Tinder has started testing a new looping video feature, the first time the company has enabled moving images within its perennially popular dating app.
The feature is currently being tested in the Tinder iOS app in Canada and Sweden, according to a blog post, but the company has given no indication as to when it may graduate to a global release.
Here’s basically how it works. You hit the “add media” button in your profile section, then upload a video from your camera roll and edit it down to a two-second clip within the Tinder app. You then set the video to become your first loop and add it to your profile.
Above: Tinder: In the loop
Tinder also noted that it’s testing the ability to let you choose from up to nine profile photos or loops in your profile, expanding the current upper limit of six. The company introduced a new “smart photos” feature back in 2016 that alternates your main profile image automatically.
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Video stars
Video is very much the name of the game across the social spectrum. Facebook has allowed users to enable video within their profile pictures for a couple of years, while traditionally photo-focused social networks such as Snapchat and Instagram have long embraced video. Most technology platforms also now cater heavily to people’s seemingly insatiable desire to share looping GIFs, which is why Google acquired Tenor just last week.
While Tinder has taken a while to embrace moving images, it did acquire a video-sharing app called Wheel last year, which led to speculation that Tinder was planning something big around video. It’s unlikely that acquisition has had much direct impact on today’s looping video rollout, but it does seem Tinder is getting serious about moving beyond static photos.
