Apple makes dating apps 18+, Hinge tests a cheaper plan
This fortnight Apple moved every dating app to 18+, Hinge started testing a cheaper plan, and Tokyo’s AI matchmaker counted 337 marriages.
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Apple makes every dating app 18+ by January 12
Apple will rate every dating app 18+, and app owners must confirm it by January 12, 2027. The rule also covers AI companions that offer romantic or sexual chat.
From November 16, the App Store age questionnaire gets a new “Dating and Relationships” question. You answer it with your next app update. A second new question asks if your app shares a user’s location with other people. In Brazil, local law sets the same 18+ rating for dating apps.
Teenagers lose access to romance apps. Their parents lose one argument.
Do this week: plan one app update before January 12 and answer the new question in it.
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Why is Hinge testing a cheaper plan?
Hinge wants more women and price-sensitive users to pay. Match Group’s finance chief said so on the quarterly call on November 2.
The new plan adds extra filters and lets users set the area where they meet people. The price is not public yet. Hinge already earns about $30 per payer, almost twice as much as Tinder. Its paying users grew 23% to 2.3 million, while Tinder’s revenue fell 2% to $480 million.
81% of singles want proof that a profile is real
Verified profiles now help singles choose an app. In a Harris Poll of 892 US singles, 81% said they would be much more likely to use an app where every profile is confirmed as a real person.
74% have suspected that a match was not real. 70% would rather match with an average-looking real person than with a very attractive unverified one. Height, the classic dating filter, was the top factor for only 4%. The survey was ordered by World, a company that builds tools to prove a user is a real person.
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Momo’s owner buys control of Inner Circle
Hello Group, the Chinese company behind Momo, Tantan and happn, bought a majority stake in Inner Circle. The Amsterdam app has nearly 9 million members, mostly in Europe and Latin America.
The price and the size of the stake were not disclosed. Inner Circle keeps its name, its Amsterdam office and EU data rules. Hello Group adds technology and product support. Inner Circle is known for choosing who gets in. This time it was chosen.
Replika’s founder raises $55 million for an AI made for groups
Eugenia Kuyda, who founded the AI companion Replika in 2017, raised $55 million for her new company Wabi. The round was led by IVP and values Wabi at $1.25 billion.
Wabi is an AI assistant for friends, couples and families. It builds small shared apps for trip plans, meal plans and date nights. The founder of one of the first big AI companions now bets on AI that people use together.
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How many marriages has Tokyo’s AI matchmaker made?
337, by the end of September 2026. TOKYO Enmusubi, the city’s AI matchmaking service, started in September 2024 and has about 17,000 members.
It asks people about their values and wishes, then suggests partners. This year Tokyo spends about ¥700 million ($4.4 million) on matchmaking, more than double last year. The money also pays for events for singles.
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UK dating subscriptions must be easy to cancel from January 1
New UK rules for paid subscriptions start on January 1, 2027, and they cover dating apps. The draft rules went to Parliament on October 19.
A user who signs up online must be able to cancel online. Apps must send a reminder before a renewal and when a free trial turns paid. After a trial or a yearly renewal, users get 14 more days to cancel. An email address for cancellations will likely not be enough.
Do this week: check that a UK user can cancel in your app without writing to support.
Viber Dating doubled its users in the Philippines
A dating feature inside a messenger grows fast where the messenger is already popular. In the Philippines, monthly users of Viber Dating grew 96.9% in a year, against 44% worldwide.
Viber added dating in February 2025. Revenue in the Philippines grew 95.6% this year, and the country gives 56% of all new Viber Dating profiles. Each user gets a separate dating profile, so the family group chat stays out of it.
That’s the fortnight. See you in two weeks.
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