The Bumble dating app is similar to most apps with one big exception; women initiate conversations.  Yes, women make the first move giving them the ability to control the conversation.

According to Bumble, giving women the control to initiate conversations has led to the highest "post-match chat rate in the industry."  This has resulted in low reports of harassment and abuse.

The selling point to women is Bumble is a safer dating platform because women are in charge and why am I telling you all of this?  The Bumble dating app is a great way for men to meet women.

With so many dating apps out there I want to give you the lowdown about Bumble so you can know if it's for you or not.

First, you'll need to get your bio up and running.  Here's what you do...

1. Download app.  You can download the app on the app store or here.
2. Install the app.  Simple.  
3. Load photos.   You can add photos from your phone's library, take a photo, or import photos from Facebook. 

4. Write your bio.   Although not mandatory, you should write about yourself in your bio section, otherwise known as the "About Me" section.

For some good dating profile bio tips, visit my page Online Dating Profile Examples for Men.

The Bumble dating app allows you to include your job title, company name, college, and education level.  I recommend against listing the company you work for to protect your privacy, but it's OK to fill the rest.

5.  Optional settings.  Bumble has optional profile settings where you can link your bio to your Instagram and Spotify accounts.

You can also take a selfie which allows Bumble to verify your photo which lets women know they are not being catfished.  All you do it click on the self-verification and take a selfie.  Bumble will verify your identify and put a blue check-mark next to your name.

The selling point to women is that they make the first move on Bumble; they message you first.  This prevents women from being bombarded by unwarranted messages from men.

To start conversations on Bumble, you both must mutually "like" each other first; meaning swipe right on each other's profile.

Bumble is like Tinder... Swipe right if you're interested in women and swipe left if not.  It's that simple.

Once you both like each other, which is called a "connection," women have a 24-hour window to contact you.  Depending on your membership, you can extend the connection for another 24-hour window.  I cover the Bumble extension feature in depth below.

If the woman doesn't message you, she vanishes from your connections at the top of your screen.  Once a woman messages you the conversation has started, and it's up to you from there.

When a man and women mutually like each other on Bumble, women are the ones who initiate conversations.

It's common to see women start conversations like these on Bumble after you match up:

Once a woman sends you a message, the conversation will appear in your "conversations" window, and you have 24 hours to respond.  If you don't respond, you can extend the conversation (more on that below).

Once you reply to a woman's initial message, you can trade messages like every other dating site. 

The circles on the Bumble dating app have different meaning depending on the color.  The circles are essentially a connection timer.

Once two people like each other, a connection is established, and women have 24 hours to contact you.  If they don't contact you, the connection expires for good.

You can estimate the timing of this window based on the bar around the circle.  For example, if the yellow is half full, then the woman has 12 hours left to initiate a conversation.

You can also click on the circle to show how much time is left before your connection expires.

The colors on the Bumble circles are:

• Yellow - The yellow bar represents how many hours your connection has until it expires.  You can click on the icon to see exactly how many hours are left.  
• Red - The number on the timer represents how many minutes women have to contact you.
• Blue - Similar to yellow, it represents the number of hours left in your connection.  Click on it to see how many hours you have left.

Bumble has a "super swipe" feature to show women you're REALLY interested in them.  It's their take on the Tinder "super like" feature.

To use a super swipe on the Bumble dating app click the yellow icon with the white heart in the center.

You must be a paying member to use the Bumble super swipe feature.  Do super swipes work on Bumble?  No.  You don't need it to meet women.  

Bumble is a free app, but there is a premium option that includes features not available to those who only use the free option.

The premium paid features for users is called Bumble Boost and includes

• See everyone who has right swiped you.
• Unlimited rematches with expired connections.
• Unlimited extends.

As of now, it costs $24.99 a month for the premium service on Bumble.

Women have 24 hours to send you a message once you like each other.  Once that 24-hour window is hit, the women will vanish from your connections.

However, you can extend the 24-hour window for another 24 hours to keep your connection open in the hopes women contact you.

With the free version, you can only extend one woman once every 24 hours.   You have to pay to extend more than one woman.

Note: You can only extend an expiring connection once!  If she doesn't respond after that... your connection will be removed permanently. 

When a woman initiates a conversation, you have 24 hours to respond to her message.  If you don't reply, your conversation will expire.

Bumble allows you to reopen an expired conversation using it's "rematch" feature.  

How do you use Bumble's rematch feature?  Easy, click on the expired messages and you'll be presented a prompt to "rematch" with the woman.

Is the "rematch" feature on Bumble free?  Nope.  It's part of the paid service.

So pay attention if you're using the free service on Bumble because if you don't respond to a woman's initial message, you may lose your ability to swap messages permanently.  

If you want to take a break from Bumble, you can hide or disable your Bumble account using the "Snooze mode."  It's an easy change in your settings.

There's a lot to like about Bumble.  Here are a few of the things I like about Bumble: 

• The basic functionality is free.  You can meet plenty of women using the free features.
• There are a lot of women on it which improves the likelihood of a connection.
• Women make the first move to show interest.  
• The app is smooth and easy to use.
• You can get going in minutes
• Women get a 24-hour window to message you once you both like each other, so your messages don't sit in their inboxes.
• The features you get as a paid member help... a lot.  

Here are things I don't like about the Bumble dating app.

• There are times where I swipe left on a woman, meaning I'm not interested, but she'll show up again later in my search.
• You can only filter women on distance and not on other criteria like kids, politics, education, etc...
• I have to pay a fee to see which women like me.
• The monthly cost is expensive
• The 24-hour window is a great idea but what happens if a woman doesn't check her phone a few days.  Your chance to start a conversation is gone forever.
• You can't search for women like a traditional dating site.

I'm a fan of Bumble... a big fan.  Bumble is a great app to meet women, and I highly recommend using it.  

If you want t know if it's worth using, I'd suggest using the free option first to see if women are using the app in your area.  You can meet women using the free feature, so there's no need to pay for it, although paying has its advantages.

Bumble is gaining buzz (no pun meant), and there are a ton of women on it.   I've met quality women on it, so I'm a believer.