Apps

Date at home: Tinder, Bumble push for online dating with new features

Dating apps encourage you to stay at home

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In times of social distancing, finding someone to keep you company is hella difficult.

Popular dating apps Tinder and Bumble are taking part in the fight against coronavirus. Adhering to the World Health Organization’s guidelines, these dating apps encourage people to stay at home for the meantime, and date virtually.

Thankfully, it’s easier now to find someone to date even when at home. Here’s what these two dating apps are doing and how you can leverage these features to find love even if there’s a pandemic.

Tinder

Tinder acknowledges the importance of connecting with someone, especially in these trying times. To help people connect from across the globe, Tinder is making the Passport feature available for free to all members until April 30th.

Passport is a paid feature available to Tinder Plus & Gold subscribers. It allows you to change your location to a destination of your choice. You can search by typing a city you’d like to visit or by dropping a pin on the map. Tinder will then change your location — say New York City — and show you profiles from your preferred destination. You can now begin swiping and finding a match.

As of writing, Tinder’s Passport feature isn’t available yet. Tinder anticipates the feature will be free for everyone around March 26th, on the next iOS and Android updates. Make sure to update your Tinder app!

Bumble

Text messages are becoming a thing of the past. Introduced late last year, Bumble offers in-app calls and video chats.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, Bumble released a statement, encouraging its users to take all their dates virtually. Bumble strongly urged its users to use the video chat and voice call features within the Bumble app to get to know new people — whether on Date, BFF, or Bizz — at the comforts of your home.

SEE ALSO: 4 ways you can use TikTok to help during the COVID-19 crisis | VPN usage spikes amid Coronavirus outbreak | Here’s where you can donate to the COVID-19 outbreak efforts


As general rules, the CDC or The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed these to help with preventing the spread of COVID-19:

  • Stay home when sick
  • Cover coughs and sneezes
  • Frequently wash hands with soap and water
  • Clean frequently touched surfaces

Apps

New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Rolling out globally now

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New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

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Disney+ might get always-on channels similar to cable TV

Featuring content from Marvel, Star Wars, and classic Disney

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Disney+ | Disney Plus

The burden of choice on streaming platforms is real. If you’re like us, you’ve spent hours just mindlessly scrolling through titles on Netflix or Disney+ without watching anything. Netflix, at least, has a Play Something button to fight off that irresistible urge. Now, Disney+ is reportedly trying something different: always-on channels.

If you already cut cable from your lives, you’re likely missing traditional channels or networks that have pre-determined programming. It was a flawed system that eventually ended up with mediocre content and a downpour of ads. However, cable did allow us to keep watching without deciding what comes next.

Now, according to The Information, Disney+ is working on adding those channels to its streaming service. Naturally, these channels will include content from the platform’s library such as Marvel, Star Wars, and its list of classic animated films.

Strangely, the reported feature might still have ads in between programs. Though the addition of ads does mean a better similarity with real television, users still have to be paying subscribers to access the channels. Even if you’re already paying for Disney+, you might still get hit with ads.

Disney has not confirmed the reports yet. The platform might launch a version of the feature outside of the scope included in this report. It’s also unknown when these always-on channels will launch.

SEE ALSO: Macross to be available on Disney+

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Google might offer satellite connectivity soon

Starting with the Pixel 9 series

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A few years ago, Apple unleashed one of the most interesting features for the iPhone today: Emergency SOS. Designed for those who like their fair bit of the outdoors, Emergency SOS allows users to contact emergency services without network coverage. Other manufacturers, however, are struggling to adopt the same feature. Now, Google might soon join Apple in providing satellite connectivity for its users.

Despite the convenience, satellite connectivity hasn’t taken off as much as the industry expected it to. For one, a network of satellites isn’t the easiest thing to maintain. Apple is still currently offering its services for free, a gamble that may or may not pay off. Now, the iPhone maker won’t be alone.

According to Android Authority, Google might start offering the same service to Pixel 9 users. Starting with this year’s upcoming flagship, the company is reportedly teaming up with T-Mobile to create satellite connectivity for its users. The telecommunications network is teaming up with SpaceX for the feature.

The same report describes how the feature might work. Once activated, the feature will ask users of their situation: is everyone breathing, are people trapped, are weapons involved, among others. The phone will then relay this information to emergency authorities for a rapid response.

Unfortunately, pricing remains a mystery. While Apple is still offering its satellite connectivity for free, other brands might put the burden of cost on the end user. Hopefully, they won’t, but a paid version is unfortunately expected at this point.

SEE ALSO: Should you be excited for Apple’s satellite connectivity?

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