What Does Distance Mean on a Dating App?

The distance is how far a woman is from you, measured from the location the app has for each of you. On Tinder and Bumble that comes from your phone's current location. On Hinge it comes from a location pin you set, and Hinge does not move it when you do. The app also uses distance to decide who to show you.

Tinder says proximity is a key factor in matching, so it considers a potential match's distance from your current location.

Bumble uses the phone's GPS. Members are shown to each other by real-time location, and the distance filter is only available in specific countries.

Hinge uses the location pin you set. It does not update that pin automatically when you move, so the distance reflects where you told Hinge you were. You can also choose whether distance shows in miles or kilometers.

Every app that matters lets you set how far away the women you see can be.

On Tinder, you set a maximum distance in Discovery Settings. Tinder may show people slightly outside it unless you turn off a toggle, so a woman can appear a little past the limit you chose.

On Hinge, you set a maximum distance radius in Dating Preferences, and you can tick an option to show profiles outside it. If you want a hard limit, leave that option unticked.

On Bumble, the distance filter is only available in specific countries, so the setting may not be there for you.

A distance is only as good as the location behind it. There are two common ways it goes off.

The first is a stale pin. If you set your Hinge location a year ago in another city and have not changed it, every woman you see is measured from that old spot. The same applies to her pin, so a woman who lists herself as close may have moved.

The second is a hidden distance. Tinder subscribers can hide their age and distance, so a missing distance on a woman's page is a setting she chose and not a glitch.

Distance is mostly a question of effort, and effort decides whether a match turns into a date. A woman who is a short trip away can be met for a drink on a weekday. A woman an hour away needs a plan, and plans fall apart.

a dating coach's advice is to move toward a date quickly once she is replying with energy. That works much better when the distance is short, because a close date has few reasons to cancel. If you are choosing between two women who are both interested, the nearer one is usually the better bet, simply because it is easier to make a plan that happens.

Start with a radius you would actually travel on a normal evening. For most men in a city, that is a small area. In a small town, you may need a wide one or the app will run out of women to show.

Widen the radius if your stack dries up. Narrow it if you keep matching with women you would not travel to meet. A match you will never meet is a conversation you cannot turn into a date, and it takes time you could spend on one you can.

On Tinder and Bumble, the app follows your phone, so your location changes when you do. On Hinge, you have to move the pin yourself, and a man who forgets keeps meeting women from the old city.

Before you open the app in a different place, check where it thinks you are. Then check the distance setting, so the women you see are people you can meet.