How to use Tinder in 2021

How to use Tinder in 2021.

Tinder’s appeal is in its ease of use. When you load up the app you’ll be presented with a lovely lady/gent. You then have a few options:

Tap on the right of their photo- to show their next photo
Tap on their name- to bring up their bio and full profile
Tap on the left of their photo to go back one photo
You can swipe them right, by holding and dragging your finger to the right, this ‘likes’ them
You can swipe left, in the same way. This ‘dislikes’ them
You can swipe up to ‘super like’ them
It doesn’t matter which way you swipe the ads, they go away regardless

There’s also a number of buttons:

The top left icon lets you edit your profile
The gem switches to picks mode (you’ll need Tinder Gold to use this)
The speech bubble… you guessed it… goes to your messages.
The yellow arrow resets your previous swipe (Only for Tinder Plus Subscribers)
The red X dislikes the current profile
The blue star super likes the current profile
The green heart likes the current profile
The purple lightning bolt activates boost (Only for Tinder Plus Subscribers)

On a free version of the app, you’re limited to about 100 swipes a day before you ‘run out’. After that you’ll either have to wait 12 hours for them to reset, or cough up for a Plus subscription.

Super Likes Explained

When you super like someone on Tinder, it sends a notification to their phone stating that someone has super liked them. As they are swiping normally, and your profile pops up, it’ll have an extra blue border around it- alerting the user that you were the one to initiate the super like.

Normal users get one super like per day. Tinder Plus and Gold subscribers can send five a day. You can also buy additional bundles if you run out. At the time of writing they are priced at:

5 for 92p each
25 for 74p each
60 for 65p each

Should you super like someone? It depends. Generally no, it’s a bit cringe and does make you stand out as a try-hard, though there are some valid exceptions:

If someone you know IRL pops up. Banter.
If someone who very closely shares your interests, or has similar photos pops up
If you’re not paying for plus, you’re out of daily swipes, and you see someone cute pop up. Worth a shot.

Tinder Boosts Explained

Tinder boosts are like taking an taxi instead of the bus, you’ll get there quicker, but it’ll cost you. Essentially they make your profile more visible for other users for 30 minutes. You can get “up to 10x more profile views while boosting”, but your mileage will vary depending on how many of your target demographic are online within your location limits.

Plus and Gold subscribers currently get one free boost per month. Or, you can buy em for:

1 for £3.89
5 for £2.50 each
10 for £2.45 each

Are they worth it? Generally, yes, especially if you’re low on matches. Quite often the issue is not that you’re ugly, it’s just that there’s so much competition in your area that the right people aren’t seeing your profile. It’s probably best to test with the free boost you receive with Plus, before splashing out on individual boosts.

Tinder Plus Explained

Tinder Plus gives you a wide variety of bonus features, including:

The standout features here are the unlimited swipes, and the location changing function. This makes connecting with people while travelling much easier, as you can set yourself up in the location you’ll be visiting ahead of time, and you’re not restricted by a swipe limit.

1 month for £4.49 a month
6 months for £3.00 a month
12 months for £2.25 a month

By default this is set to renew each month, so if you want to cancel make sure you do before the next billing cycle. You can cancel at any time and keep your perks for the remainder of the month.

Tinder Gold

Tinder Gold gives you all the advantages of Plus, with the addition of being able to see users who have matched with you directly. This saves you time and is great for lazy people who want to bypass the swipe game.

You also have access to the ‘picks’ section, accessible by the diamond icon at the top of the app. These are exclusive profiles for your consideration, which refresh every day.

Tinder Gold currently costs:

1 month for £9.99 a month
6 months for £5.34 a month
12 months for £4.05 a month

Tinder Social

Tinder Social was a a feature which allowed groups to join up and swipe together. It was taken off the app in August 2017.