Apps

Bumble launches standalone app for finding platonic friends

It’s called Bumble for Friends

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Bumble for Friends

While Bumble is more popularly known as a dating app in the Philippines, it has an option where you can look for new friends. And I mean platonic friends. It’s called the BFF Mode, one of Bumble’s features since 2016. 

Just recently, Bumble finally launched this feature as a standalone app called “Bumble for Friends”, recognizing the growing online connections in today’s young generation.

“Friendship is just as important to our mission [as to romance], which is why we are so excited by the launch of the Bumble For Friends app in the Philippines,” says Lucille McCart, Bumble’s APAC Communications Director. 

According to Bumble’s latest research, Gen Zs want to make new friends but they don’t know where to meet people and are intimidated by approaching people IRL. 

Bumble for Friends aims to make meeting friends easier, less awkward and more fun. The features are quite similar to 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. A person has 24 hours to begin a conversation.

You can create a group chat, too. Here’s how:

  • 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 or creates a title for the group chat, 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 the group chat and start discussing any of the meetup details. 

In fact, Bumble revealed in another survey that 3 out of 4 (74%) people globally are keen to find their ‘tribe’ or a group of like-minded people that they can create real friendships with. Additionally, more than half (68%) of those surveyed are keen to find new friends in their local area for the convenience of meeting up and doing things together.

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. 

Once a BFF profile is moved over to the Bumble For Friends app, BFF mode is no longer available in the Bumble app. However, The Date and Bizz functionality remains. 

“We can’t wait to see how Bumble For Friends has a similar impact on our ability to connect socially and build platonic love in a time when so many of us feel disconnected,” adds McCart.

Is it a match?

I personally met a lot of new friends digitally, especially during peak pandemic years. I can say that it’s fun and exciting to meet people online with similar interests. It’s even more fun when we got together IRL!

Bumble for Friends offers everyone a chance to find their people. If you’re an introvert looking for a new tribe, or maybe you have a new interest and you’re searching for likeminded people to share it with, this app can be a match for you.

Bumble for Friends is now available on Apple Store and Playstore.

Apps

Bumble introduces new logo, better UI, features

Better dating experience

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Bumble New Logo

Bumble is ushering a new era of dating. The dating app has just rolled out a new brand design. This includes a new logo and user interface with bolder fonts and refreshed colors and illustrations. Along these are many significant updates to the app’s features, giving users better ways to connect with others.

For instance, Bumble has added hundreds of new prompts and have refreshed the prompts UI to help members show off their personalities easier. Shared interests have also been moved to the top of the profiles for users to better spot commonalities. This gives users a snippet of profiles for them to know right away what they have in common. Furthermore, the app has also increased the number of required profile photos to four to boost the likelihood of matches.

Among the new features on Bumble is Opening Moves. This allows women to set a post-match question for their connections to respond to within 24 hours. This facilitates a more meaningful connection and introduces another way to connect outside of Bumble’s Make The First Move. Of course, they may directly message their match even if they haven’t responded to the post-match question.

Meanwhile, Bumble has also expanded its Dating Intentions right from the setup. This is so users can answer the question “What are you hoping to find?” with more accurate choices. Among these are Long Term Relationship, Life Partner, Fun, Casual Dates, Intimacy without commitment, Ethical non-monogamy, and Marriage.

This change stemmed from a Bumble survey that saw 68% of women struggle with people not being upfront about their dating intentions. When browsing, the expanded dating intentions badges will show right below the person’s profile’s “About me” in a section called “I’m looking for.”

Moreover, Bumble has renamed Best Bees to For You. Bumble is employing a new machine learning model to give users their daily set of four curated and relevant profiles based on preferences and past matches.

The changes are part of Bumble’s mantra to empower women to make the first move, flip gender roles, and take control of their dating app experience and dating life in general.

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Apps

TikTok regains right to use music from Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, etc.

A new deal has been inked

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TikTok lost its voice a few months ago. Back in February, the platform lost its rights to use and offer music from artists affiliated with the Universal Music Group. A few weeks ago, Taylor Swift, the biggest artist in that group, returned to the platform. Now, other artists are following suit.

In an official press release, Universal Music Group has announced a new licensing agreement between its artists and TikTok. As a result, users can once again fill their videos with music from artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and BTS.

With the new deal, TikTok’s woes in the music department are finally at an end. When the past deal ended, Universal initially refused a renewal, alleging that TikTok does not adequately pay artists for the use of their music. Once the deadline passed, TikTok was suddenly silent. Existing videos lost their music, and newly minted ones could not use the most popular selection of songs today.

Not surprisingly, Taylor Swift was ahead of the curve. Presumably because of her ownership over her masters, the world’s biggest musical artist returned to the platform without a new Universal deal. The return also came in time for Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Now, the platform finally has Universal’s entire selection back. If your videos need that extra spice, now’s the time to get back into it.

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift is back on TikTok

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Apps

Huawei to release self-developed GoPaint app

Designed specifically for tablets

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GoPaint

Huawei will soon have its own painting app specifically designed for tablets: GoPaint. This makes the manufacturer the first to have its own self-developed painting app.

Huawei already teased its audiences with a short clip posted on its socials with the caption “Creation begins here.” GoPaint will go live on May 7.

The app will come with a wealth of brushes, and brings easy-to-use features for painting. The eventual launch of this app eliminates the need for beginners to download third-party apps, like ibis Paint X and Sketchbook.

With the integration of GoPaint along with Huawei’s capable hardware-software architecture, Huawei is pushing itself to be a creation go-to for tech users. Previously, the brand held a GoPaint Worldwide Creating Activity last year, which saw creators around the world participate.

 

The app will surely complement Huawei’s recent lineup of tablets which includes the MatePad 11.5 PaperMatte edition and the MatePad Pro 13.2.

The PaperMatte edition tablet eliminates glare and prevents reflection and fingerprints, replicating the feel of traditional paper. On the other hand, the MatePad Pro 13.2 offers users a smooth and seamless experience for creation, work, content consumption, and more.

The MatePad Pro 13.2 particularly features an OLED screen and works with Huawei’s 3rd gen M-Pencil for more than 10,000 pressure sensing levels. Both tablets support multi-device interconnection, remote PC access, and multi-screen collaboration.

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