Hinge purple heart: What the new Signal feature means

Weeks after dating app users began spotting a new heartbeat feature on Hinge, the app is officially launching the feature: Signals.

Signals is a purple heart that appears on some users’ profiles, showcasing that they’re actively engaging with potential dates on the app. As Mashable reported in May, in order for a Signals badge (the heart) to appear, a user needs to satisfy both baseline requirements and three of five behaviors that signify “Thoughtful Participation.”

The baseline requirements are:

• Completing one’s profile (having both photos and prompt responses)

• Having an account in good standing, meaning you follow Hinge’s Community Guidelines

• Having an account that’s over a week old

• Completed selfie verification

And users must exhibit three out of five of these behaviors:

• Sending comments when Liking someone

• Sending messages

• Looking through someone’s profile before Liking (not just Liking the first photo)

• Reviewing one’s Likes and either matching or skipping (not leaving others in limbo)

• Confirming dates

Hinge uses technology to help identify and surface these patterns, the app told Mashable. The app can detect your moves, but that’s not exactly novel. Hinge has long had pop-ups like “We Met,” which appears day after exchanging numbers to ask if you met IRL.

Users can’t buy a Signals badge. Instead, it reflects a user’s activity over the past 30 days and refreshes daily based on recent activity.

In the nearly 15 years since the launch of Tinder and the modern dating app landscape, singles have been loud about their frustrations using them, including bad behaviors like ghosting and pen palling (aka, messaging but never meeting up). And while dating app love stories aren’t necessarily uncommon, it’s likely that those who have found someone special have also liked someone who wasted their time. Ergo, Hinge is trying to signal — literally — who may want to prove the app’s “designed to be deleted” tagline.

“People are tired of games,” Hinge’s lead relationship scientist, Logan Ury, said in a press release shared with Mashable. “Tired of waiting six hours to text back, decoding mixed signals, and pretending not to care. Our research shows daters are ready for something more honest, where effort is celebrated. Signals makes that thoughtfulness visible — so it’s easier to find the people who are already showing up that way on Hinge.”

Recent feature additions on Hinge have also encouraged better behavior, like Date Ideas, which helps you plan a date so you’re not stuck messaging endlessly.

During a test of Signals, Hinge saw an increase in selfie verifications, the number of daters sending likes with comments, and conversations that started after matching, the app shared with Mashable. So, at least for now, it seems like Signals makes users act on their best behavior.

Hinge is introducing Signals through a phased rollout as it gathers feedback and learns how daters use it. The feature is now available globally, except for the UK and EU.