If you were ever hoping to swipe across a celebrity on Tinder, we're sorry to break it to you, but that probably isn't going to happen now.

Over the past couple decades, the internet has revolutionised dating. You no longer have to hit on people at bars or get rejected face-to-face. You can now carefully construct your virtual profile and load it with selfies taken at the perfect angle. You can also look for someone specific, maybe even a model or actor, if that's your thing. But Tinder, a hugely popular dating app, adds something unique to the game: swipes.

When looking for someone to ask out on Tinder, you swipe through an endless bucket of selfies that the app surfaces on your screen. But that doesn't mean you might see newly single Brad Pitt pop up if you happen to be passing through Los Angeles or New York. Tinder apparently offers a secretive, invite-only tier that's exclusive to "CEOs, super models, and other hyper-attractive/upwardly affluent types."

Here's everything you need to know about Tinder Select.

what is tinder select and can anyone use it to date celebrities image 2
TechCrunch

What is Tinder?

Tinder is an iOS and Android app that facilitates communication between mutually interested users.

Users use a left or right swipes to choose photos of other users and potentially match with them. Chatting on Tinder is only available between two users who have swiped right on one another's photos. Tinder is therefore commonly used as a dating service app. By 2014, Tinder was registering about one billion "swipes" per day and producing about twelve million matches per day.

Check out Pocket-lint's Tinder guide for information about the app.

What is Tinder Select?

Tinder Select is a members-only version of the app. It's meant for elite users, like "CEOs, super models, and other hyper-attractive/upwardly affluent types" or "celebrities and people who do really well on Tinder", according to TechCrunch, which claimed to have obtained photos depicting the feature and how it works. It’s not a completely separate app, but rather a separate option found in Tinder.

How does Tinder Select work?

Get invited to join

Over the past six months, starting in late 2016, Tinder has been inviting people to use Tinder Select. Those people reportedly also have the ability to "nominate" others to join, though those who were nominated can’t nominate anyone else, because Tinder doesn't want the members-only feature to spread uncontrollably. It’s unclear exactly how Tinder decides who gets an invite and who doesn’t.

Tinder Elo score

TechCrunch speculated that users' Tinder Elo score, an algorithmic rating system across all Tinder users based on "thousands and thousands" of signals, helps Tinder identify attractive and high-profile users who may be eligible to join Tinder Select. Tinder CEO Sean Rad once said the rating is not a measure of attractiveness; it's a measure of “desirability" and "very complicated" with "a lot of factors".

Tinder does not reveal to users their own Tinder Elo score, nor does it reveal them to other users.

Switch to Tinder Select

TechCrunch said Tinder Select looks "way better than regular Tinder in terms of design" and features a gradient blue "S" at the top of the app, where normal users would typically see a flame. The app also has blue accenting rather than orange. To access Tinder Select, users simply toggle between Tinder and Tinder Select from the top bar.

That means the gorgeous people of the world can see all other gorgeous people in their area while on Tinder Select, but when they want to access a larger pool of trolls - excuse us, regular folk - they can switch back to regular Tinder.

Can anyone use Tinder Select?

Tinder Select has been around for at least six months. TechCrunch hinted that Tinder might never officially announce the feature - let alone roll it out to a larger group of users - because it's currently being stealthy about the whole thing. So, for now, it seems like only high-profile, pretty people can use it to meet celebrities.

Sorry, you’ve just got no easy in right now.