> How to switch dating app platforms | Dating API: https://www.datingapi.io/how-it-works Product / How the switch works # No migration project. Just an update. We rebuild your app on Dating API and release it as your next version, under your own store listing. Members tap Update. Their accounts, photos, matches, messages and subscriptions are all there. [See your app rebuilt](https://www.datingapi.io/contact#preview) [Read the migration plan](https://www.datingapi.io/migration) yourbrand Version 5.0 · 38.6 MB - A faster, smoother app, rebuilt from the ground up. - Verified profiles, so you know who’s real. - Everything you had is still here. Two views of release week ## Your members see an update. Your team sees a plan. The switch is designed so members notice nothing but a better app, and your team can watch every step and stop it at any point. What members see 1. A normal update in the App Store or Google Play, or an automatic one. 2. The same icon, name and listing they already trust. 3. They open it and they’re already signed in. No new account, no new password. 4. Their photos, matches, conversations and plan are exactly where they left them. 5. One short “What’s new” screen, if you want one. Then they get on with dating. What your team sees A rehearsed plan, with a go or no-go decision at each step. **Wk 3** Bridge update in the stores **Wk 5** History moved, up to the cutoff **×2** Full rehearsals, timed and checked **Day 0** Freeze, final move, everyone updates Example schedule. You set the checks that must pass at each go or no-go point: record counts, sign-in, messages and payments. [See the migration plan](https://www.datingapi.io/migration). The way out ## The big groups are moving every brand onto one platform. It’s how they cut cost and ship faster. Match is building shared tools that “can support multiple brands”. Bumble is rebuilding from scratch. Building your own takes years. Joining one takes weeks. **Build your own platform** Typical, in-house Plan and hire Build the new platform, while running the old one Migrate members **Rebuild on Dating API** Pilot, build, update Build Live on your next update. Your team works on the product, not the plumbing. Month 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 In-house timings are typical ranges, not a quote. Your cost review comes with a dated plan for your app. Ours: your app in TestFlight about two weeks after we have your materials, four weeks of testing, and about 6 to 10 weeks from sign-off to update. **2 weeks** to hold your own app, running on our platform, in TestFlight **Per member** cost that moves with your members, not fixed overhead **One team** on your product, instead of two keeping two stacks alive **0%** revenue share. Your subscription money stays yours. The timeline ## From first call to everyone updated. Timings depend on your app. Your cost review comes with a dated plan, and the plan becomes part of the contract. Weeks 1 to 2 ### Cost review and pilot A free cost review gives you a fixed quote and a dated plan. Then a $50,000 pilot puts your own app, rebuilt on the platform in your brand, in TestFlight about two weeks after we have your materials. Weeks 3 to 6 ### Test and sign off Your team tests the pilot for four weeks against pass marks agreed up front. We agree what stays, what improves and what waits. Every tab, name, feature and price is listed. Nothing changes that isn’t on the list. 6 to 10 weeks after sign-off ### Build Native iOS and Android apps, plus web if you have it. Your team reviews a new build every week. Your current app keeps running as normal. During the build ### Copy up to the cutoff Members, matches, messages, blocks and subscriptions copy across weeks ahead, up to an agreed cutoff date. Photos can stay where they are. Switch day ### One rehearsed switch We freeze the old platform, move what changed since the cutoff, then everyone is asked to update. Only one platform is ever live. Day 30 and after ### Run and review We run the platform, the safety team and the payments. At day 30 we review the numbers with you, then every month after. What carries over ## Everything members would miss. If a member had it yesterday, they have it after the update. That includes the things that make them stay and the things that make them pay. **Accounts and sign-in** Email, phone, Apple and Google sign-in all keep working. **Profiles and photos** Every photo, prompt and detail, in the same order. **Preferences and filters** Age range, distance and who they want to meet. **Likes, matches and blocks** Including who liked them and who they blocked. **Message history** Every conversation, with photos and read status. **Subscriptions** Same store products, same renewal dates, same price. **Coins and credits** Balances carry over to the penny. **Verification** Verified members keep their badge. **Your listing** Reviews, rating, ranking and search position. Choose your network on day one ### Private, backfilled or shared. Your members can move into a ring-fenced network of their own, into the shared network of millions, or stay first in line with network members filling the gaps. Most apps start with backfill. [Compare the options](https://www.datingapi.io/network) If something goes wrong ## A way back at every step. Switching platform is only scary when there’s no way back. So we build one in before we start. - **Stop at any check.** Until the new platform opens, stopping means reopening the old one, with nothing lost. - **Your old platform stays intact.** It is kept, read-only, for 60 days after the switch. If you go back, we move new data back to it at no charge. - **Payments never stop.** Store subscriptions keep billing whichever version a member is on. - **No split between versions.** An early bridge update lets every member be asked to update at the switch, so two versions never write to two databases. - **One named owner.** A single person at Dating API is accountable for your switch, start to finish. [Read the migration plan](https://www.datingapi.io/migration). Ways in ## Switch everything, or start small. Most partners start with the full switch because that’s where the saving is. Some start with one brand or one part first. Most common ### The full switch We rebuild your app and run everything underneath. The biggest saving and the fastest change for members. [We run it all](https://www.datingapi.io/pricing) For groups ### One brand first Move one brand from your portfolio, prove it, then move the rest on your timetable. [For groups](https://www.datingapi.io/who-its-for#groups) For teams with developers ### One part first Start with safety, ID checks or payments through the API. Your developers keep building the app. [For developers](https://www.datingapi.io/developers) Switch questions ## What your CTO will ask. How do members stay signed in? The new version ships under the same app listing, so the same store identity applies. We move sign-in sessions across in the background, so most members open the new version already signed in. Anyone who isn’t gets a one-tap sign-in. What happens to App Store and Google Play subscriptions? They belong to your listing, not to a server, so they carry on. Same products, same prices, same renewal dates. We take over reporting and receipts behind the scenes. Do we lose our ratings and reviews? No. It’s the same listing, so your rating, reviews and ranking stay. In our experience a smoother app tends to lift ratings, which lowers the cost of every install. What about push notifications? Devices register again the first time the new version opens, which happens automatically. Members don’t have to do anything. Do our members go into a private network or the shared one? You choose on day one. Bring them into a private, ring-fenced network of their own, into the shared network, or keep them first and backfill behind them. You can change it later, by country, without a release. Can we keep features nobody else has? Yes. Anything that makes your app different can stay with your team or be built by us on top of the platform. That’s how Dating Lab kept its AI-written openers and daily picks. How much of our team’s time does it take? Usually a product owner for a few hours a week, sign-off at each stage, and one small bridge update to your current app, built by your developers from our specification. We do the build, the data work and the store submissions. Fixed price, under NDA ## See your app working before you commit. A $50,000 pilot puts your app on Dating API in TestFlight about two weeks after we have your materials, credited back in full if you go ahead. [Ask about a pilot](https://www.datingapi.io/contact#preview) - 1 **Same listing** Your icon, name, reviews and ranking. - 2 **Same members** Accounts, matches and messages carry over. - 3 **Same revenue** Subscriptions keep billing throughout.