Picture the scene. You’ve met someone on Tinder and once you became serious you both promised to stop using the app. Then, your partner comes up in a friend’s stack ready to be swiped. Can you tell if they are still on Tinder if you don’t have an account? Can you tell if someone is still active on the app?
First up, despite what a bunch of paid services will tell you, there is no way to see if someone is on Tinder without an account. Those paid services will either use an account or are not going to be able to deliver what they promised. You need an account to let you into the Tinder ecosystem otherwise you won’t be able to see what’s going on.
However, there is nothing stopping you from setting up a fake account and taking a look. You are kind of stooping to their level but if you really must know…
Find someone on Tinder
According to Tinder, abandoned accounts will not appear in people’s stacks. Profile cards are selected from active users within the criteria you set. There is no point showing profiles of people who aren’t going to reply or swipe back so they aren’t picked up by the algorithm.
That doesn’t mean they are actively using it. They could have simply logged in to delete their photos or something harmless. There are two ways to find out. The first, and arguably best is to sit them down and have a conversation about it. Explain what happened, that they came up like a friend’s Tinder match, and that they shouldn’t have. They answer that they were just removing their pics and closing their account down. Question answered and you live happily ever after.
Or. You set up a fake Tinder account and go and see for yourself what’s going on. While the first option is the best, I bet a good majority of you will opt for this one. Now Tinder doesn’t demand Facebook, you can set up an account with any email address and enjoy your time on the app in secret.
Signs a Tinder account is still in use
There are three signs that a Tinder account is still in use. They update their profile. They add news pics. Their location changes.
Profile updates
A person would have to be incredibly brazen to change or update their Tinder profile while dating someone meetmindful and not expect to get caught. But it happens. I know of two supposedly intelligent people who updated their Tinder profile without considering their partner would find out. They thought they were safe as their partner no longer used Tinder, or that they couldn’t openly confront them about it without admitting to using the app themselves. They were wrong.
Picture updates
The same goes for updating profile images. If they have developed a beach body they are naturally going to want to show it off. But not on Tinder. If you log in using your fake account or ask your friend to use their account and see new pics, two things are wrong. One, they are using their Tinder account for them to appear in a stack. Two, updating their pics means they are still invested in the app.
Location updates
Tinder only updates location when you use the app. If it is closed and not used, it does not read location data or update it to the app. If their profile shows a new or more recent location you know they have been using the app. Tinder uses location data to compile your stack from where you are. Any change of location shows that the profile has been in use and they have been swiping.
What to do next?
Signs that someone has been using Tinder is not a sign that they have been cheating. If you both promised to drop the app and remain exclusive then there are some things that need discussing but cheating may not necessarily be one of them.
If you have shied away from that conversation in the past, you can’t anymore. It is time to sit down and discuss their behavior. You’re going to have to admit to going all CSI: Tinder on them, or maybe you could ask your friend to lie for you, but either way it’s time to talk. It is better to find out now if you aren’t as exclusive as you thought you were!
Finding a Tinder Account
If you’ve just created a new Tinder account for snooping, you may be curious to find someone in particular. There are two ways to search out a Tinder account. The first one takes a lot of time, the second one may net incorrect results, but if you have enough information about the person, it’s actually pretty great.
- Get a cold drink and find a comfortable place to sit – this is going to take a while
- Open Tinder and change your settings to narrow down your matches – age, location, etc.
- Swipe left until you find their account
- Type “gotinder/*username*,” of course, type their username and not the actual word.
- Snoop out information from their other social media profiles to increase the likelihood you’ll pull the right Tinder profile
This won’t show you any information about a person on Tinder but it is useful for finding out whether a person has a profile. For example, if you’ve been married for ten years and find that your spouse has a Tinder profile, it may raise some questions about their activities.
Assuming you’ve found the perfect match and no longer need the service, be sure to completely delete your Tinder profile otherwise, your other half may suspect you’re up to something you aren’t. Even if your account is inactive, you may show up in a search somewhere, or your account could be hacked without you knowing.