Tinder Introduces New Snapchat-like Video Feature, Will Users Love It?

Tinder is catching up with the updates of messaging apps as they introduce their newest feature: video chat.

According to Maxim, Tinder has become one of the world’s most popular dating apps. Because of its simple interface and “rule,” it has attracted millions of users from different countries. Though it has been made as a focus of study groups trying to uncover the mysteries of love and attraction, Tinder still reigns when it comes to connecting people who are interested in “finding love.”

Tinder has had success stories and unfortunate ones. However, the app is not planning on stopping with their simple and effective dating platform. There is no news on how Tinder plans to move forward, but after their acquisition of video app startup Wheel, they have already made the moves to integrate video into their app.

Tinder already has a chat feature, but many users have been reporting it to be erratic at times. This might be one of the solutions Tinder has in store for its users. Most of the users have also been requesting their “Matches” to connect via Snapchat because there are “inevitably” different impressions on photos than on videos, according to Maxim.

Therefore, the Tinder-Wheel partnership is the perfect “match.” Wheel, unlike Snapchat, allows users to connect with strangers on the app. If integrated with Tinder, according to Daily Mail, this will allow users to “send X-rated clips.” Though Tinder has not commented on this possibility yet, they are focusing more on how Wheel’s “video stories” would mesh with their user interface.

Wheel co-founder Paul Boukadakis told Business Insider that the discussion with Tinder began months ago. The Wheel team, who has already raised $3.2 million in VC funding, met with Tinder chairman Sean Rad.

“What we were doing with content was all about connecting a young demographic around creating content together. There was a lot of synergy with what we were doing and what they were doing.”

Boukadakis is already set to step up at Tinder as VP of Special Initiatives. He noted that their perfect pairing with Tinder was brought on because Wheel was created to “lower the barrier for entry to content creation.” Basically, the two apps have goals of making human connection a lot “more comfortable.”

Wheel’s interface is certainly different from Tinder. Instead of having the videos be used as video chats, “Wheel collects videos around specific themes, like holidays or school trips, that can be added to by others.”

Last summer, high school students used the app to create a theme on Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonations, which eventually caught the actor’s attention and he participated in the thread.

There is no confirmation yet on how this will be integrated with Tinder, but many are already speculating on how the app company may want to use it. Wheel can be an integration on the main chat system, or it could be an introductory option added to the photo slides of the users.

Tinder photos have reportedly misled other users to believing the pictures were those of the owners themselves, only to find out at the last minute during the actual meetup that it was a fake.

Though these mishaps happen, users learned to adapt and communicate better on Tinder. However, adding a video would certainly help the “screening” process since users can actually see the “real person” behind the curated profile.

Tinder launched in 2012 and has become a popular app for “hookups.” The app lets users select tentative matches by simply viewing their profile. Tinder provides users who are close to the user’s location. Tinder also popularized the “swipe left,” “swipe right” notion when someone dislikes or likes another person.

[Feature Image by iStock/martin-dm]