Skip to main content

Tinder’s new panic button is a safety net during your sketchy date

Swiping right is about to get safer. Tinder just introduced a ton of new safety features for its app to ensure its users are safe when meeting their matches in person and when messaging them online. 

Location sharing, a panic button, photo verification, machine-learning technology in direct messages, and a safety center will all soon be available on the app to provide Tinder members peace of mind as they navigate the digital dating scene. Tinder announced these updates in a blog post on Thursday, January 23. 

Related Videos

The popular dating app partnered with Noonlight, a personal safety app, to create safety features where users can share the location and the time of their date with others they choose and trust, as well as share information about the person they are meeting. 

Another Noonlight feature is a type of panic button that users can trigger if they ever feel unsafe or need assistance while on a Tinder date. 

In addition to these features, Tinder is also tackling offensive and creepy messages that are sent to users as direct messages. The feature uses machine learning to detect if a potentially offensive message has been sent. If a direct message contains offensive language, a “Does This Bother You?” prompt appears on the screen for the person receiving this message. The user can then respond yes or no and have the option of reporting the person who sent the message to the app. 

Soon, you’ll also be able to second guess sending an offensive message through a feature Tinder calls “Undo” in which a prompt will ask if you really want to send that message to someone. 

The online dating world can be filled with potential creeps and trolls, and Tinder’s new updates are putting more control in daters’ hands over how they are treated on the app and how their dates go, as well as making sure people are who they say they are. 

Photo Verification will also be rolling out soon on the app, which allows users to self-authenticate their photos by taking a series of real-time selfies. Human-assisted A.I. technology will be able to compare already existing profile pictures to the selfies to make sure the person is authentic. If you pass this catfish test, you’ll receive a blue checkmark on your profile. 

All of these new features go hand in hand with Tinder’s new Safety Center, which will live in the app and provide resources and tools. Here, you can find safety tips, different hotlines to reach out to if you need them, and the ability to report someone on the app. 

Editors' Recommendations

Instagram ‘Not Interested’ button could come to save your feed
Instagram's Not Interested option shown on a mobile device.

Those suggested posts on Instagram aren't going anywhere, but the app may let you have more of a say in what's recommended to you.

On Tuesday, Instagram's parent company Meta announced that the photo and video sharing app would be taking another step towards possibly letting you have more control over the content you see in the app. And we're not talking about its existing Sensitive Content Control feature this time. According to Meta, Instagram is currently testing and plans to test two new ways for you to customize the kinds of content suggested to you.

Read more
Seeing more ads in your Outlook app? You’re not alone
Microsoft Outlook app landing page.

There's no escape from ads anywhere on the internet, even when you're scrolling through your inbox. And now Microsoft is putting more ads into the Outlook app on Android and iOS.

Per a report from The Verge, Microsoft has been increasing the number of ads that appear in users' Outlook inboxes over the last few months, especially if they're using Outlook for free. The company said the only way that free users can avoid seeing those ads is to enable the Focused inbox, a single-inbox feature that gives two tabs: "Focused" for your important mail (such as work email) and "Other" for the rest of it, including ads.

Read more
Report finds most period tracking apps don’t protect privacy
Clue tracking on screen against a whiteboard.

In a post-Roe world, now that abortion is illegal and restricted in most states, Americans have grown concerned about the privacy protections their favorite period and pregnancy apps provide. It appears that concern is warranted, as a report from Mozilla has found most popular cycle tracking apps don't protect their users' privacy at all.

Researchers at the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization best known for the Firefox browser which now works to promote an open internet, analyzed 25 reproductive health apps and wearables that could potentially collect sensitive data and share it with third parties, and that includes authorities who may use it to prosecute people who cross state lines to seek abortions. The report found that the majority of those apps — 18 of them — weren't clear on what data they would share with law enforcement and when.

Read more