Dating apps give you access to tons of people, but very little context about how those people behave once you match. A profile can look great, the prompts can be engaging, and the photos can be attractive. But none of that tells you whether the person responds, follows through, or treats the app like something other than a boredom slot machine.
That is, until Hinge made their Signals badge.
First, what is Hinge’s Signals badge?
Hinge’s new Signals badge is designed to highlight people who seem to be using the app thoughtfully and following through with their matches. So now, instead of guessing whether a potential match is actually active or likely to engage, you get a small purple heart that offers a little extra context.
The badge seems like it solves two dating dilemmas with one feature:
Dating Dilemma #1: Knowing if your match is active on the apps.
Dating Dilemma #2: Being rewarded for being active on the apps, and therefore, getting a little bit of a well-deserved boost.
How to get the Signals badge
There are baseline requirements and activity requirements. If any of these baseline requirements are not met, the Signals badge will not display.
Baseline Requirements for the Signals Badge
At the bare minimum:
- Signals require a complete profile. That means enough photos, prompts, and profile details for other people to get a real sense of who you are.
- Your account must be in good standing. Hinge looks at factors tied to account activity, trust, safety, and overall integrity, so the badge is only available to users whose profile and behavior align with the app’s community standards.
- Your account must be at least one week old. That gives the app time to evaluate your activity patterns, although Hinge says your behavior starts counting from day one.
- You must complete selfie verification. Being Selfie Verified gives other users more confidence that it’s really you behind your profile. One thing to keep in mind: changing your photos can affect your Selfie Verification status. If you lose Selfie Verification, your active Signals badge may also disappear, so be sure to re-verify if needed.
Activity and Effort-Based Requirements
To be eligible for Hinge’s Signals badge, a dater needs to show thoughtfulness across at least four of the behaviors Hinge says daters care about most:
- Spending time on profiles before sending a Like
- Commenting on someone’s profile
- Reviewing incoming Likes, whether that’s matching back or swiping left
- Messaging matches (more than one message, sending a single “hi” message across all your matches does not suffice)
- Confirming a date that moved off the app with the “We Met” feature
Where does the Signals badge show on a profile?
Signals badges may appear beside a dater’s name in several places across Hinge, including Discover, Standouts, Matches, and Chat. If you don’t see it, make sure your Hinge app is updated.
For Hinge Subscribers with access to Signals, the badge may also appear in the Likes You section, giving them another way to spot daters who have shown recent thoughtful activity on the app.
To check your own Signals status, tap the photo icon in the lower-right corner of the app. From there, go to the Get More section and select Check Your Signals. If you have it, it’ll look like this:
And if you don’t, it’ll look like this:
Can you buy the Hinge Signals badge?
No, that would defeat most of the purpose.
Hinge says the Signals badge cannot be purchased, and honestly, that’s a good thing. Otherwise, all the people who already have tons of matches and don’t interact would buy it to stay relevant. The badge is based on behavior, not subscription status.
That said, subscribers do get additional ways to use Signals, specifically, the ability to filter your “discover feed” or “likes you: by whether they have the Signal badge. So while the badge itself isn’t purchased, the ability to use it more strategically is tied to paid features.
Can the Signals badge disappear?
Because Signals reflects both baseline requirements and recent participation patterns, it can become inactive if:
- A baseline requirement is no longer met (like Selfie Verification lapsing), or
- Recent activity no longer reflects the baseline requirements or participation patterns that Signals evaluates.
Signals status is based on activity over the last 30 days and refreshes daily.
Does the Signals badge mean someone is active?
It means they have had recent activity that meets Hinge’s criteria, but it does not mean they are active right this second, no.
Signals is not the same as an “online now” badge.
What people think about Signals
On Reddit and Threads, users are finding the Signals badge to be a bit controversial.
Some people don’t like it because it seems to pressure people to message back/interact, to which many counter that that’s the point of dating apps.
Is it a red flag or green flag to have the Signals badge?
The same badge that looks like a green flag to one person can look like a red flag to another. Some users may see Signals and think:
“Great, this person is engaged,” while others may think, “Oh, this person is really active on Hinge.”
And in dating app logic, “really active” can mean very different things:
- They are talking to a lot of people
- They are spending a lot of time on the app
- They are very experienced at using dating apps
- They may be less serious about any one connection
But dating apps already make people overanalyze tiny signals, so a badge literally called Signals was never going to escape that.
That is also why profile context matters so much: people form an overall impression based on everything in your profile. The Signals badge can suggest that someone is thoughtful on the app, but your photos still shape whether people want to engage in the first place. If you are unsure how your dating photos come across, Photofeeler can give you feedback before you rely on guesswork.
Takeaways
Overall, the Signals badge is a great move for dating apps.
Dating apps have always incentivized users to waste each other’s time. A feature that rewards thoughtfulness, responsiveness, and follow-through feels long overdue.
This badge gives dating duds a nudge to engage, and involved daters an opportunity to show they’re putting in effort without needing to say so– and we love both of those things.
Hopefully, other dating apps follow suit soon.
And if you are trying to create the kind of profile people want to engage with, start by making sure your photos give people the right first impression.
