Tinder is A/B testing your profile photos to help you get more matches
LONDON -- Your Tinder profile picture is paramount in your quest to find a date.
With the hurry to swipe on as many profiles as possible, the pressure really is on to make a statement with that main profile photo.
Until now, that is.
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Tinder has just implemented a new global algorithm that alternates the photo first seen by others when you're shown on Tinder.
The new feature -- called Smart Photos -- notes each response as others swipe on you and reorders your photos to show your best -- or most popular -- pics first.
According to a statement emailed to Mashable, "users saw up to a 12% increase in matches" during testing.
"Smart Photos take into account each individual’s swiping pattern when selecting which of your photos they’ll see first. It’s a system that gets smarter with more input: the more you swipe and the more you’re swiped on, the better the algorithm serves you," reads the statement.
This means that Tinder will take into account what your potential matches find attractive in order to maximise your chances of matching with them. If they don't typically swipe right on pictures with adorable babies or furry animals, the algorithm will take this into account and reorder your photos accordingly.
"Tinder’s Smart Photos continuously test your profile photos for their success, so that you’re always leading with the photos most likely to be swiped right," the statement continues.
Tinder Smart Photos launched worldwide on Thursday, but the feature hasn't shown up yet on everyone's profiles.
"The Smart Photos feature is rolling out globally throughout the day. Some users may not have it yet and that is perfectly normal," a spokesperson for Tinder told Mashable.
Once the feature is available, users will be able to select a toggle in their profile settings which turns on the feature and implements the algorithm. Similarly, users wishing to opt out can deselect the toggle.
The new feature comes just after Tinder's announcement of new feature -- Tinder Boost -- which also aims to increase your matches by placing your profile at the top of potential matches' swiping piles. While this move might earn you more matches, Tinder also happens to be a big data company with over 100 million downloads. The app -- which is used in 196 countries -- doesn't just gather information about education, profession and age, but what you do and don't find attractive -- data that would be very valuable to marketers and advertisers.
For the moment, that data is solely being used to help improve your love life.
The question remains, therefore: to swipe or not to swipe?
Topics Tinder
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
