The West Hollywood-based company, a subsidiary of Match Group Inc., began testing its Face to Face feature in July and made it available to all users on Oct. 27.
Rory Kozoll, who heads Tinder’s trust and safety team, said the company decided to make the video feature available worldwide after receiving “positive feedback from our members who have had early access to it.”
In a July announcement unveiling the video option, the company emphasized the importance of giving app users new ways to connect virtually though Kozoll said this week that the feature would also build on Tinder’s efforts to ensure member safety.
To start a video call, both users must first agree to enable the video feature. Users also enable video chatting on a case-by-case basis, so they can receive video calls only from trusted matches.
“This adds to our growing list of features focused on member safety throughout their dating journey, like Photo Verification, Safety Center and our offensive message detection technology,” Kozoll said.
The video feature could also allow Tinder to keep users in-app for longer periods of time. According to a member survey conducted by the company, half of U.S. Tinder users arranged video dates with matches in the month leading up to the start of Face to Face testing.
The app’s subscriber base has grown steadily during 2020 in spite of restaurant, bar and movie theater closings that have limited opportunities for users to meet up in person.
In August, Match reported 15% year-over-year revenue growth for Tinder, despite a slight decline in per-user revenue. The growth in total revenue was driven by an 18% increase in subscribers.
Match plans to reveal third quarter earnings figures in a call with investors Nov. 4.
