New Hinge App Lets Wannabe Matchmakers Set Up Their Single Friends

If you’re single and you use dating apps, we’re sure you’ve been there: Your partnered friends grab your phone so they can swipe around and make matches for you. “They didn’t have this when I was single,” your friend might gleefully cackle. And so, in an effort to let the coupled-up join the mobile fun, dating app Hinge is now offering would-be matchmakers the chance to set up their friends

Make me a match

Hinge Matchmaker allows users to see which of their Facebook friends are on Hinge — or invite those who aren’t on it yet to join — then view suggested potential matches, and recommend them to their intended targets. Or, you can choose a friend you want to set up.

Those friends can then decide whether or not they want to connect on the Hinge app.

“We found a lot of people who felt like they missed out on the dating app craze wanted to be able to participate in some way,” Hinge founder Justin MacLeod tells TechCrunch. “A lot of times, people will pull out their friend’s phone and swipe for them on other apps.”

For now, Hinge Matchmaker is a standalone app for iOS only, but it could eventually be integrated into the main app.

Get me out of here

Don’t want your non-single pals poking around in your business — or for them to know that you’re on Hinge in the first place? You can opt out of Matchmaker.

iOS
First update to the latest version of Hinge.
Then:

1. Tap Settings
2. Tap Hinge Matchmaker
3. Scroll to the bottom and toggle off “Let friends matchmake for me”

Android
You’ll have to write hello@hinge.co with the subject line “Matchmaker” and indicate you’d like to opt-out.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist