Bumble is making significant changes to its core messaging feature, allowing men to initiate conversations for the first time since the app’s launch. According to founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd during a recent earnings call, all users will soon be able to send an opening message by default, though responses are required before further interaction. The company is also extending the response window from 24 to 72 hours, addressing user feedback about time constraints. These modifications will roll out globally by month’s end and have already shown promising results in testing, with increases in message initiation and mutual conversations.
The shift marks a departure from Bumble’s original 2014 premise as a female-first alternative to Tinder, where women held the exclusive right to message first in heterosexual matches. The platform has been gradually moving away from this positioning, previously introducing Opening Moves that allowed men to respond to profile prompts. Bumble plans to enhance the overall user experience by introducing an AI assistant called Bee and developing a new event-discovery feature called Plans as a standalone application.
The company faces headwinds with declining revenue and user numbers in recent quarters. Additional planned updates include a redesigned swipe feature and simplified subscription tiers, with details about the new swipe replacement still under wraps. Premium features like “Like You” will receive limited free access to improve engagement. These comprehensive changes are scheduled to roll out through early 2027.
Originally reported by Mashable →
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