Dating app Tinder is now offering its Passport feature to singles for free - in a bid to tackle loneliness during the global coronavirus crisis.

While people are no longer travelling internationally, due to the pandemic, all Tinder users can still meet people from countries other than their own - even if it is only virtually.

  • Is this a new feature from Tinder?

The Passport feature was previously a paid option for Tinder plus and Gold subscribers who sought other singles from further afield.

Tinder requires all of its users to disclose their location when using the app, in order to find potential matches nearby.

Previously, free profiles were limited to viewing other profiles from a radius of 100 miles away.

Hexham Courant: TINDER: The Passport feature has now been rolled out for free to users around the world. Picture: TinderTINDER: The Passport feature has now been rolled out for free to users around the world. Picture: Tinder

  • How does the feature work?

In a move that will help connect users in isolation across the world, the newly available feature allows users to search for potential love interests internationally, by dropping a pin anywhere on the world map.

Once a destination has been chosen, users can swipe left or right, match and chat with the profiles from that chosen region, as they could with more local users.

Users wishing to use this feature to change preferred location in the app can simply tap the profile icon followed by selecting ‘settings’, where they can then tap ‘location’ to finally add a new preference.

While members can only be virtually browsing for dates in one city at a time, they can change their chosen destination without limit.

'More connection in a newly isolated world'

As restaurants and cinemas close across the world, the average length of conversations in the Tinder app has increased by 25 per cent globally since the start of the outbreak.

The average number of daily conversations has also increased by an average of 20 per cent.

In a statement about this change, CEO of the dating app, Elie Seidman said: “We hope our members, many of whom are anxious and looking for more human connection, can use Passport to transport themselves out of self-quarantine or isolation to anywhere in the world.

“We're inspired by how people are using Tinder to be there for each other, and we want to fan these flames of social solidarity.”