As a ghosting countermeasure, a "Your Turn" feature reminds a user to continue a conversation. Unlike other dating apps, users can message other users without first requiring a "match". Other traits that may be important to users, such as body type or whether someone is more introverted or extroverted, are not included. Hinge allows users to filter matches based on traits that it believes are important to users, such as religion or height. Instead of swiping, users must "like" specific photos or prompts if they wish to reach out to other members, though they are not required to respond to these photos or prompts. Presented in a vertical timeline, profiles on Hinge are composed of up to six pictures alongside three self-selected personal prompts, which encourage users to focus on personality traits rather than solely appearance. Hinge was featured on CNET as one of the best dating sites for 2021. Also in 2019, the company started Hinge Labs to research successful matches and fine-tune the app's compatibility algorithm and other features. presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg revealed that he had met his husband on Hinge. The application's popularity was boosted in 2019 when U.S. Match Group owned 100% of Hinge by the first quarter of 2019. In June 2018, Match Group acquired 51% ownership of Hinge, with the right to acquire all remaining shares within a year, which it did. Match Group made investments in Hinge as early as September 2017.
Hinge Matchmaker was released in September 2017 to reinvent online dating for "people that missed out on the dating app craze". Throughout 2017, Hinge received more mentions than any other dating app in the "Weddings" section of The New York Times. This enabled the company to obtain the next round of funding, saving it from insolvency. When making the app, McLeod spent much of the remaining money on a launch party in Washington, D.C. Before Hinge gained enough users to sustain the business, the company nearly ran out of funding. The application was designed to be less superficial than Tinder, forgoing Tinder-like swiping actions and branding itself "the relationship app". Throughout 2012, this evolved into a mobile application called Hinge, which launched in February 2013. In 2011, founder and CEO Justin McLeod (alongside a team including Frances Haugen) founded a desktop service called Secret Agent Cupid, which allowed users to connect to Facebook and list which of their friends they had crushes on.