Bumble is changing, says it will allow men to make the first move now

Bumble has announced that it will now allow men to make the first move. After years of a women-first message rule, Bumble says that many women prefer to have men start the conversation.Bumble is changing the one rule that has defined it for years. (Photo: Reuters)Bumble is changing the one rule that has defined it ever since it launched in 2014. Going forward, Bumble will also allow men to make the first move, ending the women-first messaging policy on the app. This change comes at a time when dating apps are witnessing user fatigue and slowing growth.The dating platform states that in a recent survey, 66 per cent of women said that they prefer men to make the first move, and many found that this change would make the experience less pressured.Men can now text first in Bumble tooWhen Bumble first launched in 2014 as an alternative to apps like Tinder, it was built around giving women the control to start conversations, helping them avoid receiving any unwanted messages. But now, either user can send the first message.Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said, “While women making the first move was a radical idea, being women-first was never about prescribing just one way to connect. It was about designing an experience with women's needs in mind to create better outcomes for everyone.” The shift follows Bumble’s earlier move to loosen its original rules in 2024 with the “Opening Moves” feature, which allowed women to set a question on their profile that a man could answer.Apart from changing this rule, Bumble is also increasing the reply window from 24 hours to 72 hours, which the company says, may help you avoid the stress of coming up with a reply in a short timespan. While testing the feature in Canada, Bumble found higher chat initiation rates, fewer expired chats and more mutual conversations than before. Bumble says that it is also exploring a swipe-free future, along with more in-person events and AI features, particularly to attract Gen Z users.The changes also come as Bumble tries to improve its business performance. The company’s second-quarter earnings report last week showed revenue fell 15.2 per cent year on year to $210.5 million, while it expects the number of paying customers to decline in the third quarter. Match Group, which owns Tinder, has also seen marginal declines.Keep in mind that with AI tools becoming mainstream, we are seeing some new dating apps too. Recently Hinge founder Justin McLeod launched a new startup, Overtone, that uses AI for matchmaking and does away with user profiles entirely.- EndsPublished By: Armaan AgarwalPublished On: Aug 12, 2026 09:52 IST