Tinder preps 'Lite' version of its dating app for data-limited areas

Add Tinder to the growing list of tech giants launching lightweight apps to reel in more users. As part of an earnings call, Match Group divulged plans for a Tinder Lite app that would be smaller and better-suited to area where cellular data "comes at a premium." CEO Mandy Ginsberg made no mention of features or a release date (other than "soon"), but did point to Southeast Asia as a high priority when there's an influx of young people into packed cities.

As with other lightweight apps and scaled-back operating systems like Android Go, this is really about maintaining growth that might otherwise taper off. Although Tinder is still growing at a solid pace (its paid subscribers jumped 38 percent year-over-year in early 2019), it knows those numbers won't last forever. A Tinder Lite app would give it access to millions of people who have only basic smartphones, limited access to data or both. Even if only a fraction of those newcomers sign up, that's a large potential expansion.