How to Sort Your Incoming Likes on Hinge

Open the Likes You tab and tap the selector in the upper left corner. Every Hinge member can sort incoming likes by Your Type or by Recent. Hinge+ and HingeX subscribers get two more options. Last Active shows likes from women who used Hinge in the last 24 hours, and Nearby shows likes from women whose location is close to yours.

Your Type and Recent are open to everyone, free or paid. Hinge's subscriber page calls Your Type the view everyone can see their likes in, and Recent the view that shows the most recently received like first.

The choice matters more on the free version than most men realize. A free member views incoming likes one at a time, so the view you pick shapes which woman comes up first. A subscriber sees everyone at once, and the view mostly decides where his eye lands.

Recent is the view Hinge explains in the most detail. Its subscriber help page says that when Likes You is sorted by Recent, Roses come first. The most recent like comes next, then Priority Likes, then other likes.

Two practical points follow. Roses sit at the top of this view, marked with a Rose icon, so a woman who spent one on you is easy to find. And whoever liked you most recently is right behind them. That makes Recent the best view for answering fresh interest while she is still thinking about you.

Priority Likes come from HingeX members. Hinge says they look the same as regular likes, so you cannot pick them out on your screen.

Last Active shows likes from women who have used Hinge in the last 24 hours. Nearby shows likes from women who have set a location close to yours. Hinge lists both as extras for Hinge+ and HingeX members, next to seeing every like at once.

Last Active has one condition. Hinge says it is available if you have opted into Last Active, and its page on the feature explains the catch: hide your own status and you cannot see anyone else's either. To turn yours on, tap your profile picture in the navigation bar, tap the gear icon, and find Show Last Active Status. Set the toggle so it turns purple, then tap X to save.

Your matches cannot see that status. Hinge says it only shows when other members view you in Discover, Standouts or their own Likes You tab.

Use Recent most days. It puts Roses on top and the newest likes right under them, and a quick reply to a fresh like is the easiest match you will get all week.

Use Last Active when you have a long list and little time. A woman who opened the app today is in a position to see your reply today. A woman who has not been on in a while may not answer for days.

Use Nearby when your likes come from women spread across a wide area. a dating coach's rule for choosing where to go out is to take the closer option over a slightly better one further away. His reason is that dates are much easier to set up when she is already nearby. The same logic applies here. A great chat with a woman ninety minutes away often ends as just a great chat.

If only a handful of likes come in, the order they arrive in hardly matters. The fix is further up.

Hinge's own advice for getting more likes is plain. Loosen your preferences slightly if they are very narrow. Update a picture or a prompt answer. Keep sending likes, because Hinge says staying active increases your chances of getting noticed.

Start with your first picture. It should show your face clearly, in good light. Hinge's page on getting more matches lists sunglasses among the things that tend to get fewer likes, so take them off. Then read your answers out loud. Each one should give a stranger something easy to write back.

Sorting only helps if you act on what you find. To match, tap the Chat icon on her like, then send a message or tap Match. She moves to your Matches tab.

Send a real message rather than a silent match. If she commented, answer it and add a question. If not, react to one line from her answers in a sentence or two, the kind of reply that shows you actually read it.

Then keep it moving. After a few good exchanges, suggest a specific place and time, ideally somewhere easy for both of you to reach. The view you sorted by got you to her. The plan is what gets you a date.