
Ask HN: Why is Tinder an app? - lumberjack
Why not a website? What&#x27;s the advantage in having it be an app?<p>And do you see potentially new social networks platforms being delivered as mobile apps in the future as well?<p>EDIT: another possibly related question: We know that huge userbases by themselves are valuable. Is it possible that mobile userbases are for some reason more valuable (more data  mining potential?) than web userbases (assuming the same demographics)?
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afarrell
I have never met anyone from the Tinder team, but I would guess at the
following influences:

1) Tinder was initially released in 2012. The javascript ecosystem has changed
immensely in the past 4 years.

2) If I re-open a URL in google chrome on my iphone, I have to wait for the
page to refresh. With an app, I don't.

3) The program model expressed by the CSS+HTML API is so complex that after 10
years, I have given up trying learn a mental model of it which can accurately
predict reality. I have accepted that web interface development involves a
great deal of guess-and-check. Apparently the APIs exposed by the Android and
iPhone are much more coherently designed.

4) To open a webpage, you first have to click an icon to open a browser, then
type in the first few characters of a URL. To open an app, you just have to
click an icon. That makes it easier for someone to get into the habit of
checking your app.

(If you can point out ways in which #2, #3 #4 are false, I would love to hear
them. However, that won't weaken my argument because OP isn't asking about
reality but rather is asking about the perceptions of the Tinder team.)

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alistproducer2
I think a better question is "why isn't it a website _as well_?" IMO the form
factor of a phone is ideal for the UX that Tinder is offering. It presents
dating like a game: a time waster. It just so happens our smart phones are
designed to support just such interactions.

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DrScump
Because with the app, they can harvest these valuable commodities:

Device and app history

Identity

Location

Photos

Media

Files

Camera access

WiFi info

Device ID

Call information

The above makes it far easier to productize you.

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thecupisblue
This. Also my generation lives on the tiny screen.Also, making it into a
website would just make it feel like "real online dating" and completely
remove it from the "i'm doing it just for fun" experience.

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wingerlang
Tinder is not a social network.

I think DrScump said it well with the device stuff. It is also extremely
satisfying to swipe in the app. As well as the literally always in your pocket
aspect. An app goes on your homescreen as well, so it is in your face as well,
kinda.

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slowm5
no one would tinder on a desktop...thats what craigslist is for

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Nicholas_C
Push notifications

