Her (dating app)

Last updated
HER
Developer(s) Dattch Ltd.
Initial releaseJune 2015 (2015-06)
Stable release
6.7.6 (iOS) / December 12, 2019;4 years ago (2019-12-12)
Preview release
3.01.19 (Android) / December 10, 2019;4 years ago (2019-12-10)
Operating system iOS 10, Android 8.0
Size
  • iOS: 54.6 MB
  • Android: 35.4 MB
Type Dating & Community
Website weareher.com

Her, is the largest and most popular dating and community app for the lesbian, queer, bisexual and sapphic community. It was designed for women; non-binary people; and transgender people (including trans men and trans women). [1] It is available for iOS and Android. [2] [3]

Contents

It was the first app that was designed specifically for women, pioneering the space and creating the first mobile app designed for LGBTQ+ women, non-binary and trans people. It is a free app that has extra services that can be paid for under a premium subscription. Users have the option of purchasing a Gold or Platinum subscription. As of July 2023 HER has approximately 13 million users. [4]

Users can join the app with their phone number, Apple login, Google Auth Facebook account or email address. As of May 2022, the application is available in 114 countries. [5] [6] It is available in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. [7]

The app is most famous amongst the LGBTQ+ community for uniquely sapphic features like Pride Pins, better sexuality and gender labelling and a community for identities and interests and event listings. [8]

History

The app was founded by Robyn Exton and launched in September 2013 under the name of Dattch. [9]

It was originally designed after Exton was inspired by the app for gay men Grindr. The idea was "born from Ms Exton's frustration with existing lesbian dating websites and apps, which she didn't think were good enough. She says the market was dominated by "dating sites that were initially created for gay men, and tuned pink for lesbians"". [10] After releasing it she learned that women were looking for a different user journey and decided to build the first dating user journey truly designed for women. [11]

In 2015 HER was launched globally to great acclaim from publications such as TechCrunch and Washington Post [12] [13]

Investors

In March 2013, Her (then Dattch) received €40,000 in funding upon joining the start-up incubator Wayra Academy, owned by Telefonica. [14]

In September 2013, the application raised £100,000 from three investors including founder of W3 Ltd, Yannick Pons and Investor & Chairman of YPlan Andy Phillipps. [15]

In March 2014, Dattch received a US$25,000 investment prize after being awarded with Best Design at 2014's LAUNCH Festival. [16]

In March 2015, after $1 million in funding from investors such as Alexis Ohanian, and Garry Tan and Michael Birch from Y Combinator, Dattch was renamed to Her. [17]

Reception

Her has been well received by LGBTQ communities. In ReadWrite's article, "Why Queer Women Need Their Own Dating App," Dattch was called "one of its kind" and "the app queer women have been waiting for." [18] Lesbian news portal Autostraddle said, "it is a pleasure seeing technology created with women’s needs being considered so carefully." [19]

Cultural references

Her appeared in the Channel 4 documentary, How to Be a Young Billionaire, which televised in the UK in 2015.

HER was featured in Valeria Season 3 episode 2 when Valeria is exploring dating apps for lesbians.

HER was featured on the Tamron Hall show in 2021 with Exton being surprised by a lesbian couple that met on the app and later married. [20]

In 2023 HER made a strong stance against TERFs (trans exclusionary radical feminists) in support of trans women on their app, which led to a loss of transphobic users from the platform and recognition from the trans community as sign of strong support for the community.

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References

  1. ↑ "Dattch- dating and social network for Women of all kind interested in meeting like minded women. HER app is diversely used for all Women for all reasons". Official Website. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Dattch Lesbian Dating & Lesbian Social Network". iTunes Store. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Dattch - The Lesbian App". Android Apps on Google Play. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  4. ↑ "This Dating App Is Great For Fostering Connections In The Queer Community". mindbodygreen. 2023-10-28. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  5. ↑ Hatmaker, Taylor (31 May 2018). "The queer dating app Her expands with curated community spaces". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Dattch Lesbian Dating & Lesbian Social Network". iTunes Store. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Popular Dating Apps in Japan: A Guide to Digital Dating". Japan Dev. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  8. ↑ "CEO and Founder of HER Robyn Exton Shares How She Celebrates Pride from Her Corner of the Internet | The Mozilla Blog". blog.mozilla.org. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  9. ↑ Lomas, Natasha (22 September 2013). "Dattch, A Pinterest-Inspired Dating App For Gay Women, Closes $160K To Fuel Its UK Beta". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "How Robyn Exton grew popular lesbian dating app Her". BBC News. 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  11. ↑ "How Robyn Exton grew popular lesbian dating app Her". BBC News. 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  12. ↑ "Appy Friday: Her, the dating app just for women". Washington Post. 2021-10-28. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  13. ↑ Crook, Jordan (2015-07-16). "Her, The Queer Dating App For Women, Goes Live Across The United States". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  14. ↑ O2 (28 March 2013). "Wayra UK selects new start-ups". O2 Blog. Retrieved 14 March 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ Golburn, James (26 September 2013). "£100,000 investment for Dattch includes YPlan Chairman". Tech City News. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "LAUNCH Festival 2014: And the winners are..." LAUNCH blog. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  17. ↑ Crook, Jordan (18 March 2015). "With $1 Million In New Funding, Dattch Lesbian Dating App Rebrands To Her". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Hatmaker, Taylor (3 Mar 2014). "Why Queer Women Need Their Own Dating App". Read Write. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  19. ↑ Stef (28 February 2013). "Dattch: New Lady-Dating App That Could Change Everything Launches in US". Autostraddle. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "This Lesbian Dating App Made Finding Love Easy for Queer Women – Tamron Hall Show". Tamron Hall. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
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