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Ask HN: Why is Tinder an app?

9 points by lumberjack ↗ HN
Why not a website? What's the advantage in having it be an app?

And do you see potentially new social networks platforms being delivered as mobile apps in the future as well?

EDIT: another possibly related question: We know that huge userbases by themselves are valuable. Is it possible that mobile userbases are for some reason more valuable (more data mining potential?) than web userbases (assuming the same demographics)?

7 comments

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alistproducer2
I think a better question is "why isn't it a website as well?" IMO the form factor of a phone is ideal for the UX that Tinder is offering. It presents dating like a game: a time waster. It just so happens our smart phones are designed to support just such interactions.
slowm5
no one would tinder on a desktop...thats what craigslist is for
DrScump
Because with the app, they can harvest these valuable commodities:

Device and app history

Identity

Location

Photos

Media

Files

Camera access

WiFi info

Device ID

Call information

The above makes it far easier to productize you.

thecupisblue
This. Also my generation lives on the tiny screen.Also, making it into a website would just make it feel like "real online dating" and completely remove it from the "i'm doing it just for fun" experience.
wingerlang
Tinder is not a social network.

I think DrScump said it well with the device stuff. It is also extremely satisfying to swipe in the app. As well as the literally always in your pocket aspect. An app goes on your homescreen as well, so it is in your face as well, kinda.

afarrell
I have never met anyone from the Tinder team, but I would guess at the following influences:

1) Tinder was initially released in 2012. The javascript ecosystem has changed immensely in the past 4 years.

2) If I re-open a URL in google chrome on my iphone, I have to wait for the page to refresh. With an app, I don't.

3) The program model expressed by the CSS+HTML API is so complex that after 10 years, I have given up trying learn a mental model of it which can accurately predict reality. I have accepted that web interface development involves a great deal of guess-and-check. Apparently the APIs exposed by the Android and iPhone are much more coherently designed.

4) To open a webpage, you first have to click an icon to open a browser, then type in the first few characters of a URL. To open an app, you just have to click an icon. That makes it easier for someone to get into the habit of checking your app.

(If you can point out ways in which #2, #3 #4 are false, I would love to hear them. However, that won't weaken my argument because OP isn't asking about reality but rather is asking about the perceptions of the Tinder team.)