Is Hinge Location Based?

Yes. Hinge asks you to set your location when you create an account, and your Dating Preferences include a Maximum Distance that sets a radius around it. By default you only see people inside that radius. The only way to see people beyond it is to tick the box that includes people outside your preference.

You have two choices. You can use your device location through the Compass icon, or you can type a city, neighborhood, address or zip code.

If you set it by hand, Hinge only displays the name of the neighborhood you select. It never shows your exact address. You can also pick a broader area if you want more privacy, so a man who lives on a small street does not have to put it on the app.

Your page can show two different places. Location is where you are now. Hometown is where you are from. A woman reading your page sees both, which is useful because it tells her something about you and gives her a free thing to ask about. If you grew up two states away, a line like "I moved here for work and still miss the food back home" gives her an easy first question. A first question is most of what a conversation needs.

This is the one that catches men out. Hinge does not automatically update your location each time you log in. If you move or travel, you have to update it yourself, under My Vitals, then Location in your profile.

So if you spent a month in another city and nobody is liking you, check where the app thinks you are. A man who flew home and forgot to change it will keep being shown to women hundreds of miles away, and he will wonder why dates never get set.

The radius is yours to choose. Maximum Distance sets how far you are willing to look, and it is private. Women cannot see it.

A tight radius gives you women you can actually see on a weeknight. A wide one gives you more profiles and a harder time turning any of them into a date. A woman an hour away is a real person, and getting to a first drink is a real task. If you tend to say yes to a plan once and then let it slide, a smaller radius is kinder to you.

a dating coach makes a point worth keeping in mind. His claim about online dating is that it is one of the easiest ways to meet a lot of women, and high quality women, in your own area, on a consistent basis. The phrase to hold on to is your own area. A man who sets his radius to the whole region and then complains about logistics has made his own problem.

There are fair reasons to widen the radius. You live somewhere small, and the nearby pool is thin. You are moving soon and want to meet people there. You travel for work and want company in the next city for a weekend.

If you are in a small town, widen it in steps. Go a little farther, give it two weeks, and see whether any of it is turning into dates. If you are moving, set the new place as your location only when you can actually meet people there.

Show profiles outside this preference is the box that overrides your radius. It is off until you tick it, so use it on purpose, not by accident.

Location decides who you are shown. It does not decide who likes you back. A woman five minutes away still looks at your first picture and your first prompt answer and decides in a couple of seconds.

So do the work that sits on top of the setting. Write answers that give her something to ask about. Send a first line that refers to something she actually wrote. And when the conversation is warm, suggest a time and a place close to her, because the best way to use a distance setting is to keep the first date easy.

Open your profile and look at three things. Is your location the city you live in today? Is your hometown filled in if you want it there? Is your Maximum Distance a radius you would really drive on a Thursday?

If all three are right, the app is doing what you asked, and what is left is your page and your messages.