Bumble is one of the most recent apps to join the ranks of the swipe-able dating scene. Most dating happens online nowadays which means there are always new apps springing up out of the digital soup that is the internet, with the promise of helping you find the partner/hook-up/fuck-buddy of your dreams. Bumble, in a sense, is no different.
However, Bumble has put a few new twists on its functionality and has multiple purposes! Not only will Bumble help you find a boyfriend or girlfriend by obliterating gender roles by forcing women to message first, but it also can help you find a friend or even a job! Bumble has branded itself as more than a dating app… Bumble seeks to find your perfect match – whether that be a partner, job, or friend!
I – seeking to find the paramount dating app – joined Bumble to see just how well it works when it comes to dating! I figure I can find a friend on my own time since most people are worried about its effectiveness as far as finding a partner goes. Here are my thoughts:
First Impressions
I like the design of the app. Everything looks really sleek, and nothing is cluttered, it’s easy to adjust settings and swipe through users. If you go a little too far, don’t fret! Because you can simply shake your phone around in order to swipe back. Though you should be careful! Because you only get 3 swipes back at a time! They’ll refresh in 3 hours though.
I think that the set up of the message/match screen is interesting. I like that you can see all your unmessaged matches across the top with your messages with your matches underneath. Though, they do a good job of reminding you of your failures if you missed the time limit on previous matches by leaving them there grayed out. You can extend one match per day, or you can upgrade to rematch with them.
All and all, I like this app. I do get confused when switching back and forth from Bumble to something like Tinder as swiping up on Bumble allows you to view a profile, whereas swiping up on Tinder super likes someone… which can be embarrassing if you don’t mean to do it!
Features
The two features that set Bumble apart from the Tinder mobile or desktop app are that women must start the conversation and that your matches expire. Unlike most dating apps, Bumble allows you to stay matched with someone for 24 hours without messaging them. From the point you message them, they get another 24 hours to respond, or it goes away forever.
The whole app is pretty standard as far as bio and messaging go! You can send gifs back and forth in the messaging area. And you can pretty easily unmatch someone that – after a quick conversation – you’ve found to be a poor match. It does seem to be designed to get the conversation flowing, which is helpful for shy people!
Pricing and membership details
The pricing for Bumble is pretty steep when you compare it to other dating sites. Bumble Boost is their version of premium membership. This allows you to rematch however many times you’d like or to go back as many times as you’d like. You can also see who’s already matched you with this upgrade. However, it’s pretty steep at $8.99 per week. Though you can buy in bulk and save by getting 6 months for $79.99 (which comes to about $13.33 a month).
Your other option is The BumbleCoins. These allow you to unlock certain features like SuperSwipes, which are the Bumble equivalent to Tinder’s SuperLikes. These aren’t cheap either. They come to about $2 per coin. Though, again, you can buy in bulk and get 30 coins for about $35. Again, these upgrades aren’t really that cheap… And to be honest, I’m not entirely sure if they’re actually worth it!
I understand that it might be nice to see the people who have already liked you and that it’s nice to be able to swipe all willy-nilly without worrying about losing a redo. But is that really worth $160 per year? That’s a lot of money to spend on a dating app where there’s nothing really guaranteed.
Pros
Forced conversation: If you’ve been on any number of dating sites for any number of months, you’ve probably noticed that conversation takes a lot of effort. It’s really hard to get people talking on apps like Tinder! Tinder is one of those places where people collect matches but are usually silent when it comes to sending or answering messages.
By forcing the woman to message first, the site is not only shattering those guys-should-text-first expectations, but it’s forcing conversation… because if you don’t talk your match is going to go away! This really helps because if people are actually chatting it’s more likely that people will go ahead and meet up.
You can go back!: Honestly, just the ability to swipe back is enough to give Bumble a high rating! Why? Well, a lot of apps (think Tinder) won’t let you swipe back at all! You better not get too comfortable on those sites otherwise you’re screwed. Bumble gives you a little bit of a grace period of three swipe backs in three hours. So you can’t completely settle into that swiping motion, but there is still hope for you if you fuck up.
Though you can pay for swipe backs, you should try not to need them. Just swipe through slow, and you won’t find it necessary to open your wallet.
Random premium!: Okay, I’m not sure if this is because I, myself, am a lady… but I’ve been blessed with random premium! I swear that there was a stretch of time that I got free BumbleBoost. And I’m not going to lie… it was pretty nice! I swear that there was a stretch of about a month that I had free BumbleBoost. It’s probably a ploy to get people to upgrade, but I’m not going to complain!
Cons
But forced conversation…: Okay, so I know I just praised this app for making there be some aspect of the forced conversation, but to be completely honest… it’s tiring for women! It’s hard to come up with a conversation starter. And yes, I know a lot of men will argue that it’s about time since men have been worrying about conversation-starting since the beginning of time…
And to them I say, it still sucks! For women, it sucks because you’re constantly trying to start interesting conversations, but after a while, your greetings will start to sound canned. While the forced conversation can help, it often leads to the men thinking the women are boring as they read the same opening message from literally anyone.
There are apps that help prompt conversations like Hinge, which I think has come up with a great solution for first-message anxiety.
Too much pay-wall-ing: While I think that this app functions pretty well on its own, I’m tired of the paywalled bullshit! I think that for the features you’re paying for, it’s kinda bull! You’re not getting any real value… who cares that you get unlimited swipes back?! Why should that be something that has to be paid for?
Conclusion
I actually like Bumble. It’s less like Tinder in that the girl has to open up the conversation, so the girl gets to set the tone. And this is helpful for guys because it’ll let you know immediately who’s down to fuck and who are looking for something more serious. I feel like it’s a good balance between hookup apps like Down and serious relationship sites. The only thing that I think can be improved is what you’re paying for. Either the prices need to be lowered, or the perks need to be better!
4/5 Stars.