Gen Z has been accused of killing the dating app. According to a Forbes survey, 79 percent of Gen Z daters feel burnout by the dating apps. And while there have been many guesses behind the reasons—less quality options, a shift in attitudes toward dating apps, and the desire to meet people in real life—one consideration may have been ignored. It might be that a majority of some of the most popular dating apps right now—Bumble, Tinder, Hinge—are well over a decade old and weren’t built with Gen Z in mind (because they were too young to date!).
One new app is trying to change that.
Hoppy seems to know how Gen Z likes to express themselves. According to a press release, the app ditches the static profile and the swipe in favor of a page that resembles a scrapbook of their personality. Users build around whatever already defines them: a favorite album, a go-to jogging route, a running joke, or a movie they can’t stop quoting. They can also choose how they want to communicate, whether that’s text, photos, video, music, or voice notes. The company says the setup is meant to be hard for a chatbot to fake, a pointed jab at the AI-written profiles many daters say they’re tired of seeing.
The founders know the category well. Julian Hislop helped launch Tinder in the UK and was an early member of the Bumble team. His co-founder, Chloe Hall, comes from the consumer-brand world, with stints at ELLE, Glossier, and Starface.
Hall, who serves as Hoppy’s CMO, said in the press release that the app is a natural extension of what she’s always been drawn to. “Throughout my career, I’ve always been drawn to the aspects of my job that can bring people together and make them feel positively about themselve.” Building a dating app, she said, felt like the “ultimate culmination” of that.
Hoppy also leans heavily on getting users off their phones. Hoppy’s “Safe Date” features include optional check-ins during a date, an easy-way-out call for when things go south, and a follow-up after the meetup. The app will also hand out in-app perks tied to real-world outings across the city, including giveaways with NYC restaurants and other venues.
Whether a fresh interface is enough to win back a burned-out generation remains to be seen (though slightly newer dating apps like Feeld are proving to do well). But Hoppy is betting that what Gen Z wants from dating apps isn’t just group dates or extra likes hidden behind a platinum subscription—they want to be able to showcase who they really are and find a partner that’s attracted to that.