Dating apps are trying to cure swiping fatigue with pickleball, trivia nights, and fewer chats

After years of captivating users with endless swipes, dating apps are now trying to get people to put their phones down and find connection in the real world.

Tinder, the pioneer of the dating swipe, is now one of the companies leading this expansion of IRL events. In March, the company introduced an Events feature in its app and hosted a pilot event for users in Los Angeles.

Since then, the feature has started to catch on, especially with younger people, said Tinder chief product officer Mark Kantor. The company since March has seen 71% of its Gen Z users in L.A. visit the Events feature on its app. Meanwhile, only 63% of users 25 and older engaged with it. 

The company has now expanded the feature to 20 cities, mostly in the U.S. but also in Europe. The idea, Kantor told Fortune via email, is to shed the label of “dating event” and instead allow users to meet potential matches while doing something they already love like pickleball, trivia, or sauna and cold plunge sessions.

The company has partnered with several companies to facilitate these........

© Fortune