Hinge SMS VERIFICATION Receive the Hinge code on a rented number.

Hinge builds every account on a phone number. You enter it on the first screen, type the code Hinge texts you, and that number becomes how you log in from then on. Dating profiles meet a lot of strangers, and a personal number connects to your messaging apps, your contacts' address books and search results. A rented number for the sign-up keeps that link out of the dating app.

Hinge does not show your number to matches. The risk comes later, when a conversation moves from Hinge to WhatsApp or a text thread and your real number goes with it. Starting the account on a separate number is part of the same habit as staying in the app's chat until you have met someone.

How Hinge signs you in

The code Hinge sends is the account's password in practice. When you reinstall the app or move to a new phone, Hinge asks for the number and sends a new code. That is the one thing to plan for. An account started on a rented number needs that number, or a replacement registered with support, to get back in after a device change.

Hinge also offers sign-in through Apple or Google on some devices, and adding one of those gives the account a second way in. Set it up in the account settings while you still hold the rented number, and a reinstall no longer depends on SMS.

Keeping your own number away from matches

Once a match asks to switch apps, the number you share becomes searchable in WhatsApp, Telegram and caller-ID apps, which often show your name and photo. Many people keep chatting inside Hinge until they have met, and some give out a second number for the first weeks.

Hinge's voice and video prompts in the chat let you talk before sharing anything. When you do move off the app, the Telegram username feature lets you share a handle instead of a number.

What Hinge allows

Hinge accepts one account per person, for adults, with real photos. It removes accounts that impersonate someone, and a ban follows the person across new numbers through device and photo checks. A rented number is for privacy. It does not bring back a removed account.

Hinge is popular in the United Kingdom, the US and other English-speaking markets, and the app shows people near where you are regardless of the number's country. Pick a number from your own country so the account does not look out of place to Hinge's checks.