After a trademark dispute with Zynga, the team behind the hookup app Bang With Friends, has since rebranded themselves as Down. They have since launched on Android and at the same time, re-adjusted their approach. At the same time, they are back on the iOS (quietly released this week) with changes aside from a revamped user interface.
The first big change is that they have finally done a 'sort' wherein people can ask for either hookup or to simply get a date. The second change is that it has expanded potential matches therefore, it also shows the friends of friends of your current ones on Facebook combined with a search feature wherein you can search through the friends,of friends of friends.
Founder Colin Hodge, who was interviewed by Techcrunch via email, has responded that the changes came directly from our female users.
Here's his explanation with regards to the expansion of friends of friends via Techcrunch who edited it for readability, 'One of the things women told us they loved in the first version is that it feels safer than other dating apps because you already know the other person is real and you're connected to them (you are friends on Facebook). We took this to heart when thinking about the best way to expand everyone's dating pool. Now many users have thousands of potential dates or hookups because we expanded it to people your friends know. By looking at who your Facebook friends are connected to, we can show you real people who likely have lots in common with you - and at a minimum, you run in the same circles.'
The Android version has already encouraged repeat usage surprisingly with more than 300% growth in a two day retention and 200% growth in one day retention.
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