Forget Romantic Swipes, Bumble’s New App Is All About Buddies (Not Like That)

There’s a new ‘dating’ app on the scene as of July 27, but it’s one that has nothing to do with romantic love – it’s all about finding friends.

Bumble has officially announced the arrival of a new standalone app, Bumble For Friends – a service the company says “creates a new way for people to grow their friendship circles by discovering meaningful, kind, and fun connections in their local area that is separate from the Bumble dating app”.

If you’ve used the Bumble app before, you’ll know that there has long been a friendship swiping option, BFF mode, that has been a part of the service since 2016. Bumble For Friends acts somewhat like an expansion on that option. So, if you’re interested in expanding your friendship circle, here’s a look at how the new app works.

Bumble For Friends: What’s the deal, bud?

With the launch of Bumble For Friends, BFF Mode on the original Bumble app will be discontinued. The new app will be the home of budding Bumble friendships, so you’ll need to download it to get the experience.

When it comes to how the app works, Bumble shared the below steps:

• It starts with creating a profile that reflects the member’s personality and interests through uploading photos and showcasing hobbies that illustrate where the person is in their life and what kind of friends they’re looking to meet
• Bumble For Friends models a similar experience as Bumble Date, where members see profiles for potential friends based on common interests, swipe right on profiles they would like to connect with, and are notified if a match is made
• Anyone currently using BFF mode with the Bumble app who wishes to migrate their profile and connections into the Bumble For Friends app will be able to skip the set-up and easily do so upon downloading and logging in as an existing member

A few things that are changing:

If you’re used to the Bumble dating app experience, expect a few slight tweaks when swiping on Bumble For Friends.

Here are the user updates Bumble has highlighted:

• Now members can chat in groups to stay connected
• Starting to roll out today within the new Bumble For Friends app, it’s easy to get a group together to make a plan to meet IRL
• Any member can create a plan for a group meetup with at least two of their connections from the conversations tab
• A member selects a planned activity from a list of suggestions or creates their own
• Once a member selects a plan theme, they can invite at least two of their matches
• Their matches receive an invite in their chat that is titled the name of the planned activity, which can be edited
• Anyone who accepts the invite can join a group chat and start discussing any of the meetup details

Along with the news of the app drop, Bumble has released some research on Australian attitudes to friendship. It reviewed a sample of 1,000 Aussies aged 18-26 and 2,000 Aussies aged 18-58, and it found that 75 per cent of Gen Z women in Australia want to make new friends.

A notable 73 per cent of Gen Z respondents shared that “friends are one of the main factors to having a happy and healthy life,” and 37 per cent of Gen Z women said they feel lonely every week.

At a broader level, there have been other studies that indicate a sizeable number of Australians feel lonely since the pandemic hit.

And in other relevant news, the longest-ever study on happiness found that fulfilling relationships (like friendships) are the most important thing when it comes to happiness levels.

If you want more ideas on how to make friends as an adult, check out this list of ideas we pulled together a while back.

Bumble For Friends is now available on the App Store and Google Play in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with more regions to come.