All you need to know about Tinder: Test reports, experiences, tips and advice on Tinder in the UK

Tinder is a famous flirting app, which began in the US, but rapidly spread worldwide thanks to its popularity and ease of use over the past few years. It’s success lies in its ease of use, and the fact that anyone can create a profile within a minute. All you need to do is download the app onto your phone, set it up via your Facebook account, select your favourite Facebook profiles, and then you’re done. After you’ve chosen your desired gender (limited to male and female) other profiles are displayed. All you then have to do is either swipe right or left, either to express an interest in the person whose profile you are looking at, or to say goodbye and good riddance! Only when mutual interest has been expressed (you’ve both swiped to say ‘yes’) can you be matched, and start messaging each other and potentially securing dates.

Tinder has proven itself to be highly reputable, another reason why it’s become so popular across the globe. It’s connected to a big company called Match Group Inc, which not only provides Tinder, but also well known dating services like Match.com and PlentyofFish.

Just as it has around the world, Tinder has become hugely successful in the UK over the past few years. A huge number of singles have found success in the UK by downloading the app on their phones, and swiping away to their hearts’ content. In large, bustling cities such as London, it has proven to be especially easy to find new connections, even though there is still some resistance from those who view Tinder as a shallow or superficial way of finding new dates. Not all of the criticism is unfounded: a lot of people still make very little effort when it comes to their profiles, or into making worthwhile conversation. As well as this, there’s a certain amount of dishonesty which everyone will come across from users on the app… a lot of men are seeking sex, a lot of women are looking for relationships, and when these two worlds collide, you’ll always have some misunderstandings and stress.

A match on Tinder takes place when two users have expressed a positive mutual interest. Essentially, this happens when two users have given a ‘like’ to each other’s profiles - that is, each one has swiped right on the other’s profile picture. Following a match, the users are free to begin sending messages and striking up conversation.

It goes without saying that a Tinder date is much like any other kind - there are no set rules to follow, and the users are free to meet up wherever they both see fit. Of course, Tinder dates come with no guarantees, and just like in any other situation, it depends on the feelings of both parties, their mood, their reactions and behaviour. We would always recommend a first date be something fun, something you enjoy - this way, your personality will shine through, and perhaps something special will begin to blossom.

Creating a profile on Tinder allows you to set your own parameters. These tend to be limited to the gender, age, and distance from yourself of the people you are looking for. Tinder then accesses your phone’s GPS, and uses your location and the locations of other users to scan the area, and find your potential matches. You can change the parameters whenever you wish through the app’s settings.

As with any app, there are a few rules and regulations you’ll need to follow when using Tinder. These are nothing more extraordinary than promising to not use Tinder for commercial purposes, that you have full rights to your images and profile content, and that you won’t share any racist or otherwise offensive material. We highly recommend not taking things too seriously with Tinder. Taking it easy, having few expectations and enjoying the experience is going to lead to the most fun, and the most pleasant surprises. If you don’t find your life partner through Tinder, it’s not the end of the world - you will still meet plenty of scintillating and interesting people nonetheless.

Sometimes, Tinder will run out of suggestions for matches in your area. It may be that you’ve overused the app, and thus ‘exhausted’ the number of users in your zone. Should this happen, consider widening your parameters, perhaps by extending the age limit or distance limitations. If this doesn’t help, you could always buy the premium version, which allows you to extend your search into other cities, thus giving you plenty more options. The other option is Tinder Social, an extension which allows you to access profiles which wouldn’t usually show up on your usual usage.

It isn’t possible to use Tinder without Facebook. The connection with Facebook is part of Tinder’s trademark simplicity and ease of use. As such, a Facebook profile is obligatory.

Using and downloading Tinder is completely free. While the free version does have some limitations (for example, only having 200 suggested profiles every 24 hours), most people find this more than adequate. 90% of Tinder users have the free profile, and the premium membership doesn’t offer a whole lot more to make it worth the payment.

The answer is: pretty much everything the app was designed to do. You can start a new profile, get 200 right swipes (the ‘yes’ ones), and send messages to those you match with, for no extra costs. The premium, fee-paying membership gives you unlimited views and swipes, allows you to change your location, and gives you the option of searching for matches in other cities. It also gives you more super-likes to those profiles which particularly interest you.

Your payment options depend on which type of Smartphone you’re using. iPhone Tinder accounts allow you to pay through the iTunes App Store, and Android ones use the Google Play Store.

Payments for premium profiles on Tinder depend entirely on which app store you are using for the app.

A little annoyingly, there isn’t a telephone number to call for support on Tinder. However, customer services can be contacted via the app by email. There is also a FAQ section where you are likely to find the answers to your problems.

If you want success on Tinder, keep these things in mind when using the app:

Take your chances in the ‘about me’ section of your profile, and make yourself stand out from the crowd. Do you have an unusual job or an interesting hobby? Take full advantage of the space in the profile to tell your profile visitors all about it. Using humour always helps, and makes you look more approachable. If you’re a photoshop expert, find a funny way of getting this across. You could say, for example, ‘I help remove cellulite from models’ photos’ - funny, witty, cool. If you are above average size too, make sure you mention that on your profile.The ‘about me’ section of your profile is where you need to drum up some curiosity, and tempt people to swipe right.

Don’t break your back thinking of everything you need to say - just a line or two tends to do the job. A pinch of humour goes a long way, as does adding some unique character. Avoid (at all costs) cliches, or copy-pasting info from somewhere else.

Of course, when it comes to Tinder, photos are all important. It’s these that people end up swiping left or right on, after all. Appearance is important, but it really isn’t everything. You can’t control how you appear, but you can take control of how you come across. Choose photos which show you in an appealing light, or which make your life look interesting and exciting. Most people dream of dating somebody who whisks them away from reality for an evening, and introduces them to new and fascinating things .Just having a single picture is rarely enough. On most Tinder profile, you’ll find between three and five images. At least one of these should be a face shot, just as at least one should be of your body. A healthy mix is the way forward - ones where you are alone are great, and it’s nice to see you with your friend, too. Your emphasis should always be on making yourself look approachable, interesting, friendly and exciting, rather than just on being seductive or conventionally attractive.

What’s the worst opening message you can write on Tinder, after making a mutual match? “Hi, how’s it going?” and variations on this rate pretty highly. Boring, predictable and lame - few women are going to be moved to respond after getting this most typical of opening messages. Almost anything would be better! Whatever you end up writing, it’s always a good to use the name of your match in your message. This makes it look more personal, and not like you’ve just pasted your message to a dozen different matches.

More things to avoid when it comes to your first Tinder messages.

- Writing long-winded texts: Tinder is all about speed and convenience. Long messages make you look a little desperate and needy for attention. Most Tinder users aren’t
interested in reading your life history, or poring over long reams of text that have been copied and pasted.

- Compliments on the physical appearance of your match: It may sound counter-intuitive, but complimenting women on their appearance straight away is an easy way to screw things up. Attractive women hear compliments all day every day from desperate men, and most of them have heard every line in the book. Focus on personality first.

-Sexually explicit messages: There are plenty of members on Tinder looking for sex - this can’t be denied. However, all women long to be seduced and wooed. Attractive women can find a man anywhere, any time - they don’t need Tinder for this. For them, Tinder is a pastime, something to kill the empty minutes with. Finding someone interesting, someone who stands out from the crowd and catches your eye is more rewarding, and a meeting with such a person can lead to wonderful things. Opening with sexual content generally leads to you being blocked or ignored.

So, with this in mind, what does the ideal Tinder opener look like? We’d advise you to keep things short and sweet - 1 to 3 lines is the ideal length, just enough to get people curious in what else you have to say. Don’t copy and paste, and don’t subject all women with the same lines - the route to success is to look at their profile and ‘about me’ section, and find clues as to how best to gain their interest. Be flirty, funny, and show that you take an interest. Try to guess their personality, their likes and dislikes, and show yourself to be a positive, humorous, approachable individual.

We have covered most of what would be considered ‘Tinder tricks’ in the sections ‘What would be a perfect opener?’ and ‘How to gain success with Tinder’. Read these, and you’ll be well equipped with plenty of tricks to go ahead with.

Due to the fact that there are so many active members of Tinder here in the UK, the chance of meeting someone is really quite high. If you are looking to find your life partner in a matter of days or weeks, prepare for disappointment - Tinder is full of people who are enjoying the single life, and would be wary of committing to anyone they meet on the app. Once you see how many singles are out there, the sheer number makes commitment hard, and not particularly tempting.

At the moment, there aren’t any vouchers or discounts for Tinder. This is a primarily a free app, and the premium features have no current discounts whatsoever.

To use the premium features, the costs for UK users are currently as follows:

12 months: £6.67 / month
6 months: £9.16 / month
1 months: £14.99 / month

Both Tinder and Zoosk are the most popular flirting apps available in the UK, as in other parts of the world. When compared side by side, Zoosk certainly comes off as a little more intelligent, with a self-learning algorithm which will present the user with increasingly more appropriate suggestions for partners, given time and use. Tinder, however, is extremely simple, convenient and easy to use.

Badoo has been around for a long time. Indeed, it’s one of the oldest flirt apps out there, and its 180 million members show that it’s still very much in fashion, although new member numbers are starting to wane. Badoo has gone to great lengths to keep up with the competition (Happn and Tinder) by adding new features all the time. Nevertheless, in bigger cities we prefer to use Tinder.

t’s difficult to compare Tinder with eHarmony, as they are essentially completely different concepts. Tinder is all about the quick flirt and the unattached thrill, whereas eHarmony is populated by people looking for love and relationships. eHarmony uses a personality test to find matches, and as such, their suggestions are going to be considerably more appropriate than those which Tinder will find for you based on a couple of simple parameters. The difference between these apps really depends on you, and what you are looking for.

As with anything which gains fast popularity, Tinder has attracted its share of fakes and scammers. These range from people looking to steal your data and identity, to those who want you to try a different platform which will immediately ask you for a payment, in exchange for accessing (usually) sexual content. Plenty of people who have fake Facebook profiles can use Tinder, and a lot of men masquerade as women on Tinder, for a whole range of different reasons.

‘Too good to be true’ should be your mantra here. Been contacted by a woman who looks like a supermodel, and immediately asks to share explicit content with you? Sad to say, it’s probably not real. Be immediately wary of anyone asking for money, or wanting you to sign up to another website, or whose profiles feature links for foreign platforms.

In order to use Tinder, you must first download the app on a Smartphone. The registration process always happens via your Facebook profile, and this is essentially the foundation of what will become your Tinder profile, as your mutual friends, interests and photos will be borrowed from Facebook immediately. Once you have set up your search parameters, you will straight away be presented with a profile photo to consider. Should you like their picture, swipe right. If you aren’t interested and want to move on to the next one, a left swipe does the trick. As soon as somebody you’ve swiped right does the same to you, you will be informed that you have made a match, and you can initiate conversation via the instant messenger.

It is really vital to understand that ‘cancelling’ Tinder is not the same as ‘deleting’ Tinder. If you remove the app from your Smartphone, you should be aware that your account has by no means been terminated, and will still be out there for people to view and potentially contact. Deleting the app from your phone also does nothing to terminate your profile. If you want to get rid of your profile completely, you will have to access the settings within the app, and select the ‘delete Tinder’ option and follow the instructions.

In order to cancel a membership for Tinder Plus (the premium options), you must terminate this through the payment platform from which you purchased the premium membership. This will either be through the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store depending on your phone.