What Does a Speech Bubble With a Heart Mean on Bumble?

A yellow speech bubble with a heart inside means a woman sent you a Note with her swipe. A Note, which Bumble used to call a Compliment, is a short message she can send before the two of you match. The same heart in a speech bubble also appears as a button, and that is the one you tap to send a Note of your own.

Bumble's guide to its icons describes the yellow speech bubble with a heart inside as a sign that a Note was sent with the swipe. That is the badge. When you see it on a woman's card, she has written something to you.

Bumble's page on the People tab describes the other use. If you want to send a kind note before you match, you tap the heart in a speech bubble on her card. That is the button. One tells you she reached out, and the other is how you reach out.

Bumble's page on Notes calls them friendly messages you can send to another member before you match. You can write one about a photo, a prompt answer, a shared interest, or simply something you admire about her. Notes come with the Premium+ plan, and you can also buy them separately.

A Note is short by design. Bumble caps the length, and its own advice is that a sentence or two works best.

Two details matter for what happens next. Bumble's Notes page says a Note does not start a chat, because a match is still needed before messages can be exchanged. Its page on how conversations start adds that a Note also counts as an opening message.

Bumble says that if someone sends you a Note, you will see it when her card comes up in your People tab. Read it before you decide.

If you pay for Premium, there is a second place to look. Bumble's page on its Liked You tab describes a Notes section there, listing members who left a note about something they liked on your page before you matched.

A Note tells you more than a plain like. She picked something about you and put it into words, so she looked past your first photo. That is worth something. It is still not a reason to swipe right on a woman you are not drawn to, so decide on her the way you would decide on anyone.

If you do like her, swipe right and you match.

Her Note is the start of the conversation, so answer it. Opening with "hey" and ignoring what she wrote throws away the easiest opening you will ever get.

Pick up exactly where she left off. If she said your dog looks like trouble, tell her one short story about the dog and turn it back to her. If she asked about the place in your third photo, answer, then ask whether she has been anywhere like it. Keep it light and specific, and move the chat toward meeting while she is still interested.

Do not over-thank her. A woman who sent you a Note does not need you to be grateful. She wants a man who is easy and fun to talk to.

To send one, open a woman's card and tap the heart in a speech bubble, or the Send a Note option. Bumble says the button may sit on her card itself or appear when you interact with a specific photo or prompt. Choose what you want to comment on, write it, read it over, and send it.

The coaching material on openers applies here. A compliment on her looks is the one she hears most, so it does the least. A comment on something she chose to show, like a place, a hobby or the way she answered a prompt, proves you paid attention. It also gives her something to reply to.

Here is the difference in practice. "You're gorgeous" is a line she has read many times, and there is nothing in it to answer. "Anyone who ranks pizza toppings that seriously has strong opinions about pineapple" reacts to her prompt, makes her smile, and hands her an easy reply.

Keep it to one or two sentences, positive, and specific to her. Leave out anything you would be embarrassed to say to her face.

A Note costs something, so save it for women you would genuinely like to meet. It helps most when her card gives you something specific to react to.

If all she has is three photos and nothing written, there is little to comment on, and a plain like will do. When she has written something that made you smile, that is the moment a Note earns its place.