Curious about this free Tinder feature? This Ultimate Guide has the answers to all your questions about Tinder Smart Photos, plus advice on how to use it to get more matches!
What Does Tinder Smart Photos Do?
The premise is simple. When the feature is activated, the app automatically rotates your primary photo. It then records the number of right/left swipes each one receives while it’s in that #1 spot, and automatically orders them by popularity.
Theoretically, that means your “best” Tinder photo always has the primary position.
According to Tinder, during the testing phase users saw a 12% increase in matches while using Smart Photos.
Turning Smart Photos on and off is simple:
- Tap the “Profile” icon at the top left of the screen
- Tap “Edit Info”
- Scroll down to “Photo Options”
- Toggle on “Smart Photos”
To disable Smart Photos, simply toggle it back off.
How Smart Photos Works
Smart Photos uses an algorithm that considers each photo’s swipe right rate (SRR). That number is determined by the number of right swipes divided by the total number of swipes for each photo.
The main component of the algorithm is the decision between “explore” mode, where photos are tested to see which performs best, and “exploit” mode, where the most popular photo at the time is put in the 1st position to garner the most right swipes.
The algorithm also takes into account the number of impressions across all your photos, which pushes the most popular ones to the front of the line over time, and determines their sequence. That means your most right-swiped on photo will be in the primary spot.
If the data indicates a need for a swap, Tinder changes your photo automatically. You’ll receive a notification the next time you log in. You’ll also likely notice the change on your login page.
Does Smart Photos Work?
There are a few potential flaws in the process. For starters, some users don’t swipe right on their favorite picture – they just swipe on the last one.
If someone checks out all your photos before making a decision, they’d have to scroll back to their favorite Tinder photo and then swipe right for the info collected by the algorithm to be truly accurate.
Is someone going to take the time to do that? Most likely not – they’re just going to swipe right (or left) on whatever photo is on the screen when they’ve made the decision.
Another potential problem is lack of data – if your profile doesn’t see a lot of action, your lineup will be based on a small set of data points. So if you live in a sparsely populated area, you’ll likely get more accurate crowdsourced feedback from a site like Photofeeler.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t test out the Smart Photos feature, only that it’s like not 100% accurate.
Get Smart About Your Tinder Photos
There’s one more potential drawback to Smart Photos – it will rank your photos, whether they’re good or bad. So if you’ve got a terrible lineup and a few right swipes, your “best” photo still isn’t very good – and your match rate still won’t be very high.
If you want to actually get anywhere on Tinder, you need to start with strong photos. Then if you’re not sure which one to choose as your primary, turn on Smart Photos.
Here are 3 ways to make your Tinder photos more attractive:
#1: Crank Up The Contrast
When a team of neuroscientists studied the reactions of test subjects swiping through Tinder photos, they discovered all the photos that were rated most attractive had a high degree of contrast.
In a nutshell, your image should pop out of the background, not blend into it:
#2 Choose Uncomplicated Photos
When it comes to interpreting images, your brain prefers simplicity. In the study mentioned above, the photos deemed most attractive had a low cognitive workload. As that workload increased, the attraction level decreased.
That means skip photos that have a lot of visual clutter in the frame, as in these examples:
Instead, choose photos that are clear, instantly readable, and preferably taken with a high quality camera.
#3 Get Your Crop On
While you’ll want to include at least one full body shot in your Tinder lineup, ideally your primary photo shows you (and just you) from mid-chest up.
Not only does that follow the “simple image” rule, but the traditional headshot proportions were consistently rated the most attractive in the study mentioned above.
To maximize the odds of forming a connection with the viewer, choose photos where your eyes are visible.
Eye contact is a powerful force, so use it to your advantage. In fact, it’s such a powerful thing that hiding your eyes with glasses, your hair, or some other object actually makes you seem less trustworthy.
Want more Tinder photo advice? Check out these 15 tricks to a more attractive profile photo – backed by science!
The Easiest Way To Get Better (And More!) Matches On Tinder
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