Join 27,541 guys who get online dating tips right in their inbox
Join 27,541 guys who get online dating tips right in their inbox

How Does Bumble Work

How Does Bumble Work

Table of Contents

Bumble is Tinder’s biggest competitor in the online dating app world. The popular app continues to draw in new customers daily. In this guide, I’ll be going over everything you need to know about how it works. The ins and outs of building a profile, matching, and the algorithm.

How does it work?

How To Download Bumble

Depending on which phone you are using, for IOS users you can download Bumble in the Apple AppStore. For android users, you are going to use the Google Play Store.

You if for some reason you don’t have access to either of these options you can always access your account via your browser at bumble.com.

Signing Up

After you downloading Bumble, you have two options when creating an account with Bumble.

Sign Up Page

Facebook

With the ability of syncing your Facebook account.

Bumble retrieves the necessary information from your Facebook profile (name, age, and occupation). Even if some of the information gathered from Facebook is not correct, you can still edit it.

The Facebook method allows for a quicker sign-up process, allowing you to get to swiping faster.

Phone Number

The alternative for signing up is using your phone number. This option is less streamlined. You will have to enter all the information yourself (name, age, occupation).

Although this does require a bit more time setting up, it typically only takes an extra few minutes. So if you fall into the category of not having a Facebook account this is your best route.

PROFILE

Verification

With the verification process, Bumble has taken measures to ensure that users aren’t getting catfished. With bots and fake accounts on various other platforms becoming a major concern this gives peace of mind to users.

Starting the verification process is rather simple, while on the Bumble app, tap on the user icon on the top-left.

Go to “Edit Profile” where you will see a blue bar to tap that says “Verify Your Account.” You will then ask you to verify your account by sending them a selfie.

This picture is only meant to verify your account and will not be posted on your profile.

PICTURES

Every profile on Bumble is allowed to post up to 6 pictures.

These are typically recommended to be your best pictures that convey your sense of personality.

ABOUT ME

This is the bio section for the profile. Each user has the option to write something intriguing.

First impressions matter so creativity is advised. This is where you can convey a bit of your personality, humor, even your intentions for using the app.

PROFILE PROMPTS

Bumble gives users the ability to add profile prompts to show a bit of their personality

These are questions that a user can answer. Here are a few examples:

  • Go to karaoke song
  • Dream Dinner Guest
  • Equality means to me

MY WORK & EDUCATION

This is where a user can list their job and college. Some people may not be comfortable divulging this and may opt to leave it blank, or be creative and say they are a part-time Vigilante. It’s up to each user how they may choose to go about this.

MY BASIC INFO

Here a user lists information such as height, education, smoking, drinking, kids, etc.

LINKED ACCOUNTS

Bumble allows for the option for users to link their Spotify and Instagram accounts

Spotify

Linking your Spotify playlist is always a win. Being able to see other people’s taste in music can give you a glimpse of the type of personality they may have.

Instagram

With your Instagram account linked, this enables you the ability to show off more pictures of yourself and the type of lifestyle you live. Instagram is known for being the highlight reel for several reasons.

Making The Best Profile

You need to optimize all of these sections to have the best possible profile.

Download my free profile tips here to make the best possible profile.

Go on more dates, land some hookups and have a better experience on Bumble. 

SWIPING

Once you’ve gone through and finished setting up the basics with your Bumble account. You are on your way to getting to the nitty-gritty of swiping. Where every user makes the choice of whether or not they interested or not by swiping right or left.

Bumble Swiping

SWIPING Left

If you are familiar with other dating apps, Bumble’s left swipe functions primarily the same as others. If you come across a person you are not interested in. Swiping left passes on them.

On the other end if you come across a profile that you are interested in. Swiping right tells Bumble that you like them and if they swipe right on you. Boom you are matched.

Backtrack

It happens when you are swiping profiles in a quick manner. Either you pass on someone you actually Like. Or vice versa you Swipe right on a profile you didn’t mean to. With the Backtrack function, Bumble gives you the ability to go back and correct whatever mistake you may have made.

Matches

So you’ve been swiping for sometime now and there it is. You get a pop up, or if you’re not on Bumble you receive a notification letting you know that you have matched with another profile. Congratulations, now there are a few things to know before going off and messaging away. Opening up Bumble and going to the match tab you’ll notice a few things.

Match Queue

On your Match tab, you’ll notice at the very top, everyone who has swiped right on you. You can see who these girls are once you pay for a bumble boost, but if you stay the free member route these profiles will remain blurred out.

24 Hours

When you first match with someone depending on whether you are a man or a woman will vary the amount of choices you have.

As a man, your job is to basically wait… She has 24 hours to send a message to you. If she doesn’t make a move within the time frame then you both are unmatched.

Girls Send The First Message

As a woman, you have to make the first move and start the conversation.

Whether by saying Hello, or asking a question, or even just a statement, You have 24 hours to make the move or Bumble will unmatch you.

Extending Matches

As a man, when you match with a girl on Bumble you really only have one ability to show interest aside from matching with her. Using the 24 hours match extend lets the girl you use this on know that you are very interested in her.

If you are a non paying member you only get one 24 match extend a day. If on the other hand, you are a Bumble boost member, then you have unlimited match extends available.

You can also match extend the same girl as many times as you want. It’s advised to use you match extends as possible.

MESSAGING

Once a woman messages you, a 24-hour timer starts for you to message them back. If within this 24 hour time frame you don’t message back you will be automatically unmatched.

Bland openers or “Hi”

You are going to get generic openers or a “hi” message from your matches.

You need to either send an opener or respond based on her profile.

Get these free openers that start the conversation.

You can go from getting a hi message to landing a date.

Other Modes

Bumble is primarily used for dating does offer a few other modes, for those not just looking for a relationship.

The three modes that Bumble offers is

Bumble Date, Bumble Bizz, and Bumble BFF. Each of these focusing on a different way of networking.

Bumble BFF

With Bumble BFF, these modes offers people the ability to match with various people for more social intentions, finding friends over a date.

When matching with a person you are both given 24 hours to start a conversation, no limit on who can start.

Bumble Bizz

Bizz mode is more focused on a more networking focus. Allowing for business relationships to flourish.

So if you’re ever looking to meet with people in a different career field for advice, or employment opportunities then Bizz is the avenue for you.

Does Bumble really work?

The short answer is, Yes.

Depending on what you are looking for Bumble can be the only dating app you need. We recommend having an idea of what you want out of an app like Bumble. Some people still have questions before they hop on right in and swiping…

Do people actually use it?

The latest report shows around 22 million people are actively using Bumble on a given day. If you aren’t receiving new matches or options to swipe on. It is heavily reliant on your location.

People in a big city are far more likely to get more options to swipe on. While people in the countryside are less likely to see new profiles. Adjusting your filters can heavily fluctuate the profiles you are shown.

Do you have to upgrade (pay)?

This is very dependant on how active you are looking to be with Bumble.

If you are a heavy user in a very active location(city). Then it can be very beneficial to opt-in for the Bumble boost. With unlimited swipes, the ability to see who has liked your profile, and unlimited daily extends, These can be very powerful for finding your next date and sifting through profiles that you are not interested in.

Bumble Coins

Bumble’s own currency, these are used to purchase features such as Bumble Boost, Spotlight, and Super Swipe.

Bumble coins are priced out, that one coin is $1.99. Buying coins in bulk can reduce the price of each coin all the way down to $1.25 with the purchase of 20 coins for $24.99.

Boost

Becoming a Bumble Boost member gives you the ability to

  1. see everyone who has swiped right on you..
  2. Use an unlimited amount of daily extends even on the same person.
  3. Set an unlimited amount of filters.
  4. Rematch with expired matches.
  5. If you’re a very active swiper and live in a well-populated area the unlimited swipes are the biggest plus to being a boost member.

Spotlight

The spotlight feature is a great feature if you want to get more exposure. Using Bumble coins to spotlight allows for 30 minutes of your profile to gain increase exposure, you’ll be among the first in the queue for users to see.

Other users won’t know that you’ve purchased this feature, You will know the spotlight feature is active when you see stars across the top of your app.

The spotlight feature costs 2 coins which is equivalent to $1.99 for 30 minutes of profile exposure.

We do recommend using this feature during peak hours of the day to get the most out of this feature.

SuperSwipe

Say you come across a profile you are heavily interested in. Your dream date.

When you use a super swipe on someone, you are actively making it known to that person that you are very interested in them. You are inadvertently telling them “Hey, you are very cute and we should get to know one another” without actually saying it.

Superswipes are very powerful that can sway the odds in your favor if used.

Is it for you?

How to know if an app like Bumble is for you? With so many apps popping up and claiming to be #1, how do you know if Bumble is suited for you? Well, there are a few things to ask yourself when considering this.

Your lifestyle

The type of lifestyle you have is going to heavily influence your Bumble usage.

If you are single, have your shit together but can’t seem to find the time to go out every weekend to a bar or club. Even with the bar and club scene being available the people you come across may not have the same intentions as you when it comes to dating.

Bumble can be very convenient for getting a date that has a similar intent to that of yours.

Your preferences

Bumble makes it very convenient for you to set the search criteria you want in an ideal match.

When in setting your preferences keep in mind what is best for your current or near term situation.

Allowing you to set the ideal age, and the distance you have when searching for a match. This narrows Bumbles query to best suit you.

Your filters

Ever go to a bar or club, and the options weren’t exactly to your standards? The benefit of using Bumble is that you have the choice of only trying to match with the person you are interested in.

No more “hoping” you have something in common, you get to know a bit about the person before you’ve even had to invest anything of value to them.

When setting your Date filters, you have the option 2 options to filter by is you are a free member and as a Boost member you can set as many as you want.

  1. Verified profiles
  2. What is their height?
  3. Do they exercise?
  4. Do they drink?
  5. Do they smoke?
  6. Do they have pets?
  7. What do you want from your Bumble date?
  8. Do they have or want children?
  9. What is their star sign?
  10. What is their religion?
  11. What’s their education?
  12. What are their politics like?
  13. Keep in mind in order to set these filters you, have to first answer these questions first in order to set them.

Each mode will have different filter options from the others. So going through and editing these in each mode is advised

ALGORITHM

Bumbles’ current algorithm is theorized to be based on how attractive one is perceived. Although Bumble has not openly stated how the algorithm works. There are some expected rules it may follow.

  1. Similar to high school the most sought after singles(people who have the most likes on their profile) and the people who have swiped right on your profile are going to first up in your swipe queue.
  2. Swiping right on every profile will have a negative effect on the exposure of your profile. Bumble wants users to take the time to consider who they are swiping left or right on.
  3. Bumble will keep your profile showing up in the swipe queue even if you take a break for a few days from use.

Location

Bumble uses your GPS location-based on your phone, or browser location. So the ability to set your location is not an option as it is in other apps like Tinder.

GENERAL SWIPING RULES

Each user has unlimited right swipes, however, it is not advised to right swipe on every profile that is shown. Doing this will make your profile look spammy and decrease your “score” on the app. This means your profile will be shown to fewer people over time.

FILTERS

You can filter girls on the app by age, distance, and basic info(advanced date filter). Each free user has the option to set 1 advanced date filter, while paid users can set up to 2.

Activity on the app

While consistent use is advised for getting the most out of Bumble. Life can happen and sometimes swiping every day cant occur.

Don’t worry too much though, Bumble will still show your profile in the swipe queue. Bumble will consider you profile an active profile if you’ve logged in over the last 30 days. So taking a break for a few weeks won’t hurt you.

Profile Score

Every profile receives a profile score. This score is what dictates how far ahead of the swipe queue your profile will show up on. This score is dictated by how many likes your profile receives on average.

There is no way to actively modify your score, but you can do several things to create a more appealing profile for other profiles.

Better pictures and bio contribute to how likely you are to be swiped right on. Which simultaneously raises your profile score.

FAQs

Does Bumble notify when you screenshot?

No, when you screenshot a profile Bumble does not notify the user that you’ve taken a screenshot.

Bumble will also not affect your profile exposure when you screenshot a profile.

Do you have to pay for Bumble?

No, you do not have to pay for Bumble, that is one of the appeals to using an app like Bumble.

You will have to pay for premium features such as Boost, Spotlight, and other features that Bumble does provide.

Final Thoughts on the app

Bumble is another exciting dating app that you should download and use.

If you are actively searching for a deeper connection aside from the typical hookup apps out there. Bumble is a great avenue for many out there.

The option of varying modes adds more depth to the app as well. Bumble is a staple for anyone looking to network, date, and make meaningful friendships.

Want to get more matches, dates and hookups?

Join our FREE newsletter that shares secret tactics and behind the scene strategies.

Want to get more matches, dates and hookups?

Join our FREE newsletter that shares secret tactics and behind the scene strategies.

Want to get more matches, dates and hookups?

Join our FREE newsletter that shares secret tactics and behind the scene strategies.

Want to get more matches, dates and hookups?

Join our FREE newsletter that shares secret tactics and behind the scene strategies.

Want to get more matches, dates and hookups?

Join our FREE newsletter that shares secret tactics and behind the scene strategies.

Want to get more matches, dates and hookups?

Join our FREE newsletter that shares secret tactics and behind the scene strategies.

Related Posts

What is Bumble

What is Bumble

Bumble is currently the second most popular dating app. Unlike Tinder which is geared towards hookups, Bumble is more focused on building relationships. 

Read More »

swipe left or right

Swiping left or right is today’s version of hot or not. A simple yes or no. Am I attracted to her? Swipe right. Is she unattractive? Swipe left

Read More »
Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top