A popular dating app is changing two major rules that helped define its identity for more than a decade.
The changes come as dating platforms face growing scrutiny from users discussing their frustrations with dating apps and how they have reshaped dating behavior on online forums. But despite the complaints, many people continue to use them.
Research from the Pew Research Center found that 46% of Americans who have used a dating site or app describe their overall experience as very or somewhat negative, compared with 53% who describe it as very or somewhat positive.
Now, one of the industry’s best-known dating apps is making significant changes across its platform in an effort to address some of those frustrations and improve the user experience.
Founded in 2014, Bumble became known for requiring women to initiate conversations in heterosexual matches, a feature designed to give women more control over the dating experience.
The company has since expanded beyond dating through Bumble BFF, which focuses on friendship, and Bumble Bizz for career networking.
Bumble removes women-first messaging requirement
Bumble (BMBL) now allows either person in a match to send the first message, ending the women-first messaging requirement that had been one of the app’s defining features since its launch, according to a recent company announcement.
The new system is structured around one opening message. Either person can send that initial message, but the recipient must respond before the conversation fully opens.
The change also eliminated Bumble’s previous reliance on Opening Moves, a feature that allowed users to set a question or prompt that could be answered to begin a conversation.
Bumble is also extending the amount of time matches have to respond. Users now have 72 hours, up from 24 hours, before a match expires if neither person sends a message.
The company says the changes are intended to make starting conversations more flexible while encouraging users to put more thought into their opening messages.
Why Bumble is changing its longtime rules
Bumble says it made the changes after testing the new experience with a select group of members.
According to the company, the tests resulted in an increase in chat initiations and a more even distribution of opening messages between men and women. Bumble also said the new approach is designed to reduce low-effort openings and give members more flexibility over when and how they begin a conversation.
The shift reflects a tension within Bumble’s original model. The women-first rule was designed to reduce pressure on women, but the company says some members now want greater flexibility in deciding who initiates a conversation.
Bumble’s own survey found that nearly two-thirds, or 66%, of women surveyed said they preferred men to send the first message. The company said many of those women felt this would make dating less pressured. The figure comes from Bumble’s internal research rather than an independent study.
The company also said more than half of the members surveyed during its testing agreed that extending the response window improved their experience. Among women surveyed, 92% said they still felt in control under the updated system, according to Bumble’s internal data.
The changes come as the broader dating-app industry attempts to address user fatigue and declining engagement. Bumble’s update follows a broader push by dating platforms to increase user interaction as the industry contends with changing behavior, according to a previous The New York Times report.
Pew Research Center found that women were more likely than men to report negative experiences, with 51% of women describing their experiences negatively compared with 41% of men.
The findings provide a broader context for Bumble’s decision to rethink one of its most recognizable features.
Bumble says the change does not abandon its women-first approach
Despite removing the requirement that women initiate conversations, Bumble says the move does not represent a departure from its broader focus on women’s needs.
“We built Bumble around the belief that when you make dating better for women, you make it better for everyone, and that remains true today,” Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said in a statement.
Here’s some of my previous coverage of feature shutdowns:
- Google shuts down service pretty much everyone uses
- Spotify adds new messaging feature, letting users slide into DMs
- Facebook’s WhatsApp solves global communication problem
“While women making the first move was a radical idea, being women-first was never about prescribing just one way to connect.”
Wolfe said the company believes users are increasingly looking for more flexibility and less pressure when making connections.
The distinction is important for Bumble because the women-first messaging rule was closely associated with the company’s identity from the beginning. Allowing either person to initiate now represents a significant change in how that platform handles one of the first steps after a match.
Bumble says its updated approach is intended to preserve the company’s women-first philosophy while giving members more choice over how conversations begin.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Bumble’s total paying users fell nearly 17% year over year to 2.1 million.
Whether Bumble’s new flexibility improves engagement and user satisfaction will ultimately depend on how members respond to the updated experience.
Related: Google shuts down service pretty much everyone uses
