Skip to main content

Photos in dating apps not doing it for you? Badoo is adding video, too

badoo video feature online dating app 2a
Badoo
If a couple photos and a few lines of text aren’t enough information to gauge someone’s potential as a romantic prospect, we have good news for you. Or rather, Badoo does. The world’s largest dating network, which boasts 300 million users in more than 190 countries, just announced the addition of video to its online dating profiles because, as the company says, “attraction isn’t two-dimensional.”

Badoo hopes that the addition of this slightly more interactive tool will allow users to better understand the proverbial fish in the sea, or at the very least, present a more complete picture of themselves. The company notes that videos will allow their daters to “determine the unique personality traits, interests, and skills of potential matches.” And, of course, it could also cut down on the occurrence of “catfishing,” or misrepresenting oneself online.

Videos will be no longer than 15 seconds long, and will be captured directly by way of an iOS or Android camera. And don’t think that you’ll be able to get away with any risky business — to keep this video content PG, Badoo says that all content will be assessed by one of the app’s 5,000 moderators.

Hopefully, these videos will allow for users to give others a more organic glimpse of themselves and their personalities. After all, Badoo notes, there are certain traits that simply can’t be conveyed by photos, but might be better captured by a short video.

Badoo spokeswoman Joey Hadfield said in a statement, “With the addition of video, daters can get creative and show off their sense of humor, their wonderfully sophisticated British accent, tennis skills, or even their twerking skills. When you go on a date, you know within seconds if you like a person’s energy, and if you don’t, you’re still stuck there all night. Video gives you a much better feel for who people are before you agree to meet them.”

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Tinder app now lets you run a background check on your date
Tinder offering a background check service in partnership with Garbo.

Tinder will now let users perform a background check on the person they intend to go on a date with, a safety measure that will keep “Tinder Swindlers” at bay and will also play a crucial role in preventing any other kind of physical or emotional trauma. The service is offered by Garbo, a non-profit that aims to make background checks more affordable and easy to access.

Thanks to a partnership with Tinder’s parent company Match Group, the dating app’s users will get two background check tickets for free. Each background check costs $2.50 on Garbo, excluding a small transaction fee. In the coming months, the background check feature will also be making its way to more Match Group-owned dating apps such as OkCupid, PlentyOfFish, Hinge, and Azar, among others.

Read more
iPhone cannot connect to App Store. What do you do?
iphone xr app store

The Apple App Store is the iPhone's bedrock. Without its ecosystem of apps and games, your beloved smartphone can't really do much beyond running native first-party apps (and there are only so many selfies we can take using the Camera app). This means, if your iPhone cannot connect to the App Store (or iTunes), you've got a problem on your hands.

Luckily, there are solutions to basically every instance of App Store connection problem. We run through all of them in this article, covering everything from checking Apple's System Status page to logging in and out of your iPhone. This should help you get your iPhone (or iPad) connected to the App Store again in no time.
Check Apple's System Status page

Read more
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more