Tinder introduced the Tinder Feed in 2017 as a trial feature, and in 2018 there was a full rollout. The Feed inspired a lot of press and fanfare, as Tinder doesn’t often come up with a big new feature.
The idea of the Tinder Feed was to allow users to see their matches’ activity all in one place, in as close to real-time as possible.
So, once you’re matched with someone on Tinder you’ll see their Tinder activity like changes to their pictures or profile, and also their social media activity on any accounts linked to Tinder.
So, their Insta posts mostly.
The reaction to Tinder Feed was mixed once people had actually had a go, with many of us groaning about another app trying to sidestep into the realm of social media, and the idea of seeing what a match from three years ago was listening to on Spotify Premium every time they plugged their earbuds in.
But you know what? You get used to things.
And being able to comment on your matches’ activity turned out to be a pretty good way to ignite, or reignite, a little bit of flirting.
I mean, Tinder implied that you might work out that last night’s hazily remembered match was actually your soulmate through seeing photos of their weekend and, I dunno, realizing you’re both listening to the same Mountain Goats track on Monday afternoon?
It didn’t live up to that, obviously. But the Feed was kind of fun.
Yes, I’m talking about our beloved friend… okay, our friendly acquaintance, the Tinder Feed in the past tense. In 2020, the Tinder Feed was removed from the app unceremoniously in a mass update.
So yeah, Tinder did remove the feed feature in 2020. You will no longer find it when you tap on your matches tab. You’ll have to find some other way to slide into people’s DMs.
I mean, if commenting on activity is really what gets you going, maybe you should try Hinge? I’ve written a guide about it and everything.
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How To Access Tinder Feed
Your Tinder Feed used to be accessible through the Matches tab, where you would find an option to click on Feed. A red dot would indicate that your feed held new delights, like pictures of that girl you went on a date with last summer’s puppy.
You can’t remember her name… was it Pippy or are you just thinking about puppies now? Oh hang on, this is Tinder, it’s right in front of you. Ah, Pamella! Well, the date didn’t go amazingly well, but it also wasn’t terrible.
And the puppy is extremely cute. A little comment couldn’t hurt, right…
But all that is gone now. The Tinder Feed feature was quietly removed in 2020, and no one is really sure why. Presumably what happened in the Feed must have stayed in the Feed, not translating to more Tinder use overall.
Or else, you were the only one using it. Everyone else found it creepy. I guess we’ll never know which!
New Tinder Features
As I’m sure we are all absolutely sick of hearing by now, 2020 was a year full of change.
Unprecedented change, in fact… anyway, Tinder’s 2020 updates added a couple of features as well as getting rid of Feed (ah, Feed, I never appreciated you until you were gone, and I could no longer watch, perplexed, as the weird tall girl from my English lectures four years ago inexplicably uploaded the same photo four times and then, I think, deleted it again? People are weird).
They, predictably enough, created their own video chat service, Tinder Face to Face. I’m sure it did well in 2020, but who knows if it will translate to non-pandemic life. I mean… you know… when that happens.
Tinder also found themselves inspired by other successful dating apps.
They introduced prompts in May, which are so clearly an idea nicked from Hinge that they didn’t even bother giving them a different name (okay, I know a ‘prompt’ is an actual thing with dating apps, but you still think they might try to differentiate themselves.
I guess life is hard as a top dating-app dog and they simply didn’t have time for that marketing meeting!) and then they introduced real-time photo verification hot on the heels of Bumble.
So now your lucky matches can at least know they’re talking to a real person.
They might think you’re boring and/or ugly, but they will know that you’re real! I’m kidding, you look great, honestly, the past year has hardly taken a toll at all…
