String bikinis? Check. Extra sunscreen? Check. Walls of cameras so millions of Americans can watch your spicy summer flings happen in real time? Check. Love Island USA, where contestants make out, couple up, and fight while lounging around a neon-colored villa in swimwear, is currently nearing the ‘climax’ of its eighth season. This summer’s biggest bombshell? The Love Island USA app, where levels of viewer engagement are so high that it crashed during the first vote.
Fans of the real-time dating show relish controlling the action through their in-app votes, helping decide who couples up and who gets dumped. Fan votes happen around five times during each season, and aren’t announced ahead of time. The votes let users pick their favorite couple, which exiled cast members they think should be brought back, and eventually cast a vote for which Islander pair should win the popularity contest and $100,000. Earlier in this season, for example, the duos who received the fewest votes from viewers for “favorite couple” were on the chopping block to be booted off the show.
While the main use of the app is for voting, users can also scroll through an Instagram-like feed of video clips, photo shoots, and polls. And, of course, the Love Island USA app includes shopping links so the most fervent viewers can snatch some merch.
The Love Island USA app now has more than 10 million unique users, the show’s producers tell WIRED. Since this season’s premier in June, it’s hit the number one spot in the iOS App Store’s Entertainment category nine times—a category it shares with giants like Netflix and TikTok—according to app analytics company Apptopia.
Love Island USA producers see the app as a critical component to keeping fans engaged, whether it’s through official votes or other polls. “More than anything, it’s reinforced for us how passionate this fanbase is and how eager they are to make their voices heard,” says executive producer Bernie Schaeffer. “I mean, say what you want about this statistic, but we have more people voting on the Love Island USA app than we do in many political elections taking place across the country.”
Fans of Love Island have to be glued to their TV screens constantly if they want all the juicy deets before casting a vote that could impact their favorite couples, since the show airs five times a week and voting windows are only open for a few hours. “The show moves fast, and within hours of the public casting their votes, we’re already revealing and filming those results with the cast,” says Schaeffer.
The team has a roadmap before each season starts, in terms of fan vote moments. Even so, they are always ready to pivot and evolve that plan, based on the ensuing drama as well as how fans are reacting on social media.
Schaeffer feels confident that this level of engagement provides a comprehensive look into how viewers are really feeling in the moment. “The voting pool consists of millions of people from all over the country, and we know with every vote we’re going to get a great sampling of the American public that’s watching,” he says. During a past season, the app received one million fan votes less than 10 minutes after an episode ended.
While social media reactions provide the producers with a strong sense of what viewers want, direct votes for favorite castmates let viewers without big online presences have their say.
“This show invites viewers to be an active participant at every turn. You can affect the storylines and outcomes onscreen, and I think as more and more people come to the show, they’ve been very enthusiastic about that interactive feature,” says Schaeffer. “At the end of the day, it’s all about following the story and what’s happening in the villa, so when America does get to vote, their decision is impactful.”
The post How Big Is ‘Love Island USA’? More Than 10 Million People Are Already on Its App appeared first on Wired.
