In a bid to rope-in more users without having to worry about the on-device space management and extravagant Internet usage, dating app Tinder is planning to launch its light-weight Tinder Lite app.
Tinder Lite is 25 times smaller than the main app although it keeps the core functionality of the primary app intact. It offers functions like swiping while separating data-heavy profiles. Tinder Lite will be faster and will take up less battery.
Tinder Lite app would be accessible to millions of people who have basic smartphones and limited access to data.
For now, Tinder Lite users won’t be able to upgrade to Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold which offers additional matchmaking features to users. However, the company has said that it plans to offer upgrades at a later date.
Earlier, as part of an earnings call, Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Tinder's parent company Match Group, divulged plans for the Tinder Lite app, which would be smaller and better-suited to areas where cellular data "comes at a premium".
The app will be available via the Google Play store in Vietnam in the coming weeks and then subsequently be released in the Southeast Asian and South American markets.
India, which has the largest population of millennials in the world, is also part of Tinder's target.
As is the case with light version apps, users can use the same account to use both the lite version and the main app.
According to information available on public domains, it is estimated that 50 million people worldwide use Tinder.
Tinder's paid subscribers jumped 38 percent year-over-year (YoY) in early 2019.
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