According to Tinder, it has over 50 million users with 10 million active daily users and more than 1.6 billion swipes made each day. Since the app has apparently been downloaded over 100 million times, some of these users must be inactive, expire or be deleted. Does Tinder show if a profile is active when swiping?
Let’s set the stage. Match with someone whose look and sound you really like. You met once in a cafe, promised to meet again, and then nothing happened. They don’t text, they don’t call, they don’t contact you in any way. How do you know if you’re a ghost? What if the person left Tinder for some reason? How can you tell?
In the early days of Tinder, like any other social network, it had a Last Active beacon. You can log in, check the person’s profile, and find out when they last used the app. It was a blessing and a curse. It was good to know that the person has not logged in since your appointment. After all, it’s real life. But seeing that they have since logged in but not contacted you? This is not such a good thing.
Tinder removed this feature a while ago, so now you should try to figure it out yourself.
Can you tell if a Tinder user is active?
Tinder says it only shows users active on your stack in the last 7 days. I don’t know if this is really true. Profiles that allegedly haven’t been used for months have popped up from other Tinder users I’ve spoken to. The problem is, you never know if the person is denying its use to protect a relationship or if it’s just a glitch.
In most cases, if a Tinder user appears in your stack to swipe, I think it’s safe to assume that user has been active within the last 7 days. It makes no sense for Tinder to show inactive profiles as you will never hear from them.
Unlike many free dating websites, Tinder isn’t all about numbers. Their models are built on success. If not, you will not pay for premium features and you will not use the app. There’s no point in having 50 million users if all you see is people who haven’t used the site for months. You will never be matched, you will have no success, you will get bored and try another dating app. That would be bad news for Tinder.
So I think it’s far from guaranteed, but I think the vast majority of Tinder users you see in your stack will be active.
There are two things you can do to check if a Tinder user is active. Both are very scary, so think before you check.
Profile monitoring
The first thing to do is to immediately check the person’s profile and take a screenshot. Then check back periodically to see if there are any changes. Inactive users will not change anything about their Tinder profile. An active user will regularly change their images and bios to improve their bids and get more matches.
This isn’t guaranteed as some Tinder users either make their profile to the point of no results and either don’t mess with it or are just too lazy. If you see the person who has updated their profile picture, it is a sure sign that the person is still using Tinder.
Scroll Blocker
Swipe Buster is hard to recommend as it points to trust issues that are even worse than profile tracking. However, if you really want to check if someone is active on Tinder, this is the way to do it. It’s a premium service that costs $6.99 but can tell you if someone has an active Tinder profile.
You should provide as much information as possible about the person, such as age, location, and gender, and the people behind the site say they’ll find people who fit those details. They also provide profile pictures so you can verify. Reviews for this site are mixed. Some say it works great, while others say Swipe Buster can’t find users that are known to be active on the site.
Tinder may not show if a profile is active, but it’s safe to assume that everyone you see there is active. If you see someone you know, date, or share a bed with on Tinder, there are questions to ask. This is a whole can of worms waiting to be opened, I think I’ll leave it there!