It’s official: Bumble no longer requires women to send the first message

Bumble has a new feature called “Opening Moves.”

Bumble

Bumble is getting rid of its signature requirement that women start the conversation — well, sort of.The dating app is introducing a new feature called “Opening Moves.”It lets women set a question that all matches can respond to, meaning men might be first to message.

Bumble is doing away with its defining feature that required women make the first move.

The dating app on Tuesday announced something called “Opening Moves” that will see men sending the first messages in some cases.

Starting today, the new feature lets women set a question that all of their matches can answer to get the conversation started. They can choose one of the questions Bumble offers or create their own. In non-binary or same-sex matches, either person can set or reply to the question.

Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones said in a press release that the option represents a shift “from a fixed approach to giving women more options in how they engage.”

“In listening to our community, many have shared their exhaustion with the current online dating experience, and for some, that includes making the first move,” she said. “We’re also hearing from women that empowerment today is not only about control but it’s also about agency, and we’re excited to offer more choice in how women make the first move with our new Opening Moves feature.”

Bumble found in testing that Opening Moves increased “chat initiation and reply rates, as well as lengthening time spent in conversation,” according to the release.

Jones had recently hinted that Bumble might move away from making women reach out first. In a fourth-quarter earnings call last month, she told investors that making the first move “feels like a burden for a subset of our customers today.”

The new change marks the first time Bumble will let men reach out first since the app was founded in 2014 by former CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd.

Besides Opening Moves, Bumble is also shaking up its look with a redesign, one of several changes it’s made since Jones took over as CEO in January.