hinge dating app.
You will be asked, regarding that person, whether you have gone on the first date and whether you would like to see that kind of person again.
Even if you haven’t gone on a date yet, but do it later, you can access the We Met feature in the Matches tab, next to the person in question, and update the situation.
These answers are private and their purpose is to adjust the choice of your future matches on the site.
You can use this feature to unmatch or report a person as well.
Hinge Features and Other Social Media
You can connect your Hinge profile with other social media platforms – Instagram and Facebook. Here are the steps to enabling Instagram for the two smartphone operating systems.
iPhone and other iOS devices:
- Open the Hinge app.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap the pencil icon.
- Find My Account at the bottom of the page.
- Tap Recent Instagram Feed. The icon should be purple.
- Save by tapping Done.
Android devices:
- Open the Hinge app.
- Go to Settings.
- Tap the pencil icon.
- Find My Account at the bottom of the page.
- Find Recent Instagram Feed option. Tap the word next to it to toggle to Visible.
- Save by tapping the arrow in the top left corner.
The same process can be used for Facebook as well as Instagram. It can be used to connect or disconnect those platforms – just toggle the buttons on or off respectively.