Dating apps are a dime a dozen. It's easy to get disenchanted by endless failed matches. One popular dating app that offers something unique compared to its competitors is Hinge.

What is Hinge? Hinge aims to get away from the mindless swiping culture by matching you based upon interests and preferences, and inspiring conversations from that. It's the dating app designed to be deleted.

Sounds good, right? If you're interested in an alternative dating app away from the usual options like Tinder or Bumble, here's an introductory guide to Hinge.

What Is Hinge?

Hinge is a dating app that launched in 2012 around the same time that Tinder arrived on the scene. At first, both apps were similar, focusing on swiping through vast amounts of profiles, though Hinge tried to pair you with friends of friends on Facebook.

The company found that only one in 500 Hinge swipes led to people exchanging phone numbers, and it wanted to change that. Thus, Hinge pivoted in 2015, rebranding as an app for people after relationships and "meaningful connections" rather than people looking for friendships or one-night stands.

Now, having acquired all shares in 2019, Hinge is owned by Match Group, the company responsible for Match, OkCupid, Tinder, and many more dating companies.

Creating a profile on Hinge is about more than just posting your photos. They're obviously important, but so are your virtues, vitals, and vices. These encompass things like your religious beliefs, political leanings, height, ethnicity, whether you have kids, if you drink or smoke, and more. There's even an option for setting your dating intentions on Hinge.

You also must answer some questions from a predefined list, known as prompts, which you respond to with video, voice, or text. This includes stuff like your best travel story, the dorkiest thing about you, or your irrational fear. The available prompts are refreshed regularly, with only those most likely to get a date being kept.

The purpose of all this is that it creates a well-rounded Hinge profile that reveals your personality and preferences. You don't swipe on someone's entire profile, but rather a specific element; you can also send a message alongside. It hopefully leads to better matches and sparks conversation. Just remember to avoid the classic online dating mistakes.

How Hinge Distinguishes From Other Dating Apps

Beyond the more detailed profile, Hinge has a number of approaches to try to drive quality connections over quantity.

Likes You

On other dating apps, it's sometimes tempting to swipe "like" on everyone just to see who has done the same for you. However, whether it's curiosity, ego, or something else, it's not conducive to meaningful matches.

Hinge does away with that. It specifically tells you who has liked you. When you get to their profile, a message appears at the top showing what it was about you that they liked. You can then immediately hop into a chat with them, if you wish.

Most Compatible

As you use Hinge, the app is learning your preferences. Occasionally, it will serve you someone that it rates as "Most Compatible". It's based on the Gale-Shapley algorithm, which originated in the 1960s, that pairs everyone in a group together with who they most prefer.

It's by no means perfect, but Hinge claims that you are eight times more likely to go on a date with a Most Compatible match than anyone else.

Your Turn

Your matches won't turn into anything more if you don't chat with them. In an effort to reduce ghosting, Hinge tags chats with "Your Turn" to prompt you to begin chatting or remind you that you haven't responded.

Chats that remain inactive for 14 days get collapsed down into a Hidden Chats section. You can still respond to unhide them, but the aim is that you don't have countless chats running at once that you're not invested in.

We Met

If you share your phone number with a match, Hinge will follow up a few days later and ask if you went on a date and whether you'd meet them again. The data is used to improve any future matches to try to pair you with similar people.

Hinge also links this data with cues like inactivity in the app or deletion of an account to signify a successful relationship. All of this improves Hinge's formula: the aim is not to find people who like the exact same things, but pair you off based on related interests.

How to Use Hinge for Dating

Hinge is available for Android and iOS. It's free, but does have an optional paid subscription service. You sign up with Facebook and import data from there, or use your phone number (which you must verify). So, how do you use Hinge?

The app guides you through the process to create your profile. You must upload six photos or videos and answer three prompts, then submit further information about yourself. The more information you provide, the more detailed the matches. You can also hide certain aspects from your profile if you like.

On a free account, you set your match preferences based on age range, distance, ethnicity, and religion.

Hinge then shows you one profile at a time, mixing their photos, answers, and personal information. Press the heart icon next to something on their profile to comment on it, then hope they match back with you. Alternatively, press the cross icon to move to the next profile. You can only like up to eight people per day, so use those hearts wisely.

Hinge's paid service, which it brands as a "Preferred Membership", lets you specify more match preferences like family plans, education, and drugs. It also lets you see a full list of everyone who likes you (without going through each profile in turn) and removes the daily like limit.

Moving On From Hinge

It might sound counterintuitive at first, but Hinge doesn't want you using the app for long. Tim MacGougan, former Chief Product Officer at Hinge, told MixPanel that the company wants people to quit the app because of a relationship they formed on it:

The first question most couples get [is] "How did you two meet?" When they say Hinge, that is the most authentic marketing, referral, and driver of growth that there could be.

So, why not give Hinge a chance? If all goes well, you'll quickly delete the app.

How to Increase Your Chances of Finding Love

To increase your chances of dating success, it's important you spend time perfecting your Hinge profile. Choose the best pictures, craft interesting or funny prompt responses, and fill out your information honestly. Good luck on your dating journey!