Tinder plans to launch a video-chat feature for virtual dating by the end of June

• Tinder plans to release a live video-chatting feature for users before the end of June, according to its parent company Match Group, which released its Q1 2020 earnings Tuesday.
• Tinder is relatively late in the game of giving users options for virtual dating amid the pandemic. While competitors like Bumble and The League already had video-chatting options, other Match platforms — including Plenty of Fish and Hinge — launched features more than a month earlier.
• Since the coronavirus outbreak gained speed in March, Tinder has seen both increases in the amount of user activity and the number of daily active users.
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Tinder is planning to launch a video-chatting feature for users by the end of June to allow them to go on virtual dates as the coronavirus pandemic forces people indoors.

Tinder, one of the biggest and most popular dating apps, is aiming to release "one-to-one live video" in late Q2 2020, according to its parent company Match Group. The feature comes as Tinder reports all-time highs in usage of the platform amid the pandemic.

The announcement came Tuesday alongside Q1 2020 earnings for Match Group, whose dating platforms include Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and Match.com. Match Group saw growths in usage across all its dating brands in Q1, and the company generated more than $544 million in revenue — a 17% increase year-over-year.

While millions stay inside to limit the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, people have found new ways to connect and communicate with others while isolating. A poll conducted by Hinge — another Match Group-owned dating platform — found that 70% of its users said they were open to going on dates on Zoom, FaceTime, and other video platforms. Others have enacted their own virtual iterations of popular reality dating shows to match single people, such as "Love Is Quarantine" and "Quarantined Bachelor."

Compared with other dating apps, Tinder is relatively late in providing virtual dating options to its users. In early April, Tinder made its premium Passport feature — which allows users to match with people around the world — free to all users.

Meanwhile, other brands within Match Group have debuted new features catered to people dating while adhering to social-distancing guidelines. Hinge launched "Date from Home" in April, where users can indicate to a match they're ready to move their conversation off-app. Plenty of Fish started rolling out a livestreaming feature in March to users in the U.S. to allow matches to go on short virtual dates.

Dating app competitors to Tinder that are popular among people under age 30 — a massive chunk of Tinder's users — already had video-chatting features available before the pandemic hit. The League, an app that touts its exclusivity in allowing users access, launched "League Live" earlier this year to bring users together for two-minute dates. Bumble, one of Tinder's largest competitors, was one of the first major dating platforms to enable users to video chat and voice call with each other back in 2019.