Bumble CEO confirms removal of swipe feature as paid users decline
Whitney Wolfe Herd says the overhaul, scheduled for late 2026, marks a fundamental shift away from the 2010s model following a 21% drop in paid subscribers
Bumble has confirmed it will remove the swipe mechanism, a defining characteristic of dating applications from the 2010s, in favour of a new interface described by the company as revolutionary. The decision comes after the platform reported a significant contraction in its revenue base, with paid users falling 21 per cent in the first quarter to 3.2 million.
CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd stated during an interview with Axios that the company is saying goodbye to the swipe to prioritise a different user experience. The strategic pivot follows several disappointing quarters where the app consistently lost paying customers, prompting a need for a substantial redesign of the platform.
The company plans to launch the comprehensive app overhaul in the last quarter of 2026. Until that time, current users will continue to access the application through the existing swipe function. This delay allows Bumble to transition its user base without immediate disruption while preparing the infrastructure for the new system.
As part of the transformation, Bumble intends to lean heavily into artificial intelligence features. The company is developing an AI dating assistant named Bee and has expressed interest in exploring more advanced concepts, such as AI bots interacting with one another. These initiatives aim to integrate deeper intelligence into the matching process and user engagement.
Wolfe Herd has framed the recent decline in scale as a deliberate choice to prioritise quality over quantity. She argued that focusing on well-intentioned and engaged members has improved the overall health of the ecosystem, even though it reduced the total number of active subscribers. The company maintains that this reset of the member base is essential for long-term sustainability.
However, the reception of such AI-centric features remains uncertain. Reports indicate that Gen Z users are trending negatively toward overt artificial intelligence integration, raising questions about whether these innovations will successfully attract the demographic most critical to the dating app market.
Investors are watching closely as the company signals that the current situation is dire enough to warrant such a fundamental intervention. The success of the new interface in reversing the trend of falling paid users will not be known until the final quarter of 2026, when the overhaul becomes available to users.
