Overview
- Bumble rolled out the change on Tuesday, Aug. 11, removing its decade‑old requirement that women must initiate heterosexual chats and allowing either person to send one opening message.
- Under the new flow a single opener may be sent per match, conversations begin only when the recipient replies, matches expire after a 72‑hour reply window, Opening Moves have been removed, and low‑effort openers will be flagged.
- The company frames the update as user‑driven and data‑backed, citing an internal survey that found about 66% of women preferred men to send the first message and Canadian tests that showed higher chat initiation and fewer expired matches.
- Bumble rolled out the change as it seeks to reverse slowing growth and weaker finances, reporting a roughly 15% year‑over‑year revenue drop and a double‑digit decline in paying users while developing AI tools, a standalone Plans app, and swipe‑free experiments.
- Reaction is mixed: some users welcome greater flexibility, others worry about increased unwanted messages and loss of the app’s defining identity, which could affect safety perceptions and how Bumble competes with rivals such as Tinder.