Sections of this topic
The Bumble app has a reputation for being one of the best dating apps that put women at the forefront – ladies are required to send the first message here, afterall.
Friends who’ve tried Bumble gush about their experiences, so naturally, I found myself with FOMO.
A first-hand Bumble app review was long overdue.
I got to try out Bumble for a few weeks, so I could come back and tell you first-hand if it’s any good when it comes to everything from casual dating to serious relationships.
Overall, it’s legit and definitely one of the smoothest dating apps I’ve tried. Read on for more juicy details on how my Bumble stint went.
First Thoughts About Bumble App
Pros
- Women get to chat their matches first
- Interface is bright and easy to navigate
- Swiping format is simple and addictive
- Detailed profiles with prompts
- Provides icebreakers and convo starters
- Travel Mode available
Cons
- Matches expire after 24 hours if conversation not started
- Men cannot chat with women first after matching
- Limited likes for a free account
Bumble Packages
- Bumble Premium: $29.99 per month
- 3 Months: $59.99
- 6 Months: $99.99
- Lifetime Premium for only $149.99
- Bumble Boost starts at $6.99 per week for match period extension
- Bumble Spotlight starts at $4.99 per credit for priority appearance
Overall Rating: 4.8/5
I give Bumble a solid 4.8 out of 5. I got decent matches even on my first few days of swiping, and most of the detailed profiles were entertaining to browse through. The free version has satisfying features, and I could spend hours swiping away on this app.
I particularly loved the link Spotify and Instagram feature, which made it easier for me to find someone with the same interests. In addition, the interface is bright and stimulating, with no unnecessary fuzz.
It was also great to see people from other countries on Travel Mode willing to connect locally, a refreshing change from usual matches.
Bumble can make the experience almost perfect if it amped up photo moderation for its users. Some photos barely show half of the members’ faces which may be quite misleading for online daters.
These are just a few reasons Bumble is listed as one of the best hookup sites around.
What’s Buzzing on Bumble App: My Experience
Before officially signing up, I started by deciding what I wanted out of my Bumble experience. As a woman in my mid-20s, I was on the hunt for a relationship with no pressure.
Of course, having a little casual fun is not out of the picture.
With that in mind, I installed the app from the Google Play Store and wished for the best. Bumble is also available on iOS.
Creating an Account on The Bumble App
Signing up for an account on Bumble is a quick process. I chose between signing up with a phone number and a Facebook account. I ended up choosing the phone number route and verified the account through an SMS code I received within less than a minute.
Sometimes Bumble provides the choice to verify accounts through email or a missed phone call. But all the same, the code will arrive within a minute, which is pleasantly quick.
After that, I was brought to the profile creation page.
Based on my experience with many other online dating apps, this is the part of online dating I dread the most. How do you even make yourself look and sound ‘date-able’ with a mere profile?
Fortunately, I was surprised at how Bumble made the process less painful.
You’d have to upload a minimum of 1 photo and a maximum of 6 photos to your profile. I easily rearranged mine (repeatedly) in a way that my first three pictures are what I thought showed my features best.
The press and drag feature made rearranging photos a jiffy.
But Bumble apparently has a Best Photo function you can use, which automatically puts your three ‘best and most popular photos’ in front. So I toggled this function on and hoped the algorithm and I had a similar taste.
Profile verification is unique on Bumble. Before you can enjoy all the features, you’ll have to pass the photo verification test moderated by real Bumble staff.
I was asked to upload a photo in the same pose as the prompt: waving my right hand while smiling at my phone camera.
Approval only took minutes. Though, people who are rejected on the first try can go through the process again.
To complete my profile, I had to select five interests from a list of pre-determined items under different categories. The categories include Creativity, Sports, Going Out, Staying In, Film & TV, Reading, Music, Travelling, and more.
It was hard to choose only five. But I figured the rest of my interests could be shared with my matches through conversations anyway. The messaging function on Bumble is pretty simple and you get chatting privileges with the free version. More on that later.
There’s an extensive list of additional information I could choose to put on my profile. In addition, there were profile prompts, self-written bios, and basic information, including my work, education, and hometown.
Also worth mentioning is the Gender options. I chose Woman and was given a chance to add more about my gender if I wanted to. Options include Intersex, Trans Woman, Transfeminine, Woman and Nonbinary, and Cis woman.
Gender sensitivity on Bumble is totally top-notch. Very commendable.
After completing my profile and swiping for about an hour, match notifications already started popping up. And in comes the 24-hour deadline to start a conversation with these matches, Bumble’s most famous feature.
The countdown is shown on top of your chat tab so you’re always aware of any expiring matches. Notifications are sent to you too if you’ve got only a few hours left for any of them.
I’m perfectly fine with starting conversations, but a bunch of template questions definitely amused me. I saw “What would you do if I go on our first date in a dinosaur costume?” or something like that.
So, of course, I used it.
Getting a Premium Membership
Since we’re getting into the nitty gritty of Bumble, purchasing a premium membership is a must.
I tried the free version for a day and got matches quickly. However, after a swiping frenzy, I ran out of likes! This was pretty disappointing as I could only swipe left to see succeeding profiles, even though I was interested in many of them.
I wanted to use more likes, and I was also curious how the SuperSwipe and Backtrack buttons would improve my matches in quality and quantity.
So I went in and bought the Bumble Premium Membership for a month.
The Premium Membership offered me Unlimited likes, Travel mode, SuperSwipes, and Spotlight. And many more.
My favorite is the SuperSwipe and Travel Mode. SuperSwipes are normal likes on steroids. You can let someone know you’re more than interested in them and increase the possibility that they will reply to your first message.
Meanwhile, Travel Mode allowed me to adjust my original location to where I’m currently visiting. Sometimes, work calls for out-of-town trips. But that shouldn’t stop me from getting matches nearby.
Good thing Bumble agrees.
Bumble also has regular offers on Premium Memberships and SuperSwipes. I signed up with a 50% off Premium and saw that SuperSwipes could be purchased by themselves.
The more SuperSwipes you purchase, the cheaper each will be.
Swiping for Premium Matches
Because I was Spotlighted, I received about 5 SuperSwipes in a span of a week. Spotlighting puts you on the priority list of the profiles visible to your potential matches.
Advanced filters also allowed me to narrow down the profiles visible on my swiping tab. Through the free features, you can choose your preferred gender, age range, distance, and language. But advanced filters steal the show with more than 10 additional items.
I was amused with the “What is their star sign?” filter, which is perfect for the astrology buffs out there. I tried my luck and looked for Scorpios and Virgos, signs that always gave me the best dating experiences in the past.
I changed these up as I went, along with the other filters, depending on the quality of matches I received.
I immediately swiped left on accounts that had a single photo and almost nothing on their bios. I wished Bumble set a higher minimum amount of details needed in a profile. I wanted more visual information to go on for some of them. A handful of accounts had their faces in the dark.
Range of Members
The range of members is diverse when it comes to age, but you’ll only see accounts that fall under your preferred age range. Those 25-34 years old dominate the app, which is favorable for me, who is looking for someone older than me by a maximum of 5 years.
Specific preferences, I know.
But Bumble caters to most of them, so I felt comfortable as a picky dater. If ever I change my preferences (which is perfectly normal!), I know I can still adjust them easily. This dating app is flexible and perfect for the fickle.
Since I selected “I’m open to dating everyone,” I saw accounts from men, women, and non-binary people. But you can select these separately according to your preferences. It’s always a good sign for dating apps to have dedicated filters for the LGBTQ+ community.
Other Features
After a week, I had received some good-looking and interesting matches. A remarkable one is Brendon from Atlanta. I used a Profile Prompt that asked, “What is your favorite city?” Since he answered my hometown, our answers were identical. Talk about matching.
Needless to say, that sparked a pretty interesting conversation that involved meeting up at my favorite local diner.
Probably 80% of my matches replied to me before the 24-hour conversation expiry finished. At this point, I had some time to explore Bumble’s other features.
During my swiping sessions, I found that I always looked forward to the end of people’s profiles because that’s where their other social media accounts are linked.
Most people have their Spotify and Instagram accounts linked to make their recent posts and top artists visible to potential matches. Aside from being good conversation starters, it’s just cool to have extra details that make the people in the photos feel more human.
And you know, flirting with song lyrics may be corny, but they did get some laughs out of my matches, which is always nice.
One match even asked me about my top artist and what song I was willing to ride them to.
It was pretty hot.
The Extra Pros
Unlimited Extends and Backtracks are included in the premium package. Unlimited Extends allow you to lengthen the period you have to connect with your matches. If you can’t start a conversation within 24 hours, it’ll be no problem at all.
Just extend your time with them and come back later.
Backtracks allow you to go back to accounts you mistakenly swiped left to. Or maybe you swiped left intentionally but wanted to rethink your decision and get another chance (this definitely happened to me).
This function is for indecisive and clumsy people. Like me. Again.
Another less-known strength of Bumble is its charity work. They ask users to choose their preferred causes and, for women, a specific amount is donated to the cause whenever they make a first move.
I chose the Women’s health cause that pledges to improve health care and equality for vulnerable women and girls in remote communities.
You can change your cause anytime. Or you can let Bumble choose for you instead.
Bumble Facts
Bumble is best known for dating. But one of the most striking new pieces of information I found from installing and using this app is that BumbleBFF and Bumble Bizz also exist.
These are other Bumble channels that allow you to use the same swiping format to find friends or acquaintances for your next night out (BumbleBFF) or professionals from your field who want to collaborate with you with projects or simple mentoring meetups (Bumble Bizz).
BumbleBFF is pretty wholesome if you ask me. Social media is great and all, but being intentional with finding new friends has never been this easy. It pretty much functions the same way as Bumble Date without the romantic implications.
If you go on BumbleBFF, different advanced filters are applicable. The “What BFFs are you looking for?” filter is great because it provides various interests, such as Live music, Kid playdates, and Travel that can already tell what your BumbleBFF meetup will be like.
On Bumble Bizz, you can add a headline that details your profession and why you are on the platform. You can also freely add skills and achievements to your profile to entice possible hirers to reach out to you.
If you’re curious how many users have liked you among the profiles you have not seen yet, you can go to the hearts tab to view them and see who is new, nearby, and recently online. This function is available on all three Bumble channels.
Lastly, during swiping sessions, you are alerted of the potential matches you swiped left on.
The notification “You missed a potential match!” appears clearly in a yellow speech bubble in the upper left-hand corner. Keep your eyes peeled as you swipe. I used this as a basis for Backtracks if needed.
How Does Bumble App Compare?
Bumble vs. AdultFriendFinder: Whose User Base is More Diverse?
Bumble is pretty popular and has a user base of 40 million people across all countries. It is dominated by people in their 20s to 30s.
AdultFriendFinder is one of the online dating apps that are more famous for casual sex and hook ups. If that’s what you’re looking for, AdultFriendFinder wins the round with almost 100 million people with diverse sexual preferences and kinks across most age ranges.
Bumble vs Ashley Madison: Whose Security Features are Best?
Bumble’s security features include SMS or email verification and photo verification before anyone can use the app for free or with a membership.
Ashley Madison allows anonymous profiles and auto-delete messages as it’s a site that is known for extramarital endeavors.
Unfortunately, their reputation is quite tarnished due to a previous data breach, so we’ll give the crown to Bumble for their easy yet safe verification procedure.
Bumble vs Alt.com: Whose Filters are Better?
Bumble features advanced filters that allow you to narrow down profiles visible to you with some of the most specific criteria, such as their vices, physical activity, political inclinations, and the like.
This is aside from basic info like age, gender, and location,
Alt.com is a niche online hook up site that caters to fans of BDSM. People that go here have an affinity with BDSM, whether or not they are already experienced in dominating or being dominated.
They can narrow down people visible to them through sub-kink filters under the BDSM umbrella.
I believe Bumble wins this round as the advanced filters include possible deal breakers that may end a connection before intimacy even starts. This might not matter for those in it strictly for the sex, but it’s always good to have the choices ready for you.
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Bumble App Review – FAQs
Is Bumble or Tinder better?
Bumble is better than Tinder in many areas.
They have a similar swiping format, but Bumble has fewer scam profiles due to strict photo verification. Matches on Bumble also don’t get to message you first if you’re a woman, so you can avoid the inappropriate spam from matches on Tinder.
Can I use Bumble for free?
Yes, you can use Bumble for free.
The free features are actually very satisfying. You can send messages and give likes to a significant number of people you are interested in. Profile customization is also engaging both for the profile owner and the viewer.
However, if you want more quality matches and priority in the swiping list, the Premium Membership is a worthy investment. It comes with unlimited likes, SuperSwiped, Extend Match, and more features.
Is Bumble actually good for dating?
Yes, Bumble is actually good for dating.
People’s intentions on Bumble range from casual, no-strings-attached sex to serious relationships. They usually state these on their bios.
They also know what first meetings in either virtual or online settings are like (extremely awkward sometimes!), so they provide icebreakers and prompts to ease matches into great conversations.
Aside from this, it is also suitable for finding friends and work partners through BumbleBFF and Bumble Bizz.
Is Bumble a safe app?
Yes, Bumble is a safe app. They are committed to only letting legitimate daters inside the app, so a phone number or Facebook account is required to sign up. Photo verification is also needed to use all free and paid features.
Bumble blocks anyone with significant reports of untoward behavior in their app. Blocked users cannot use any of Bumble’s features and are not visible to other users.
Catch New Bees in the Hive – Bumble App Review
To sum it up, my experience in Bumble was nothing short of chill yet exciting. The seamless interface on the app made finding matches and getting to know them easier.
They provide useful features like advanced filters, Backtracks, and Extends that counter foreseen problems. They truly put themselves in the users’ shoes and make the dating thing less daunting, especially for introverts.
All in all, Bumble passed my vibe check. I found several casual dates within the span of a few weeks and have a constant person I talk to who opened the possibility of a Fu-Bu relationship. I wish I could tell you all how that goes.
But until then, go give Bumble a shot and find yourself buzzing with energy once you see that “It’s a match” pop-up multiple times on the screen.
Happy swiping!
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