It doesn’t matter how high your self-confidence is, once you’ve gone through a dry period of matches on Hinge, you start reaching for the tinfoil hat and coming up with conspiracy theories.
You find yourself asking, does Hinge know how attractive you are? Or worse, does Hinge decide if you’re ugly?
Thankfully, you don’t have to walk around with your head wrapped up like a baked potato. Does Hinge know how attractive you are? The answer is no. But… it is a little bit more complicated than that.
So let’s dive into the ins and outs of Hinge, how the Hinge algorithm works, and what you can do if you’re only being shown unattractive people on Hinge!
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Does Hinge Know How Attractive You Are?
When you break it down, Hinge is basically just a big list of 1s and 0s. It’s probably going to have some pretty weird beauty standards – what is a piece of code going to find attractive? Complex logical chains? But I know that’s not exactly what you’re asking…
So does Hinge know how attractive you are? Sort of. The Hinge app gathers all sorts of data about the profiles you engage with and those that like you back. While it doesn’t pair profiles on “attractiveness”, it does effectively compare you to other people based on how your profile appeals to users.
Hinge may not know exactly how attractive you are, but that is what it’s trying to work out. It’s not based on your pictures, but on the kinds of interactions you’re having on the app. Hinge hopes it can work out not just the type of profiles you like, but the type that’s likely to end up in a perfect match.
By tracking when you liked that comment where someone confessed to loving pineapple on her pizza, or when you spent the whole night chatting about your favorite of the Marvel movies (it’s Thor: Ragnarok, don’t @ me) Hinge decides what works for you.
Of course, a lot more factors come into play here but, use the app often enough and Hinge will start to get a pretty good idea of how attractive you are – at least in terms of the app.
Aka, how often do people respond to you? How often do people like you? It may not be based on just looks, but it is an overall attractiveness score in itself I suppose.
So, rest assured, Hinge has not decided you’re physically unattractive. But, spend enough time being a jerk to every profile you find on the Hinge dating app, and it might decide your personality is ugly enough to put your profile in a less desirable category.
How Does Hinge Know Your Type?
Hinge is described as the app ‘designed to be deleted’, and that’s in part because it aims to match you not just with the people you like, but the people who will like you back.
How does Hinge know your type? The app looks at the prompts you respond to, the photos you like, and how popular the profiles you take an interest in are on the wider Hinge dating site. At a more basic level, it’s responding to the filters you put in place.
Compared to places like Tinder and Bumble, which are primarily tracking how swipe-happy you get, the Hinge dating app asks you to be just a little more considered with each profile.
Hinge has a pretty advanced set of filters to choose from, allowing you to sift for things like age and proximity, but also religion, ethnicity, or if they’re happy to split dessert at dinner (alright, I might have made that last one up).
Go premium on Hinge with Hinge+ or HingeX (formerly known as Hinge Preferred), and you’ll get access to even more advanced filters including:
- height
- whether someone has children
- whether someone wants children
- politics
- drinking
- smoking
- drug use
But remember, too many narrow filters can prevent potential matches from showing up. Ease up a little. No match is PERFECT, and you never know who could surprise you.
And Hinge agrees. Its Most Compatible feature, which each day presents you with the person it views as someone you’re incredibly likely to hit it off with, may surprise you with the kind of person it suggests.
But keep an open mind! During testing, couples that were matched by Most Compatible were 8 times more likely to swap phone numbers, compared to those who matched elsewhere on the app.
Does Hinge Have An Algorithm?
Hinge claims to be a little different from the average swipe-fest dating app. They want to bring you higher-quality matches that lead to real-life dates.
So does Hinge have an algorithm? Yes. According to the app’s director of relationship science Logan Ury, Hinge uses a version of the Gale Shapley algorithm, which not only tries to show users people it thinks they’ll like, but people it thinks will like them back too.
The Gale-Shapely algorithm is so smart it literally won a Nobel prize, so you’re in safe hands. If algorithms had hands.
And in fact, a basic understanding of just how the algorithms work can make a huge difference to the way you use these apps, and how attractive the app views you as being.
How Does The Hinge Algorithm Work?
You don’t need to be a computer science major to get to grips with the algorithms of popular dating sites (I mean, thank God, or that’d make my job a lot harder!).
So how does the Hinge algorithm work? The Gale-Shapely algorithm finds optimal matches by balancing things you value in a partner with the preferences of other users. It pairs you based on the profiles you interact with, the prompts you give likes to, and the interactions that turn into long conversations, as well as how other people respond to your profile.
Hinge even tries to gather data on whether users have had a first date – and in your Hinge conversations, you’ll sometimes encounter a prompt asking if you’ve met offline.
When you initially start using Hinge, you’ll be shown the newest profiles, as Hinge tries to work out the attractiveness of its new members.
If you’re looking to meet the ideal partner on there, you’d better have your profile in good shape from the day you start.
So, if you’re concerned about how your Hinge profile has been positioned by the algorithm, try making some basic changes to your profile such as:
- Updating Photos: make sure you have a full set of clear photos of yourself, even if that means having to ask a friend to take a couple of glamorous headshots for you.
- Interesting Profile: You need a great Hinge profile so avoid clichéd answers to prompts. Yes, we know the secret to getting to know you is to ‘just ask’, but maybe you could ‘just tell them’. If you need additional tips on exactly how to be interesting, take a look at my 6-Step Tinder Tune-Up. It has Tinder in the title, yes, but the advice is applicable across the board.
- Location: It’s easiest to find matches if you’re somewhere densely populated. The more remote you are, the fewer matches are coming your way.
A few improvements can improve suggested profiles on Hinge in a big way.
How Does Hinge Decide Who Sees You?
It’s a little spooky having an algorithm gate-keeping your potential partner. At least in a bar or club, you’re free to walk up to the most attractive person in the room and try your luck!
So how does Hinge decide who sees you? The Hinge app decides who sees you based on how likely it thinks they are to like you back. It doesn’t pair users based on one-way attraction, but mutual compatibility.
So if you want to be seen by the hottest Hinge users, you’ll need a profile that appeals to them. My Hook Her Heart clients are discovering exactly how to do that.
How Does Hinge Decide Who To Show You?
I commonly get guys worried that Hinge is only showing them unattractive profiles. Whereas Tinder might show you hot profiles to keep you swiping, your Hinge feed is based on the chance of mutual attraction.
So how does Hinge decide who to show you? Hinge won’t just show you good-looking profiles it thinks you’ll like. It shows you profiles that it thinks you have a good chance of matching with, so it’s based on who is likely to like you back.
If you’re worried about the quality of your matches on Hinge, then it’s time for a profile do-over. Upgrade those pictures and fix up those prompts.
Does Hinge Show You Everyone?
As you’ve hopefully seen in this article, Hinge isn’t going to show you everyone on the dating app. And it’s not because it has made a decision on how physically attractive you are!
So does Hinge show you everyone? No, Hinge wants you to take it a little slower. The profiles you see will be, for the most part, profiles of potential partners that the app thinks you will really hit it off with.
On top of that, to make sure you’re really considering each like and message and potential match, a free Hinge account only allows you 10 likes per day!
That’s nothing compared to apps like Tinder – I’ve seen friends on Tinder get through that many in 3.2 seconds.
If that sounds a little constrictive, you can get unlimited likes by upgrading to Hinge+ or Hinge X. The cost of Hinge’s premium membership ranges from:
- $29.99 (for one month of Hinge+)
- $59.99 or $19.99/month (for three months of Hinge+)
- $89.99 or $14.99/month (for six months of Hinge+)
- $49.99 (for one month of HingeX)
- $99.99 or $33.33/month (for three months of HingeX)
- $149.99 or $24.99/month (for six months of HingeX)
Hinge uses dynamic pricing, so while these prices were correct at the time of writing, but are subject to change.
This will allow you unlimited likes, and you can tap away until your thumbs start to ache. Hinge Premium users also get access to all their Hinge Standouts, which is your straight shot to the best profiles on Hinge.
Final Thoughts
Hinge isn’t looking at your jawline or how much hair you have and ranking you out of ten. Don’t worry about that sort of thing.
What it is doing, however, is seeing how you use the app and how people respond to you.
It’s less about how attractive you are, but instead what kind of people are attractive to you. With an engaging dating profile that leads to great conversations, you’ll be bumped up Hinge’s ranking and see more attractive people in the app.
And for that engaging profile? Check out my 6-Step Tinder Tune-Up. It’s an instant profile upgrade for ALL dating sites and will help you tailor your pictures and bios to get more matches.
If you want to find success on Hinge, check it out. Prompt-ly!
