The changes reflect Hinge’s focus on helping singles in India pursue relationships with greater clarity and confidence, while allowing them to approach dating on their own terms.
“The way people find love in India is changing. Singles want to feel confident about who they’re meeting and free to pursue relationships in a way that feels true to them,” the company said, outlining its approach to creating a more intentional dating experience that gives users greater agency on their path to love.
“Love is deeply personal to each individual, and there is no singular path to finding it. At Hinge, we want to listen and learn from singles in India, so that we can adapt our app to meet their needs. We’re excited to help more people in India find meaningful relationships in a way that feels right for their lives,” said Jackie Jantos, Hinge’s Chief Executive Officer (she/her).
The company has also shared a brand film, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PZl82HTLOQ&rco=1, to accompany its efforts to introduce the updated experience to singles in India.
Hinge Introduces a Phased Waitlist for New Members
As part of the next phase of its expansion in India, Hinge will place some new users on a waitlist after they create their profiles. The initiative aims to build a more thoughtful and intentional experience by giving users time and space to complete their profiles before joining the community.
While waiting to begin liking profiles and matching with other members, users can add photographs, answer Prompts that communicate who they are and what they are looking for, and verify their profiles. According to Hinge, this process is intended to encourage users to approach dating with greater intention and enter the community prepared to make a thoughtful first impression.
The waitlist is designed to give members an opportunity to express themselves more fully before they begin making connections, with the aim of supporting more meaningful interactions from the outset.
Face Check, Block List and Screenshot Protection Strengthen Privacy
Hinge is placing trust, privacy and respect at the centre of its updated experience, recognising that feeling safe and maintaining privacy are important considerations for people using dating apps in India, particularly women.
The new and combined safety measures include Face Check, which helps confirm that the person behind an account is real, making the platform a more authentic environment for users.
The Block List feature, available during onboarding, allows members to prevent themselves from seeing people they already know and to prevent those people from seeing their profiles. This can include former partners, colleagues or family members.
Screenshot Protection adds another layer of privacy by blocking screenshots on surfaces containing personally identifiable information. These include profiles displayed in Discover, Likes You and Standouts. However, users can still take screenshots of conversations if they need to report a concern.
Together, the features are intended to give members greater control over who can discover them, how their personal content can be shared and whether the person they are communicating with is who they claim to be.
“People are more open to connection when an experience feels safe and thoughtful. In India, we’ve designed Hinge around what helps daters feel comfortable signing up, expressing themselves and giving each other their full attention. As the community grows, we’ll continue evolving the experience so that singles can focus on getting to know one another,” said Ben Celebicic, Hinge’s Chief Product & Technology Officer (he/him).
Additional Tools Aim to Improve Control and Conversations
Hinge’s approach to building trust extends beyond registration and verification to everyday interactions, including matching, messaging and the information users choose to share. The company is introducing a set of tools in India intended to help members maintain control throughout their experience.
Signals is a profile badge that recognises daters who have demonstrated care and consistency while using the app. Described as a category-first feature, it is intended to make it easier for users to recognise small, thoughtful actions that can lead to real dates. Members can choose in Settings whether their own Signals badge appears on their profiles.
The Comment Filter feature allows users to filter unwanted words, emojis or phrases through a personalised list or an AI-powered automatic filter. The tool helps users avoid receiving unwanted comments when someone likes their profile. Members can choose to review filtered comments or delete them without opening them.
Match Note allows users to share key personal details privately with their matches before a conversation begins. These details may include a personal value, a boundary, their faith or their communication style.
Hinge also does not allow daters to send photographs or videos directly to their matches, limiting the types of media that can be exchanged through the platform.
Two additional prompts, “Are You Sure?” and “Did This Bother You?”, are designed to encourage respectful communication. The first promotes reflection before a potentially hurtful message is sent, while the second encourages a thoughtful check-in with the recipient afterward.
Collectively, these tools are intended to make interactions on the platform safer, clearer and more respectful, while allowing users to express their expectations and boundaries.
Hinge Emphasises a Self-Led Approach to Finding Love
Singles in India are navigating a relationship culture that offers greater choice, but Hinge maintains that more options do not necessarily mean they want greater ambiguity.
The platform is designed for people pursuing an intentional, self-led path towards finding love. Its “Designed to be Deleted” promise reflects an approach in which success is measured not by how long users remain active on the app, but by whether they find someone worth leaving it for.
As Hinge continues introducing its services to singles in India, the company says it will keep developing the experience for people seeking genuine connections, meaningful conversations and a dating environment that takes relationships seriously.
The updated experience brings together profile preparation, identity verification, privacy controls and conversation tools, positioning trust and user choice as central elements of Hinge’s approach to helping singles find meaningful relationships.
About Hinge
Hinge is the app designed to be deleted. Built for people seeking meaningful relationships, the platform helps users move from conversations to real dates through thoughtful profiles, unique conversations, respectful interactions and safety tools designed to support more intentional connections.
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