Tinder adds Super Like when swiping right just isn't romantic enough

When you need to show someone you don't just like them, you like-like them, Tinder has introduced a new "Super Like" feature. By swiping upwards on a potential mate instead of left or right, you can show them that you're interested before they make a decision about whether to like you back.

The new feature launches shortly after the matchmaking smartphone app was accused of bringing about a " dating apocalypse" by magazine Vanity Fair. With users swiping through more than 1.6 billion profiles every day, Tinder is now estimated to be worth around $1.35 billion.

Tinder was launched in 2012 with very simple features: once you connected it to your Facebook account, your profile was shown to eligible suitors with your name, age, a couple of pictures, and the friends or Facebook Likes you have in common. If you swipe right on someone who has also swiped right on your profile, you can chat in the app. The rest is up to you and your dodgy chat-up lines.

With this swiping'n'matching principle still at the core of the app experience, new features have been added over time. You can add photos to all your matches, add your Instagram account, or see when you share Facebook friends of friends with your possible matches. And in March of this year, the app added paid subscriptions that remove limitations on the number of likes you can swipe right in a day. The paid options proved controversial because the price increases for anyone aged over 28.

The feature launches in Australia, where potential Scott'n'Charlenes will have one Super Like per day. If you're single and ready to mingle, you'll get a limited number of Super Likes per day, so use them wisely.

With the addition of the Super Like feature, you can now tell if someone's super-liked you by a blue footer on their profile. You can still choose whether to swipe right and chat or swipe left and cruelly discard them and their wasted Super Like into oblivion.

I can't help feeling the fact that Tinder has to keep imposing limits on swiping and adding features to encourage selective swiping suggests the swiping system is feeling the strain. With many profiles complaining their matches never actually chat with them, it seems the Super Like is an attempt to restore some of the weight of a match.

Other features available in Tinder include the option to set your location so you can cue up some matches before you visit a new place, or go back to someone you rejected in order to change your mind and give them a second chance.

The company behind Tinder was in trouble last year when a co-founder was suspended over accusations of sexual harassment.