Hooking up in 2019 -- what's your weapon of choice?
If you ask men, most of them probably wouldn't say Bumble, and most people would say Tinder.
However, there's a sleeping giant in the hookup apps realm that most people wouldn't even consider, and that's Bumble.
While Tinder has won the reputation of being a hookup app, most people have associated Bumble with casual dating and relationship-focused dating.
That's not a wrong assumption to make, but it's wrong to judge Bumble off that assumption alone.
Men seem to have this idea that they wouldn't be as successful trying to hookup off Bumble than they would be on Tinder since women are supposed to make the first move -- but that's where you're wrong!
See, giving women the power to make the first move and choose who they want to chat with has let them be the boss of their sex lives.
That's why women prefer using Bumble to hook up rather than Tinder because it's cleaner, safer, and they're in control.
If you're still on the fence about Bumble, let me convince you on joining the app by telling you all about the app.
If you've used Tinder or any other dating app before, you won't find it hard to get the hang of Bumble. The download and sign-up process are all the same, and you have the option of using your Facebook account to sign-in for a faster process or creating your profile with your phone number.
Once you've added some photos of yourself, you can start swiping or finish building your profile by adding a description about you, answer prompts from Bumble, your work and education history, and info like your height, if you exercise, if you smoke, your star sign, religion, and other fun stuff.
That's the first screen you need to know about, which you can access by tapping on the person icon at the top left of Bumble's home screen.
The next screen is what you see when you open the app, which are potential matches and the 'swiping' portion of the app.
There's not much to say about this area; you pretty much follow standard dating app procedure and swipe left on people you don't like, and swipe right on people you do.
The third and final screen of the Bumble app is where you can view all of your matches and conversations.
If you don't have the upgrade, your match queue will show a bunch of pixelated pictures of those who've swiped right on you.
You can search for words in your conversations with the search tool and filter the order of them by unread, recent, or nearby.
Also be aware that on Bumble, women only have 24 hours to contact a match before the match expires, and you'll The yellow colors make everything feel lighter and more playful, which will help your chances with women, believe it or not.
I also just really prefer Bumble's design and layout over other dating apps like Tinder -- it feels less serious.
Oh, and not to mention that the people on Bumble are much more attractive than those on Tinder. I've had both, and I definitely prefer the people I see on Bumble and find them more attractive than those I see on Tinder.
I guess there's a reason behind all the hotties using Bumble, right?
Okay, as for features, I think Bumble's got Tinder beat. While there's no 'Super Like' (which is totally pointless, by the way), they have features that are actually useful in helping you get better matches and going on dates (or something more).
For starters, I think the features you can edit your profile are pretty great, and the way Bumble displays them just makes them even better.
The profile prompts, for example, are questions you can answer about yourself for others to see when they check out your profile.
You can talk about things like your most recent act of kindness, what you would do with an extra hour in the day, your ideal night out, and more.
Also, Bumble has way better options for selecting your gender identity and who you would like your profile to be shown to.
The fun little personality boxes you can fill out about your lifestyle choices, like if you work out or not, have kids or not, smoke or not, etc., are a great way to show a little bit more about yourself.
As for messaging, it's pretty standard, but I do like the fact that you can view your match queue and a number of how many people have swiped right on you so far, even though you can't see their faces with the free version of the app.
It also comes in handy that you can search your messages in case you ever need to find something, like the name of the coffee shop you agreed to meet up with your match at.
But the best features come in Bumble's upgrades.
Now, there are two options you can spend your money on.
First, we'll talk about the Spotlight feature.
By purchasing a minimum of 2 coins on Bumble, you can 'Spotlight' your profile, which shows you to more people in your area and helps you stand out to the people you like.
The upgraded version of Bumble that requires a membership purchase is called Bumble Boost.
With Bumble Boost, you can unlock the ability to see who's swiped right on you on the match queue, the ability to rematch with any expired matches, add 24 hours to think up of what to say if you can't figure it out in the first 24, and get unlimited search filters to find your perfect match.
As I mentioned, you need to purchase at least two coins to activate Bumble Spotlight. One coin on Bumble costs $1.99, but you can buy them in bulk for a discount.
The most popular option for buying coins on Bumble is to get 30 of them for $34.99 to use them 15 times, but you can also purchase 15 coins for $19.99, or 5 coins for $7.99.
When it comes to Bumble Boost, there are also a few different options to choose from.
You can get a week of Bumble Boost to test it out for $9.99, or you can get monthly memberships for a discounted price.
A 3 month membership will cost you $49.99, and a one-month membership will run you up $22.49.
If you want the best value, and plan on begin single for a while, you can get a lifetime membership to Bumble Boost for $139.99.
The first thing you'll love about Bumble is the quality of women. They're much more attractive on here than Tinder, so you'll be happy with that.
Secondly, you're getting better matches on Bumble than anywhere else because you'll only be able to message women who are really interested in you. They have to message first, so you know they wouldn't pretend to be interested.
Lastly, you have better chances at hooking up through Bumble if you're honest. Lots of women on here are "not looking for anything serious," so just be upfront about what you're looking for.
It could take a minute before you receive any matches. But when it happens, you'll feel so excited at the possibilities that match can hold.
Another con to Bumble is that matches often expire since there's only a 24-hour window where the woman can message you first, and then you message her back. Not everyone spends their day checking their dating apps, so if you lose a match and you don't have Bumble Boost, you risk losing that match.
Lastly, some men could consider it a con that they can't message the woman first if they have this great idea for a first message and steering the conversation the way you want. You have to wait for the woman to message you first.
Bumble is definitely one of the better dating and hookup apps, but the time limits and inability of the man being able to message first can hinder your goal of hooking up.
While the quality of matches is better, you really have to build a good profile to get a woman's attention rather than just putting up good pictures of yourself, which may have worked on Tinder.
It's not as easy to get away with superficialities on Bumble, but that isn't a bad thing. Once you land your first hookup through Bumble, you'll never look back.
