Key Takeaways
- Bumble has transformed the app Geneva into BFF, signaling an industrywide shift toward friendship-based, rather than romantic, connections.
- BFF is not Bumble’s first foray into friendship-based connections, with Bumble For Friends acting as a standalone app and as an extension on Bumble.
- BFF offers new tools and features for Bumble users who seek friendship just as much as they seek romance.
With dating app fatigue on the rise, people aren’t only looking for soulmates — they’re looking for friends.
Bumble is embracing platonic connection by turning Geneva into BFF, an app that prioritizes interest-based friendship over romance. BFF is Bumble’s attempt to evolve with the times while staying true to its core tenets: Users respond positively to safe, female-led connections.
“We’ve reimagined [Geneva] to make finding your people easier, safer, and more fun,” according to Bumble’s App Store page.
If a Bumble-created friendship app sounds familiar, it’s because the company has long incorporated friendship-finding into its dating app model with Bumble for Friends, which became a standalone app back in 2023.
BFF gives Bumble users the opportunity to forge friendships based on similar interests and priorities. Although Geneva didn’t generate revenue for Bumble, it’s possible that a well-timed rebrand can help Bumble stay afloat.
After all, we’re in what Bumble calls “The Great Frennaissance” — an age of platonic relationships.
“Love, friendship, and community are the connections that shape every part of our lives,” Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder and CEO of Bumble, said in a press release. “Seeing how members use BFF to create deep, lasting friendships reminds us that what people really crave is belonging.”
Friendly Connections Entice Burnt-Out Daters
When dating gets too complicated, we tend to retreat into our friendships. A 2020 Pew Research study makes it easy to see why: 47% of American survey respondents said that dating is harder these days than it used to be. It’s safe to say that friendship has never been more important.
In its 2024 Annual Report, Bumble prided itself on its vast network of apps aimed at facilitating connection: “We are investing in growing our community by building our apps as distinct brands with complementary but unique user value propositions.”
Bumble specifically held up its friendship-based apps as examples of how the company is diversifying its offerings. “Bumble For Friends app is about recognizing, creating and celebrating meaningful local friendship and community for people in all stages of life,” according to the report.
At the time, Bumble said Geneva “is about helping people discover and become involved in local clubs and communities to make connections and feel a sense of belonging.” But in its Q2 2025 report, Bumble noted that Geneva “had not generated any revenue” by June 30, 2025.
Still, friendship seems to be a growing engagement opportunity for apps, and if Bumble craves anything over the last year, it’s a scalable win. An 8% revenue decline in Q2, which in part led to a 30% workforce reduction, has forced Bumble to look beyond its usual dating model toward more creative growth ideas.
And friendship is nothing if not an avenue for growth, thanks to The Great Friennaissance.
BFF Brings People Together Based On Shared Interests
Bumble isn’t the only company to notice people’s shift toward platonic connections; PlotTwist, formally Fourplay Social, recently rebranded to capitalize on the growing interest in safe, non-romantic relationships.
This doesn’t mean romance is out of the question on BFF. PlotTwist’s developers emphasized how romance is often a welcome by-product of authentic friendship.
“Friends can say, ‘We want to try those new pickleball courts’ or ‘Let’s grab last-minute concert tickets,’ and find other people to do it with, with zero pressure for sparks to fly. If romance happens, amazing! If not, you still leave with new friends, shared memories, a fun evening had, and a life that feels fuller,” Julie Griggs, co-CEO of PlotTwist, told DatingNews.
When dating apps embrace the Friennaissance, they could very well unlock a new path to fulfilling romance.
As part of its redesign, BFF now offers updated features to help users make deeper, more authentic connections, both one-on-one and in group settings.
Bumble described BFF’s Groups setting as a place where “people can join shared-interest spaces, discover local events, and build meaningful connections safely and intentionally.”
Just like the dating app, BFF helps users craft unique bios with diverse interest tags to narrow down the search for their “people.”
Today’s daters don’t only want more fulfilling friendships, but safe friendships. This is why BFF gives people two ways to connect: one on one or in groups, depending on their comfort levels.
Selfie verification is a new safety standard on most dating apps, and BFF is no exception.
“Feel confident knowing every person you match with has passed selfie verification,” Bumble says. This is just one way that Bumble is helping “people build relationships that matter,” according to Wolfe Herd. “With BFF’s focus on communities, we’re making it possible not just to meet someone – but to truly find your people.”
