In today’s article, we are going to teach you how to use Bumble. In the past few months, we have reviewed over 50 dating apps and websites, but Bumble wasn’t one of them. We have received so many requests about how does bumble work that we were “forced” to write this article. Please don’t skip anything. This is a complete 101 guide with photos on how to dominate Bumble and get singles faster than you could think!
Quick Introduction to Bumble?
Bumble works on location bases. This means that only people in your area will show up in your main feed unless you set your setting otherwise. And the rest of it is pretty much like Tinder, swipe left and right.
If you want to like someone’s profile, you need to swipe right. Unless they also swipe right on your profile on their main feed. You won’t have a connection, and without a connection, you won’t be able to contact them.
And this is not the only catch. Whenever you get a connection, you need to respond to that within 24 hours if you are a woman. If you are a man, you just need to be waiting for messages, and once you receive one, you also have to respond within 24 hours. Otherwise, you will lose this connection. This is one of the superior features that Bumble has in comparison to Tinder. Because on Tinder you don’t have. I know that reading about this might sound scary, that you are on some kind of clock, which you are. But you won’t be wasting your time. This is a great way not to procrastinate. Also, with this feature, you won’t be wondering if he or she likes you. You have 24 hours, and that is it. If she or he did not reply within that time, they most probably did not like you. If the same thing has happened on Tinder, you could be wondering for days why he or she is not responding. We love Bumble for this!
The only downside of this is that guys have to wait forever for messages. But Bumble is not that silent about it, and even their creator called them female friendly Tinder. And we get it, after reviewing so many online dating apps and sites, it is so bright. That women are not as much on these platforms as men, and they receive 1000s of unwanted messages.
Can I extend the 24-hour window?
Yes, you can, you can extend your match for an extra 24 hours, but you can do it only once a day unless you are a premium Bumble member. If you have upgraded your Bumble subscription to premium, you will be able to extend as many matches as you like, and you can do it every day.
After both parties replied to each other, there is no more time limit. You can exchange messages for as long as you please.
And you are not limited to texting, and you can use video or voice chat any time you want. And the best thing, it is done through the app. If you are single and you don’t want to give randoms your number, you will appreciate this feature a lot. And the same goes for guys and gals in relationships, and you won’t have any missed calls, etc. You just need to mask the app.
Before we go into detail about their algorithm, here is the best tip we can give you to succeed and meet others on this great app.
Use their name during the first message, and your response rate can improve op to 60%. And if you want them to reply, just ask them a funny or witty question.
How does Bumble’s Algorithm work in 2020?
Yes, their algorithm is very secretive, like google’s algorithm for page ranking. But even with google, which is way more secretive about this, we know which things work. We don’t know all of the factors that come in to play, but we see a lot of them!
Things that we know of so far:
- Users who swiped right on your profile will show as first profiles on your main feed.
- If you swipe right only, your profile will be shown to fewer people.
- The app is not tracking your type.
- If a lot of users swipe right on your profile, the algorithm will give you a boost.
- You are not rewarded for your activity.
Luckily there are enough of us in the office, so we were able to test all of these. And it is very true that if you swiper left or right only, your account will experience some kind of shadowban for few days. If you were swiping right merely, stop with it now! Wait a few days, and then use your Bumble profile normally, aka swiping right, and also left at least once in a while.
We have even tried to have the app 24/7, and we have also tried to have the app 24/7 with few actions per hour. There was no difference in matches between these two and third normal profile that was opened once a day.
Do You Have To Buy Premium Subscription on Bumble?
No, you don’t have to. There are certainly benefits to having a premium membership on the app. But it is not mandatory like on other dating apps like adult friend finder, for example. Where you can sign up for free, but you won’t be able to send messages to others, unless you upgrade.
How Does Bumble Boost Works?
Bumble Boost is pretty much a premium membership on their app.
Is it worth it?
Many features come with Boost membership, and they are for quite a reasonable price, during our test of Bumble we had in our office three free accounts and one with a boost. And the numbers were not even comparable. An account with a boost on it got each day 5x more connections. And at the end of the day, the boost account resulted in 3x more dates than any of the free accounts.
What is included in boost membership
You will be able to use it during a search of two filters at the same time, which is a lifesaver for some. Do you have an allergy, and you can’t meet people with pets? But you would still like to search for people who exercise? With a Bumble boost, you can!
Guaranteed matches, you can limit on your main screen in match queue to see only profiles that have swiped right on you, no more wasting of time!
Extend the 24-hour connection for an extra 24 hours how many times you like!
Have you lost a connection in the past? You can reconnect if you upgrade to boost! You will be able to reconnect instantly.
Pricing
The pricing in comparison to other dating sites is quite cheap. Especially if you buy the membership for six months. You will be paying only $13.33 monthly!
And if you would like to test it, they offer a one-week trial membership for $8.99
Is it too expensive for you? Try these
If you don’t want to buy a membership for a whole week or month, but you would like to meet singles this Friday, there are ways how you can boost your profile relatively cheap.
SuperSwipes
SuperSwipes are the same thing as super likes on Tinder. If you use SuperSwipe, the other user will be notified by a prominent yellow notification that they have received a SuperSwipe from you, and you will be the first profile on their main feed.
SuperSwipes are a great way to stand out among 1000s of other profiles on Bumble. And they are not that pricy. You can either get a package of 30, 15, 5, or just one coin. And one coin equals one SuperSwipe.
Bumble Spotlight
This is the second paid feature, that will bring more connections for your account and, again, relatively cheap. If you purchase Bumble Spotlight, you will be the most popular profile in your area for the next 30 minutes.
Spotlight Price
You will pay for the spotlight with your coins, so it depends on how many coins you buy. But if you were just about to try this feature one time only, you will have to buy 2 x 1 coin for $1.99, so not even full $4.
If you want to maximize the spotlight, activate it during the best times when people have their shift over or almost over.
Payment options
- Debit card
- Credit card
- Google Wallet
- Apple Pay
How To Start Bumbling?
You can either sign up on your smartphone or desktop. But it will probably be easier to start your account on your smartphone because you will have to upload a profile photo before you can start filling your profile and swiping left and right.
But if you want to sing up on the desktop, click here.
A few years ago, Bumble required you to sign up via Facebook. That is no longer the case. You can sign up quickly with Facebook because it will pull out the date from your profile. But you can sign up via your phone number as well.
Profile Photo
If you have signed up via Facebook, it will use your primary FB photo as your profile photo. If you have a wicked photo on your Facebook, we highly advise you to change it asap.
If you have signed up via phone number, you will have to upload it on your own.
You need to upload at least 1 high-quality photo of your self. Otherwise, you won’t be able to connect with other members.
If you want to maximize your chances for getting the most amount of connections, upload five more photos, as six is the maximum.
You can use filters, but don’t overdo it. And do not upload only six selfies that could go wrong, unless you are very hot, but even then, in some cases, it might be a turn-off.
Bio
You can write up to 300 character bio. Please don’t leave this one blank.
What to write in a bio
We don’t want to write a specific bio example here because then everyone would use the same. But here are a few useful tips to have on your profile:
- Say something that you like about your job
- List out or talk about your hobbies or at least the physically active ones.
- Talk about your recent holiday.
- Tell them what you like to do for fun.
- Or the basic one, write in your bio, which are you searching for on the Bumble App.
Last few tips about your profile
Did you know you can link your IG to your Bumble account?
Yes, you can, but the handle won’t be visible to other members, but they will be able to take a peek at your profile, which can be a good thing or terrible thing. Before you sync your Instagram profile with Bumble, look at your last 24 photos. If there is anything that could leave a wrong impression, either don’t connect it yet or delete the post from Instagram.
Or don’t if you want to sabotage yourself!
FAQ
When you write right on someone else profile on the Bumble app, they will get a notification about a match, but only in the case when they have swiped right on your profile as well unless you have used SuperSwipe!
No, they don’t, they will only find out if they have swiped right on your profile as well. Because in that case, they will receive a connection.
You will be shown to people in your area based on their filter settings.
The match queue works in a way that the people who swiped right on your profile will be one of the first profiles in your main feed of the app. That does not mean that all of the first few profiles will be guaranteed match, but most of them will. If you want to find out more, here is article dedicated to explaining everything about match queue.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Bumble app. But it is a good idea, and hopefully, they will learn a thing or two from Snapchat.
Yes, they can. Unfortunately, men are quite limited on the Bumble dating platform. They can swipe, but they can’t initiate conversations, only women can do that.
The yellow heart icon is a SuperSwipe, which means that the user has bought coins and use them to make an impression on you. SuperSwipe costs somewhere around $1-2 depending on how many coins you buy.
Yes, you can find out who was watching your profile.
There could be so many reasons for that. Do you have a good profile photo? Did you upload any extra images? Do you have a good bio? How many people live in your area?
Yes they do, because they want you to have a face on your main/profile photo. But if you would like to change the order of your photos, just simply drag and drop them where you please. Keep in mind that the first photo is the only photo that is seen by everyone.
No, they don’t. Unless you reply to the message, they won’t find out if you have read it or not.
Yes, you can see, unlike the Tinder app, where if you swipe left, you won’t see that user ever again. On Bumble, you can see the same person again, even that you have swiped left on them. The frequency will be based on how much swiping you do and how many people live in your area. And also, on your filters, if you choose to show people close in your area, this can happen a lot.
Yes, you can see your matches without paying for an upgraded membership. The upgraded membership is exactly what it says, and it is an upgrade. It will give you better chances to get a lot more connections, but that is it.