Dating platform Bumble has fundamentally altered its core feature by allowing all users to initiate conversations, effective immediately. Previously known for its women-first messaging model, the app now permits anyone to send the opening message. Accompanying this shift, the response window has been extended from 24 hours to 72 hours, giving recipients more time to engage with incoming messages.
The modification stems from extensive user research and feedback. A survey of over 2,200 women conducted in August 2024 revealed that approximately 66 percent preferred men to initiate contact, citing reduced pressure in dating interactions. Additional research from February through March 2025 involving 2,000 active dating app users aged 18-35 found that roughly two-thirds of both genders felt more confident when given flexibility in choosing when and how conversations begin. Early testing in Canada from June through July 2026 showed 92 percent of women maintained a sense of control over their dating experience.
Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd framed the change as an evolution rather than abandonment of the company’s founding principles. She emphasized that prioritizing women’s needs in platform design benefits all users, and that offering flexibility aligns with current demands for less pressure and more meaningful connections. The shift represents the latest development in Bumble’s ongoing transformation, following 2022’s decision to allow nonbinary users to message first and 2024’s introduction of Opening Moves for men.
Bumble continues expanding beyond its core platform with Plans, a forthcoming standalone application for real-world event coordination and post-event matching, alongside an upcoming AI dating assistant called Bee.
Originally reported by Mashable →
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