San Frncisco, Jan 7 (IANS): Dating app Tinder has confirmed that it is exploring the development of a new feature called 'Swipe Party' which offers a way to make sorting through possible matches a more social experience, media reports say.

According to details spotted in the Tinder mobile app's code, Swipe Party requires access to the phone's camera and microphone so your friends can "see and hear you while vetting prospects," reports TechCrunch.

This "Tinder with Friends"-style experience builds on what's already a popular offline activity, the report said.

Today, friends often swipe through the app together making joint decisions on which profiles the Tinder account holder should try to match with, it added.

In the case of Swipe Party, however, it seems as if Tinder is looking to make this a virtual experience where a user could invite a "guest" to join their swiping session in order to give their feedback remotely.

This follows on the broader trend of co-browsing apps, as with Apple's SharePlay, or co-watching videos with friends as enabled by Prime Video, Disney+ and Hulu's co-viewing features, for example.

The trend was already growing in popularity but was then further amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic and its social distancing requirements.

The Swipe Party feature was first spotted in the Tinder Android app's code by the Dutch website GratisDatingTips, then reblogged as a rumour by outlets like Pocket-lint and PhoneArena.