Tinder just released a web version of its ultra-popular dating app, letting people perform the infamous swipe-left-swipe-right dating gesture directly from the comfort of their own computers.
Tinder Online
The expansion signals that Tinder is no longer exclusively a mobile app. Called Tinder Online, the web version was made for developing markets whose phones might have limited storage. Everyone with a computer can eventually use it too, of course. Instead of swiping, however, users will drag profiles left or right to indicate whether they are interested in a person, or if they want to pass.
Tinder describes the web version as "your English professor's worst nightmare," letting users access and use Tinder in locations where smartphones are typically prohibited, like in a classroom or an office. Similar with the app, users can access Tinder Online using their Facebook profiles, though at present, the company is experimenting on accessing and activating Tinder using SMS via smartphones, but this method could only see its way onto certain markets.
How Tinder Online Is Different From The App
For beginners who haven't tried Tinder on mobile yet, setting up one's profile on the web version is a fairly similar affair. As Engadget instructs, you can write up a short and sweet bio charming enough to entice strangers-slash-onlookers looking for genuine romance (or sex, even) and top it off with a nice profile photo. From there, users can bask in the austerely rapid vehicle that is modern romance, where eternal love can grow from just both parties swiping in the right direction. It's like speed dating, but, you know, speedier.
You'd think a web version of a relatively uncomplicated app would involve no difficult task, but Brian Norgard, Tinder's Head of Product, says no. Speaking to TechCrunch, porting the app over to web version wasn't as easy affair, given its longtime residence on smartphones.
"Our DNA is mobile so there was a learning curve involved in building something for a bigger screen," he said. "What makes Tinder great on your phone might not make it great on the desktop, and vice versa."
Difficulty In Creating Tinder Online
In creating Tinder that's meant to be experienced on the web., the company applied a few key tweaks. In an effort to herald the dating aspect of the app instead off gungho speed "conquer-them-all" dating, the web app now prompts users to send a message if a match is found, over the typical "keep swiping!" prompt.
But of course, Tinder Online is a way for the company to appeal to more people, in hopes that it could expand the user base.
Tinder Online Availability
At present, Tinder Online doesn't come with support for Tinder's paid services, such as Tinder Boost or Super Like. Moreover, it appears to be still in its early testing period, only being made available in Argentina, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, Colombia, and Sweden. Why these countries were given the first test drive is unclear. If you are, however, living in one of these countries and want to try Tinder Online, you may do so via the official website.
Thoughts about Tinder Online? Will you be using it once its globally rolled out? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
