Bumble is preparing for one of the biggest changes in its history, with the dating app set to remove its signature swipe feature and introduce an AI-powered matchmaking system later this year.
The announcement was made by Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, who said the company plans to move away from swipe-based interactions as part of a broader relaunch aimed at improving user experience and reducing dating app fatigue.
“We are going to be saying goodbye to the swipe and hello to something that I believe is revolutionary for the category,” Wolfe Herd told Axios.
Bumble wants to move beyond swipe culture
Tinder brought swipe left or right to the forefront of modern dating, defining a majority of today’s standards in the process.
Bumble later followed suit with their own colour code designs, and now they are one of the largest dating app providers in the world, second only to Tinder.
However, many users are exhausted from constant scrolling, creating a sense of boredom with the onslaught of numerous profiles they encounter; according to Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble, this is due to a lack of substance in most interactions via these two major dating apps.
“People are feeling exhausted, they’re feeling fatigued. They feel like the swipe has degraded their love lives,” Wolfe Herd said.
The company now wants to replace that system with what it describes as a more intentional and AI-assisted dating experience.
How Bumble’s AI matchmaking could work
Even though Bumble has yet to reveal specifics about their new product features, they have indicated that there will be more use of artificial intelligence to help match people up with each other and enhance conversation flow between existing matches today compared to yesterday.
Bumble introduced its own AI dating assistant, named “Bee,” earlier this year. Bee is an online digital assistant that can assist users in finding a date through the use of algorithms.
As part of this latest version of Bumble, the company says it will now concentrate more on delivering high-quality profiles and low-quality experiences for its users based on individual preferences and likes rather than just quick profile assessments.
“We will be introducing more dynamic ways for somebody to express interest in your story, rather than just your profile, and this is going to drive more dynamic engagement, spark better conversation, and ultimately drive better KPIs across the board- like engagement and chances to get better conversations going,” Wolfe Herd said.
“You will also see us take a much more deliberate approach to getting people offline versus just in what people refer to as dead-end chat zones.”
The new version of the app is expected to launch in limited markets during the fourth quarter of 2026, though Bumble has not shared a broader global rollout timeline yet.
Bumble is also ending its women-first messaging rule
Another major shift involves one of Bumble’s most recognizable features- its long-standing rule requiring women to make the first move in heterosexual matches.
According to Wolfe Herd, Bumble plans to move away from that approach as well.
“We will not force one gender over another to do something first,” Wolfe Herd said, while adding that the company still wants to preserve “the essence of what was always meant to be women making the first move.”
The move marks a major identity change for Bumble, which built much of its early brand image around giving women more control over conversations on dating apps.
Why Bumble is making these changes now
The overhaul comes during a difficult period for the company, which has seen declining user numbers over recent quarters.
In the first quarter of 2026, Bumble’s paid user base reportedly dropped by around 21 per cent, falling from 4 million users last year to 3.2 million.
Wolfe Herd described the decline as part of a larger strategic reset.
“This is a period of real transformation at Bumble over the past few quarters,” she said.
“We have executed a deliberate reset of our member base. We made a clear choice to prioritize quality over quantity, focusing on well-intentioned, engaged members. That decision reduced overall scale, but meaningfully improved the health of our ecosystem.”
Despite the drop in paying users, Bumble still reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, with average revenue per paying user rising by nearly 8 per cent to $22.20.
The company is now betting that AI-powered matchmaking and a less exhausting dating experience could help redefine online dating for a generation increasingly frustrated with swipe culture.
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