How to use Bumble, the women-focused dating app that just turned down a $450 million buyout offer

bumble dating app

If you've never heard of the dating app Bumble, you've most likely heard of the concept behind it, at least: Download an app, make a profile, then swipe through photos of potential mates.

If you're interested, you swipe right — if you're not, swipe left.

What makes Bumble different from other dating apps like Tinder and OKCupid, though, is its focus on giving women all the power. Men using Bumble can swipe through the app and to find matches, but they can't initiate conversations.

Bumble was founded by Whitney Wolfe, a cofounder of Tinder who left in 2012 and filed a sexual harassment suit against the company (Wolfe later settled out of court). The Bumble app launched in December 2014, and as of February 2017, Bumble had 12.5 million registered users spending an average of 100 minutes a day on the app.

But whether you're one of those millions of people currently using the app, or just interested in what it has to offer, here's a walkthrough on what it's like to use Bumble.

The first thing you'll see after downloading Bumble is an explainer of the app's commitment to putting women first. After matching, men can't reach out to women — women have to make the first move.

But if you're on the app to meet someone of the same sex, or to use BumbleBFF (more on that later), don't worry — in those cases, anyone can start a chat provided its within 24 hours of matching.

Next, you'll set up your profile. I chose to connect Bumble with my Facebook account, so it auto-filled a few pictures from that account. I was also able to add a few from my camera roll, and swap them around by pressing on an image and dragging it.

Besides adding photos, you can add your employer, your university and graduation year, write a short bio, and link your Spotify account so people can see what kind of music you like.

One downside is that Bumble only lets you pick from two gender options at the moment. For those who identify with a different label, or prefer not to identify their gender at all, Bumble doesn't provide that option yet.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider