Hinge adds limit on unanswered messages
After testing a cap on unanswered messages, Hinge announces the global launch of "Your Turn Limits" today.
Your Turn Limits prevents users from matching with new people when they have eight or more unanswered messages in their queue. The name expands on "Your Turn," a feature Hinge introduced in 2017 to prompt users to either start a conversation with a match or keep it going.
If a user has reached the limit, they will have to respond to someone or unmatch in order to begin "liking" again. On the app, Your Turn Limits is displayed by a banner at the top of the message queue, either "You're approaching the limit" or "You're at the limit."
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"When too many people are waiting for a reply, you need to reply or end chats," the banner states. "Then you can send likes."
If you attempt to match with someone new, a pop-up will tell you that too many people are waiting for a response — and that "research shows this leads to more dates." In 2023, Hinge matches where one person responded to the other's first message within a day were 72 percent more likely to result in a date.
Your Turn Limits rolls out to everyone on Hinge today, including free and paid users. In the test phase, Your Turn Limits increased responsiveness by 20 percent, according to Hinge. Almost half (48 percent) of users with Your Turn Limits said this feature helps increases people's ability to focus on quality over quantity. Meanwhile, 45 percent said the feature helps increase focus on current matches, and the same amount said the feature helps them be more thoughtful with current matches.
In an interview with Mashable back in May about Your Turn Limits, Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod said of the feature, "I think we'll see more conversations and more dates across a broader part of the population."
McLeod also said Hinge is aware of dating app burnout that singles are feeling, and the app is responding to it with features like this — that will hopefully get people on more dates.
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Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky.
