American company Match Group, which owns the popular mobile dating app Tinder, has announced the termination of its operations in the Republic of Belarus. According to the company's official notification, full access to Tinder in Belarus will be discontinued from February 15. This means that users in the country will no longer be able to use the app's main features. Until that date, they can create matches and chat.
In addition, from February 15, Belarusians will not be able to subscribe and make purchases in the app. It is recommended to spend all "super likes" and "boosts" before the specified date or request a refund if available. It is important to note that paid subscriptions ending after February 15 will not be automatically renewed.
In light of Tinder's decision to cease operations in Belarus, it becomes clear that the company is using a similar withdrawal scheme already tested in the Russian market. As a reminder, in April 2022, Tinder decided to disable paid features for Russian users and suspend the acceptance of payments from Russian cards. This step was the first harbinger of the subsequent final withdrawal from Russia, which took place on June 30, 2023. The app was removed from Google Play and the App Store, and users also lost the ability to register with a Russian phone number even outside the country.
Recently, Russian developers introduced a new dating service called Flero. The project stands out for its use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to determine the compatibility of a couple. Flero's AI analyzes not only socionics but also the user's astrological data and the results of internal tests, providing users with a percentage of compatibility.