Why Is Your Dating App Location Not Updating?

It depends on the app. Some apps update your location on their own as you move, and some only change it when you tell them to. Hinge is the one that does not update by itself. Bumble, Hily and happn read your phone, so when they lag, the phone is not giving them a reading. Find out which kind of app you are using, and the fix is quick.

Hinge says it does not automatically update your location by recording it each time you log in. If you move or travel, you must update it manually in your profile. Nothing happens until you do.

Hily uses your phone's location and places you near the closest city or town. It updates automatically as you move around, as long as the app has location access.

Bumble says your phone's GPS determines your location. For a stale or wrong location, it points to the same short list of fixes.

happn says the app does not need to be open for it to register encounters, as long as geolocation is active on the phone. So happn can keep registering encounters while it is closed.

In your profile, tap Location under My Vitals. You can tap the Compass icon to use your device location, or search for a city, neighborhood, address or zip code. Do this when you travel and when you come back.

The common story is a man who spends a weekend in another city, gets back, and notices the feed still shows the other place. Nothing broke. Hinge never changed it. A thirty-second update puts it right.

When the app reads the phone, a stuck location means the reading is not getting through. Work through these.

1. Make sure location access is on for the app. On happn, set it to Always in your phone settings so it can read your location while you move around.
2. Turn off any VPN, because a VPN can make the phone look as if it is somewhere else.
3. Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data, which Bumble lists as a step.
4. Update the app.
5. Restart the phone.

Bumble's list covers a stale or wrong location, and the same steps are sensible on the others. If the app still does not move after all five, you have a bigger fault, and the app's support is the next stop.

Hily says it places you near the closest city or town, so do not expect the app to show your exact street. If it names a nearby town, that is how it is built.

Hinge is similar. It shows only the neighborhood name and never an exact address.

The women who see you, and the women you see, come from wherever the app thinks you are. If it still thinks you are home when you are in another city for a few days, you miss the women you could actually meet this week.

If you are traveling for a few days, a short chat with a woman on the app can turn into a date quickly. a dating coach's rule applies: keep the date close to where you are staying, so the night can go where it wants to go. For that you need the app to know where you are. Update it the moment you land.

Before a trip, check that location access is on. When you arrive, update the location on Hinge and open the other apps once so they take a fresh reading. When you get home, update again. It takes two minutes in total, and it keeps your feed full of women you can actually meet.

If a woman asks why your profile says you are somewhere else, tell her the truth. "I just landed, I'm here until Sunday" is a perfectly good opening.