Dating app Hinge wants to sell you a $99-a-month 'personal assistant' to message your dates

Dating app Hinge wants to you to pay $99-a-month for a personal assistant that will message your dates for you.

Hinge is currently beta-testing something called "Audrey," which Hinge describes as "a revolutionary service" that lets you "say goodbye to matching, messaging, and scheduling."

Here's roughly how Audrey works, according to an email from Hinge:

1. "Select the people you're interested in."
2. "Audrey will reach out, introduce you, and schedule a date if the feeling is mutual."
3. "Audrey provides data and feedback along the way to help you find that perfect match."

So basically for $99-a-month, a (potentially robotic?) assistant will chat up your matches for you, and then get you all set up for a date. This all assumes that either your date doesn't think it's weird they are flirting with a "personal assistant," or they can't tell.

Audrey is the next step in a series of recent changes for Hinge.

In October, Hinge, which once functioned as a Tinder for friends-of-friends, launched a totally new app focused on relationships (versus hookups). The new app, which the team had been secretly devoting the bulk of its energy to for almost a year, features less swiping, more of a social-media vibe, and a $7-a-month fee for the full feature set.

At first, Hinge had said all members would eventually have to pay $7, but now seems to be going more the "freemium" route favored by competitors like Tinder. (Hinge has said it is still "moving towards full subscription.")

But Audrey would be something very different, especially considering how high its price point is.

Hinge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.