Tinder launches 'Block Contacts' feature to help users avoid familiar faces

Tinder is rolling out a new feature that allows members to block personal contacts in the app, empowering them to confidently spark new connections while avoiding the awkwardness of a familiar face they would rather not see.

Whether it’s a former flame, a cousin, or a colleague, just about everyone has a personal connection they’d rather not run into when dipping their toe in the dating pool. A recent survey commissioned by Tinder found that more than 40% of respondents have come across an ex-partner on a dating app. Another 24% have seen a family member or colleague, and one in ten have even encountered their professor’s profile. Given the chance, 78% of those surveyed would prefer to not see, or be seen by, these connections on an app.

The new Block Contacts feature is launching to help consumers navigate this year’s wave of springtime uncouplings. Known as “Uncuffing Season,” the annual onset of warmer weather compels hibernating couples to cut ties just in time to enjoy an unattached summer season. The notion of uncuffing isn’t a new phenomenon either, 63% of survey respondents agree summertime is the best time to be single. However, the prospect of a somewhat normal post-pandemic summer has inspired 2021’s “Great Uncuffing.” So much so that the same study found that more than 40% of those surveyed would consider breaking things off with a partner ahead of summertime, and over half of its Gen Z respondents had already bid farewell to their pandemic partners this year.

“We may not be able to save you from awkward run-ins at the coffee shop, but we are giving you more control over your experience on Tinder,” said Bernadette Morgan, Group Product Manager, Trust & Safety at Tinder. “We’re rolling out Block Contacts as an additional resource empowering members with peace of mind by helping create a worry-free space for them to spark new connections.”

Members everywhere will be able to access Block Contacts within their profile settings. From there, they can input which of their contacts they’d rather not see, or not be seen by, on Tinder. Whether those contacts are already on Tinder or decide to download it later using the same contact info, they won’t appear as a potential match. Initially tested in India, Korea and Japan, members who adopted the Block Contacts feature on Tinder added about a dozen contacts to their block list.

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How it works

Block Contacts is a settings-like feature. There are two ways to use it:

Option 1: Upload your contact list

Share the contact list from your device to Tinder and pick the contacts you want to block:

• Open Tinder and tap the profile icon
• Go to “Settings”
• Scroll down and select “Block Contacts”
• Grant Tinder permission to access your contacts
• Under the “Contacts” tab, select people you want to avoid from your contact list
• Tap “Block Contacts”

Option 2: Manually add a contact

If you’d rather not upload all your contacts to Tinder, or if you want to block someone who isn’t saved in your contact list, you can manually add their contact info:

• Follow steps 1 - 3 above
• Then, tap the + icon at the top of the screen
• Input this person’s contact info and tap “Done”

Blocked contacts won't be notified that you have blocked them, and blocking contacts doesn’t affect your existing matches or messages.