In this review, I will cover my experiences with Bumble.

Bottom line: Bumble is worth downloading and using, but I would not make it your main focus for dating.

Dating App Overview

Most famous for its feminist spin, Bumble is the dating app that puts the majority of the pursuing power in the hands of women. Launched in 2014 by a former Tinder employee, it shares a similar swipe interface layout to make matches. However, with Bumble, ladies must message first within 24 hours to keep a match with a male user.

Signup Process

Getting started on Bumble takes only a minute and allows for quite a bit of profile customization to set yourself apart on the app.

After filling out the basic information, you have the freedom to select your own “move makers”, aka prompts, to answer and add to your profile. The move makers feature allows you to add information that pertains to your unique personality and avoids overcrowding your profile with the prompts that don’t. Before you can start matching, you will need to verify your account via text message or phone call.

Once you’ve crafted the perfect profile, you will have to complete a questionnaire that will help Bumble’s algorithm populate users you might want to match with.

How to Locate Potential Matches

Similar to other swipe interface dating apps, Bumble will populate potential matches for you to swipe left to ignore, or right to potentially match. Both users must swipe right on each other in order to match.

If you come across a profile you’re especially interested in, you can use Bumble coins to “super swipe.” Your super swiped matches will be notified of your action by a badge display when they come across your profile.

It’s only after matching that the ladies of the app take the reins. In the case of heterosexual relationships, women have 24 hours to send the man a message before the match expires. According to Bumble, this feature was designed so that women can “talk first to set an equal tone from the start.” However, either party can message first in the case of same-sex couples.

Make sure to turn post notifications on for Bumble in your device settings. If you don’t respond to your match within 24 hours, they will disappear.

Unique App Features

Other than Bumble’s famous women message first functionality, the app has a bunch of other features that make finding matches easier.

• The questions game — Not sure how to strike up a conversation with your match? From the chat screen, you can select the “questions game” icon to find a prompt that you and your match both have to answer before the results are revealed. 
• Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz accounts — If you’re also interested in finding friends and business partners, you can add BFF and Bizz accounts and access them all in the same app.

Bumble Boost and Bumble Premium members also have access to features such as:

• Super swipe — lets your match know that you are especially interested in them.
• Spotlight — arranges your profile at the top of the stack so you will be seen more frequently.
• Backtrack — allows you to go back and swipe right on people you may have accidentally swiped left on.

What’s Included for Each Membership Level

If you aren’t interested in paying for a dating app, that is perfectly fine. Bumble allows users to do all of the basic functions like swipe, match, chat, and play the questions game for free. However, if you are interested in having access to more unique features, you will have to subscribe to a Bumble Boost or Bumble Premium membership.

Bumble Boost

• Unlimited swipes
• Time extension for matches
• Backtrack
• Five SuperSwipes per week
• One spotlight per week

Bumble Premium

• Unlimited swipes
• Time extension for matches
• Backtrack
• Five SuperSwipes per week
• One spotlight per week
• Travel mode
• Advanced filters
• Ability to rematch with matches that have expired