While you’ve been swiping around on regular Tinder, a select pool of daters have been matching on a secret new version of the app.
For the last six months, the company has been inviting certain users to Tinder Select, an exclusive version of the app meant to serve only its elite clientele, which includes CEOs, supermodels, and Internet influencers.
If you don’t fall into any of those buckets, don’t despair: TechCrunch reports that Select could also be for “people who do really well on Tinder.”
Although it’s unclear how Tinder decides who gets an invite to its glitzy new platform, the publication speculates it could have something to do with your Elo score—the “desirability ranking” each user is assigned. The score is reportedly based on a number of data points, including how many people have swiped right on your profile and how much information you’ve provided in your bio section.
TechCrunch obtained screenshots of Tinder Select, revealing that the secret app’s exclusivity extends to its look and feel: The emoji-style orange Tinder flame is replaced by a corporate-looking gradient blue “S” at the top of the screen. The users who have access to Select platform can switch back and forth between the new app and regular Tinder.
If any of this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. There is a multitude of dating apps trying to brand themselves as elite. There’s Raya, the under-the-radar, secret dating app for famous people. You can reportedly find Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and Dancing With the Stars professional dancers among its users. Then, of course, there’s The League, an invite-only app that accepts ambitious young professionals based on their educational and professional achievements.
Bumble, a more direct Tinder competitor, announced this week that it’s re-launching its VIBee app experience. Calling it a “curated digital social club,” Bumble approves select users who it deems to be “good members of the community.” Unlike Tinder Select, the VIBee version of the dating app is not exclusively for its “high-profile” users.
Tinder declined to comment.
