So, you’ve just sent a message on Hinge telling a joke you’re not sure is going to land. Or, worse, you’ve just said ‘Shall we get a drink next week?’ and you’re wondering at what point to start freaking out.
Well, firstly, you should be more specific than that when proposing a date. But more on topic – you want to know if Hinge sends read receipts. Of course, this also causes problems the other way around.
Maybe you looked at the ‘fancy a drink’ message hours ago and then got distracted by playing Animal Crossing. It happens to the best of us, no shame. But will your match be mortally offended? Can someone on Hinge see if and when you read their message?
Some dating apps have read receipts as standard. Some, like Tinder, let you purchase read receipts. Yep, you can spend $2.99 to find out if Amanda has opened your date request. Yikes!
Anyway, if you’ve got sucked into Animal Crossing, it might be suddenly urgent that you find out if Hinge has read receipts. Let’s find out what to know.
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Can Someone See If I Read Their Message On Hinge?
Apple, those ever-questionable innovators, invented read receipts back in 2011 and we’ve been checking our phones for a blue tick ever since. A source of paranoia and reassurance in equal measure, they’ve become ubiquitous across messaging platforms from Facebook to Instagram and WhatsApp. But what about Hinge?
So can someone see if I read their message on Hinge? No – Hinge users can’t see when you have read their messages. Hinge does not send read receipts. The app does send confirmation of delivery though, so you may have been caught out by a message-delivered notification.
This just means the message had got through, but not necessarily that it has been opened. You will be relieved to find that out if the hours of witty response brainstorming have turned into days and your reputation as a spontaneous raconteur is on the line.
So, on Hinge you’re in the dark. It’s like the olden days when you’d just send a message tied to a bird’s leg and hope it got there. Seems kind of primitive… but you have to trust Hinge!
In fact, with UX design as advanced as Hinge’s you soon start to believe there’s a reason for every little thing.
I mean, Hinge forces us to engage on a deeper level than Tinder and apparently gets us feeling good by showing an interest.
(Yes, the app makes us feel good by letting us talk about ourselves. I know how sad this is but, apparently, it’s the basis of some of Hinge’s success!)
And this makes dating a little more natural by stimulating the sorts of conversations we might have in real life.
Related: Is Hinge Free?
Don’t Stress Out About Read Receipts
Anyway, maybe not getting read receipts is a good thing. Hinge tells you your message has arrived so you know it’s not a tech problem, and then you can just wait like a damn normal person rather than seeing a read receipt and freaking out.
Oh my god, she hates me. She’s gone back to her ex. She’s been eaten by a shark. She’s showing all her friends my message. She’s showing her ex my message…
Nah, calm down! By gaining empathy and learning the art of flirtatious banter, my Hook Her Heart students have confidence that the messages they send are the right ones – so there’s no more freaking out that she’s taking it the wrong way!
But if you are still worried about her taking a screenshot and showing her ex, you’ll want to know if Hinge notifies users of screenshots.
What Happens When You Hide A Conversation On Hinge?
Introduced in 2017 as part of Hinge’s ‘Your Turn’ feature, the Hide a Conversation option in your Hinge inbox is designed to keep two places tidy. Your Hinge conversations tab, and your brain.
So what happens when you hide a conversation on Hinge? Hiding a conversation removes it from the visible conversations in your inbox. You can still access it and it will reappear if your match says something again.
Inactive chats are hidden automatically after 14 days and any new activity unhides them.
So if a conversation has stalled but you’re damned if you’re going to revive it again then you can set it aside until the other user thinks of something to say.
We all know that seeing conversations like that languishing in our inboxes can be irritating, and sometimes leads us to make bad decisions re: sending another message to someone who does not deserve our attention. And unmatching is so final. Plus, they’ll notice you’ve unmatched them, it’ll be a whole thing.
Just hide them instead, and if they earn a place with good chat they can renew their position in your good graces later! Your match won’t know they have been hidden, so there’s really no risk for you.
What’s ‘Your Turn’ On Hinge?
I thought you might ask after the explanation I just gave for hiding a conversation! Your Turn is a feature that was added to Hinge in 2017 to reduce the burden on the chattier partner to keep conversations going, or to open them when not feeling inspired.
So what’s ‘Your Turn’ on Hinge? It’s a tab at the top of your Hinge conversations that reminds you which Hinge matches you’re yet to reply to. By organizing your conversations by “Your Turn” and “Their Turn”, Hinge discourages ghosting and keeps the conversation flowing.
Hinge figured out that ghosting often happens when there’s too much pressure on someone to keep a chat going, or when temporary boredom turns into unmatching.
In initial trials, Your Turn managed to reduce ghosting behavior by a whopping 25%, so that’s pretty promising!
Whatever part of the chat burden irks you, you can flip the scenario on its head by inviting a user to start a chat after they have liked or commented on one of your prompt answers or amazing Hinge pics, or during a lull in an already active conversation.
Maybe you’ve been making all the effort recently, or maybe you simply do not have anything this evening but you still want to show interest. Either way, Your Turn is here to support you.
Does Hinge Show Inactive Users?
Hinge was the app designed to be deleted – but who actually gets around to deleting their profile? How many people just forget about it, letting it languish in the Discover feed, gathering futile likes…
So does Hinge show inactive users? Yes, but most of the users you see in your feed have been active within the last three days. Hinge says that seventy-five percent of users you see are active.
That does leave a quarter of the profiles you’re seeing potentially inactive and maybe even more if you are really plumbing the depths, hitting X on everyone, It’s really hard to find data on just how old they might be, but there’s also very little harm in messaging someone and not getting a reply, right?
Hinge’s policy here is a little mysterious, presumably because they want their app to seem as populated as possible, but a seventy-five percent chance of getting an active user when you like someone from your feed is pretty good.
With all that being said, Hinge is trialing a new feature called Last Active, which will show you when a user was last active while swiping.
Hinge also has an “Active today” tab in the Discover feed – but you have to subscribe to paid Hinge to access these online users.
Or you could also use your Hinge Standouts to find active users as it’s my guess that this exclusive list of Hinge’s creme de la creme is filtered by activity too.
Does Hinge Show If You’re Online?
Ah, the question of the little green dot. This is different from the pale blue dot although, actually, both are about being seen. One from space, the other on Hinge.
So does Hinge show if you’re online? Hinge’s Last Active feature indicates to other users if you are “Active Now” or were “Active Today”. You can turn it off to prevent others from seeing if you’re online.
Here’s how to turn off Last Active on Hinge:
- Open up the Hinge app.
- Tap your profile picture at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Tap Settings.
- Toggle “Show Last Active Status” to off. The tab will turn grey.
When you turn off Last Active you can no longer see when others were last active. Honestly, you shouldn’t spend too much time worrying if someone’s online on Hinge anyway!
Final Thoughts
Hinge doesn’t have read receipts, which means you can take your time to reply. It also means you can’t obsess over whether your match has seen your message.
And don’t overthink it. People have lives off the app, after all.
But if you find your conversations are fizzling out then maybe you need some more talking points in your profile. My totally free 6-Step Tinder Tune-Up is your one-stop shop for a Hinge profile overhaul.
It says Tinder, but it contains killer advice for every online dating site. Take better pictures, write better prompt answers and you’ll have better conversations. No more worrying about who’s read what!
