What is Tinder? The popular dating app with infamous ‘swipes’

One of the most widely used dating apps, with its infamous ‘swipes,’ Tinder has become one of the most popular ways for queer and straight-identifying people to meet.

Tinder is a dating app which has a wide variety of uses, and caters to users looking for everything from casual hook ups to full blown relationships.

Tinder has become so omnipresent in the modern dating world, the term ‘Tinder date’ is now normal language for users of the dating app – the term is even used and understood within crowds of people who don’t use Tinder.

The app has always appealed to straight and queer-identifying audiences, but Tinder is now also inclusive of transgender, non-binary and gender fluid people.

The app launched in 2012 and since then has practically taken over our dating lives, although in recent years Tinder has become over-saturated with users who aren’t as engaged as they were in the app’s early days.

To give you a sense of the app’s scale, there are over one billion swipes per day on Tinder, with users from across the world joining the app in over 40 languages.

Related: These are the 30 most swiped right people on Tinder

So what are the basics?

It’s easy to set up a Tinder account. Once downloaded for free, the app connects to your Facebook and uses publicly visible pictures to create your account. (You can always switch these images around if you’d like).

You then write a bio, which is perhaps the most challenging part of this whole experience as selling yourself in a 100 words or so is not fun!

Bios are usually short and snappy, and give other users an insight into your personality and interests.

People really invest a lot of time in perfecting their Tinder bios – it’s an art in itself.

The bio will create the focal point of your Tinder profile, so users who match with you (more on that later) can view a few images of yourself, as well as a list of your interests and your bio.