Does Hinge Have Read Receipts? What You Need to Know

Understand Read Receipts on Hinge

In an era of online dating, where a swipe and a single message can take on the capacity of connection, the communications abilities of the services in question become one of the main determining factors contributing to the experience. Read receipts or those tiny dots telling you that the person has read your message is one of those features that dating app users wonder and argue about. One of the most popular questions that circulate among people using the Hinge dating app, which is revered to build valuable relationships, is: Does Hinge have read receipts?

This guide examines the answer in detail, as it touches upon the messaging system Hinge uses, its unusual take on communication, other functions such as Your Turn or Last Active, and the place Hinge holds in comparison to other dating apps.

Being an experienced Hinge user or new to the platform, this article will explain everything that you should understand about read receipts and how to conduct the conversations without it.

Understanding Read Receipts

Before delving into the position held by Hinge on the use of read receipts, it is important to know what read receipts are and why read receipts are important when it comes to online dating. Read receipts are signals or alerts that indicate whether a message is read or opened or not.

This feature has been popularized by popular messaging applications such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger, where visual indicators, such as blue double ticks, or double blue ticks may be present, or a label indicating the message was read, with a time stamp. Read receipts may act as transparency tools in dating apps, where the user can be informed accordingly as to whether a message has been read or not, and may affect communication tactics and expectations.

Read receipt however, is two-edged sword. On the one hand, they give clarity so that there is less confounding that goes on when you wonder whether a message has been sent and not responded to. They may however keep pressures of responding instantly thus causing tension when a message is received but no response provided to it.

Even in the passively emotive landscape of online dating, where, more frequently than not, a person is determining interest and compatibility, read receipts would serve to increase overthinking, often thinking: “They read my message but did not respond, did they not find me interesting?” This aspect causes whether or not to include the display of read receipts to be a major design decision in dating applications such as Hinge.

Does Hinge Have Read Receipts?

In short, Hinge does not have read receipts. Unlike some messaging apps or other dating apps, Hinge does not give the user an option to be notified whether his messages were read or not. Whenever you send a message on Hinge, you see a label indicating that it has been sent and that means the message has successfully reached the chat of the person you are sending it to.

But you do not see any option like delivered or read indicator that can indicate that the message has been opened. Similarly, your partner will not be able to know when you have read their messages. This is true for text and voice messages in the platform as well as the free and paid (Hinge Plus or HingeX) versions.

Hinge does not include read receipts, and this decision is purposeful as the company works on the idea of establishing a dating app that can be deleted. By rejecting the use of read receipts, Hinge attempts to eliminate the pressure and stress that online dating conversations are usually filled with.

The lack of this feature enables users to respond in their own time and analyze their responses, which is why they never get the immediate response they expect. Such a design decision focuses on the aspects of privacy and user comfort to create an environment where the development of true relationships is not affected by the pressure of updating the status of messages.

Why Hinge Opts Out of Read Receipts

Hinge decided not to implement the read received because it considers this feature the opposite of its philosophy of encouraging real interactions as opposed to shallow or hack responses. A number of reasons must be possible causes of this decision:

Reducing Pressure and Anxiety

A person can think too deeply about some message, not receiving a reaction to it, even knowing that it was read somewhere. The absence of read receipts on Hinge removes this pressure and lets the users relax and think about the content of the discussion instead of when the messages will be answered. This is in tandem with an aim of Hinge of creating real relationships.

Prioritizing Privacy

Hinge does not show whether a message has been read by recipients, and this aspect provides people with more control over their profiles. Read through a message and take your time before you formulate a best response without your match knowing that you have seen it. Such extensively privacy-driven solution can make users feel more comfortable and less looked at.

Encouraging Thoughtful Communication

Hinge is designed in a way that it promotes quality communication rather than quantity. Such features as the hand-led profiles and a restricted volume of the daily likes will prompt users to invest in the important interactions. This is even backed by lack of read receipts where it enables the user to reply at his or her time instead of the compulsory need to reply immediately.

Reducing Ghosting Anxiety

One of the areas of concern regarding online dating is ghosting where an individual suddenly ceases to respond. This can be made worse by read receipts because people can easily know when they are being ignored. The experience becomes gentled by the approach of Hinge because the users cannot be in certainty as to whether failure to provide any feedback signifies a loss of interest or the fact that they are only yet to view the message.

Although not all users may enjoy read receipt because of its fixedness, the move by Hinge is an intentional one as it tried to provide the dating environment that is more relaxed but more purposeful.

Hinge’s Alternative Features: “Your Turn” and “Last Active”

Hinge does not include read receipts; however, it has other features that assist users to track their conversations and activity. These are Your Turn, and Last Active which provide indirect methods of remaining engaged without read receipt functionality.

Your Turn Feature

This active communication is promoted by the Hinge in the form of the so-called Your Turn feature. When you match with someone, you are able to start a conversation via sending a message or to leave it up to your match by clicking on the option of making it their turn. To send a reminder, you can do the following in case of non-response to your message by a match:

Navigating to the chat with your match.
Clicking the three dots (⋯) in the chat interface.
Selecting “Invite to Chat.”

This will give a reminder to the recipient and will urge the recipient to reply to your message pending reply. This does not guarantee that your message was read but it goes a long way to ensure the conversation does not stop and it is also less likely to be ghosted. Nevertheless, Hinge explains that the action of sending a reminder does not always yield a response since it rests on the interest and availability of the receiver.

Also, Hinge deletes default conversations with inactive contacts after 14 days, putting them into one of the sections of Hidden chats. That assists users to pay attention to live chats and remove excessive noise in their chat list, which also encourages them to be insightful.

Last Active Status

Last Active is a feature of Hinge app that will give an estimated time of how recently a user was last seen on the application. When you look at the profile of a possible match in the Discover feed or in the Standouts or Likes You tabs, you can also have signs such as Active Now or Active Today when both of you have this option turned on. This status can only be seen prior to matching and not on users who have turned them out, or who lost access in the last 24 hours.

Although Last Active does not always show whether a particular message was opened, it gives a better understanding of how active a certain user is. An example is, when a match is Active Today and has not gotten back to you, it could be that they have received the message and are yet to come up with a response. This can be useful to establish expectations, but that is not a foolproof way to determine the status of a message.

How Hinge Compares to Other Dating Apps

Dating apps differ slightly in terms of whether they have read receipts active or not, based on the prioritizing of user experience. This is the comparison of Hinge to other popular sites:

Tinder: Tinder provides a paid read receipts service which can be obtained in bundles of 5, 10 or 20. With even premium subscription packages such as Tinder Plus, Gold, or Platinum, users have to buy them individually. Read receipts are only possible when users on both sides enable the option.
Bumble: Bumble does not support read receipts in its free or paid variant anymore. Nevertheless, when one is sending a reply, Bumble shows a typing indicator (three dots), which can indirectly give an impression that a message was read.
OkCupid and Match: Both of them have read receipts options, which are available as premium option or as packs. Users may enable read receipts on individual conversations, which is both flexible and needs extra financing.
eHarmony: Unlike Hinge, read receipts are included at no cost in eHarmony, and a position marked by 2 ticks is shown when a recipient reads a message. This is in line with eHarmony concern in communication transparency.

Their strategy is much similar since Bumble is focused on providing a less pressurizing experience unlike Tinder or OkCupid which might have such features with an additional cost as a major factor whereas eHarmony is an adroit exception since it provides its users with free read receipts but perhaps not the most preferred by the individuals who use Hinge and are more interested in its non-threatening approach.

Navigating Communication Without Read Receipts

Lack of read receipts on Hinge may seem like a challenge, particularly in cases where you have been accustomed to it in other platforms. But still, there are the tactics that help to make the way through communication and to keep the interesting conversations:

Craft Strong Openers

Because of a prompted profile with Hinge, you basically can comment on a certain photo or answer, which is a plus in having this type of conversation opened. Giving a quality introduction founded on the profile of your match will enhance a reply. As an example of such a threat, one can mention a common interest or a question about a prompt that can trigger an interesting conversation.

Use the “Your Turn” Reminder Sparingly

When a match has failed to respond after a couple of days, you may want to send a light reminder saying that it was their turn. Be light, non-serious, like, “Hi, just checking up, thought your profile was great and wanted to know more about you!” Do not send so many reminders because it will feel that you are sounding like you are pushy.

Check Last Active Status

Let us check the last active status of the potential match so that we can get an idea whether they are currently using the app or not. It could be a reason to lack response, in case they were not active recently.

Be Patient

The format of Hinge requires people to be more carefree to respond, so you cannot think that they are not interested in a response. Users are also busy in life, and their non-immediate reply may just be an indication of their time.

Focus on Quality Over Quantity

Instead of waiting to see whether a message was read, one should aim at creating a connection through quality exchanges. Use open-ended questions, start story-telling and have the conversation flow.

Consider Moving to Other Platforms

When read receipts are a priority to you, you can think of switching communications to an app like WhatsApp or iMessage once you have made each other interested. This enables you to be in the position to use the read receipts without using the messaging system of Hinge.

The Pros and Cons of No Read Receipts

This choice of Hinge to not include read receipts has some positive sides as well as negative ones:

Pros

Less Pressure: Users are no longer under pressure to reply instantaneously and can thus reply at their own pace. This improves deeper and genuine discussions.
Enhanced Privacy: You may read the messages without your match being aware of your action so that you may have time to think of how you would like to respond without feeling check.
Focus on Connection: Hinge does this by eliminating the nuisance of seeing whether the message has been read or not, thereby shifting the focus of users on matters of the quality of communication rather than whether a message has been read.

Cons

Uncertainty: The problem of being uncertain with the status of the message whether the recipient has read a message or not can be problematic upon a case that you have done this because you are anxious on the response. This may complicate the situation of determining the interest of a match.
Potential for Ghosting: Ghosting occurs when the person stops responding to the message. There are no read receipts, so it is impossible to understand whether someone has viewed the message or is not interested in the match, which is annoying.
Limited Feedback: While services like apps with read receipts provide a better feedback regarding the status of a message not being read, Hinge does not provide immediate feedback, which is not ideal in applications that value openness.

Could Hinge Add Read Receipts in the Future?

At the time of the updated information, there is still nothing about Hinge offering read receipts. This means that it might be unlikely that such additions as read receipts will be introduced into the app in the near future since both of these features focus on increasing pressure and making connections shallow.

Nevertheless, dating apps are often updated to satisfy user needs, and the parent company behind Hinge, Match Group, enables some of the applications such as Tinder and OkCupid to receive read receipts.

In case the feedback from users is very positive regarding the use of read receipts, Hinge might implement them as a premium feature, like it is in the case of Tinder. Currently, the Hinge feature of the Your Turn and Last Active works as a suitable alternative to keep a dialogue going without flouting the low-key vibe of the app.

Conclusion

Hinge is the app that lacks read receipts, and it was a conscious decision that fits the overall idea of the company to bring a stress-free and meaningful dating experience. With this omitted functionality, Hinge is further committed to user privacy, eliminates pressure when communicating with others, and helps people think carefully when communicating.

Although this too could make some users miss the transparency of read receipts, other options that could be used as a work around such as the Your Turn and Last Active features have been made available that will help manage conversation and activity in an alternate way.

Hinge differs as compared to other dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, and eHarmony since not all of them follow their style but rather limited to individuals who prefer a stress-free and natural dating experience.

To succeed as a Hinge user, the most important tip is to follow the specification of the platform: create interesting first messages, promote reminders only with the clear goal and think of forming your own beneficial relations instead of being obsessed with the sending status.

Also, whether you are new to the Hinge or an experienced user, learning about its messaging system will help you feel confident when using the app, as then you can concentrate on getting that meaningful relationship that Hinge is made to build.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn on read receipts in Hinge settings?

No, read receipts are not available on Hinge, and there’s no setting to enable them.

Do Hinge Preferred subscribers get read receipts?

No. Other features are available with the premium subscription except the read receipts.

How do I know if someone is ignoring me?

There is no guarantee of this. Once a person takes more than a few days to send any message or unmatches you, it can be fairly proved that they are not interested.

Are there other dating apps with read receipts?

Yes. There are various read receipts across apps, such as Tinder (with Tinder gold) and Bumble (with Bumble Premium), OkCupid, etc.