Tinder is making a big change to its app which may divide some of its users.
The dating mobile service is giving users the chance to briefly chat with potential partners before matching.
Bosses say it is part of new ways to improve the online dating experience as until now communication was not possible until both singles had swiped right - the app's famed approach to showing interest in a person's profile - unless someone has paid for platinum membership.
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'Hot Takes' is designed to give people a chance to talk in a "low-stakes session" social experience, Tinder said.
The feature, which will run daily from 6pm until midnight, acts as a question-and-answer-based "live chat game that breaks the ice with someone new" allowing "flirty banter" to be a person's first impression and to test compatibility.
A timer will count down, giving the user an opportunity to decide if they want to respond or let it expire and move on to someone else.
Tinder's chief executive, Jim Lanzone, said the improvements were being introduced as a new generation of daters is asking for more in the post-Covid world.
He said people want "more ways to show off their authentic selves, more ways to have fun and interact with others virtually, and more control over who they meet on Tinder and how they communicate".
He added: "They also want to date in a less linear fashion, at their own pace, and with the hope that sparks might fly with someone unexpected.
"Today's launch lays down the building blocks for all of this and more - a deeper, multi-dimensional experience that expands the possibilities of Tinder as a platform."
Other changes being rolled out include giving users the option to add videos to their profiles, as well as a space to discover people who share the same interests.
Hot Takes and other in-app events will be available in a new Explore section, when it launches later this summer.
