Girlfriend (26F) is mad because I (27M) was on Tinder. But she's got it all wrong

Sooo basically my girlfriend caught me on Tinder. And I know that sounds bad, but it's all a big misunderstanding. Let me explain.

I'm a UI developer. The company I work for designs mobile apps for other companies, and we were put on this project the other day. It's a big deal, and as such I wanted to make sure that the end product was executed flawlessly.

I decided to do some research in my off time, and made a point to download and examine the UI of every app that I could. I wanted to see what worked and what didn't. Social network apps, news apps, banking apps--you name it. I studied them all. And, stupidly, dating apps.

My girlfriend was using my phone the other day when she noticed that I had downloaded Tinder. She immediately started freaking out. When I finally got a chance to explain that it was for work, she calmed down a bit, but then she opened the app and immediately started crying because I, stupidly, had made a profile.

I explained to her that having an account was a key component of the app we were contracted to develop so of course I had to make a profile in order to fully evaluate the user mechanics, and it was no different than the accounts I had made for Youtube and Bank of America.

She trusts me and knows that I'm serious about my work, so she accepted this explanation, until she saw that I, stupidly, had actually matched with some women. I admitted to her it looked bad, but that I was truly trying to evaluate its functionality and my interest in it was strictly professional because if this project goes right the bonus I could get could change our lives. I wanted to get every perspective I could.

At this point I realized we were barreling toward the cliff and tried to avert disaster by explaining to her that before she opens my inbox, she should know that a chat component is a huge part of the upcoming project, and that she can also check my messages to Facebook friends and DoorDash delivery drivers because I was just a friendly to them.

She wasn't having it at this point, and stormed out of my apartment. I get it looks bad. I realize now that I should have left out the dating apps from my research, but sometimes I take work to seriously for my own good. Is this salvageable? Do you think if I showed her this post she would understand? Or is her trust broken forever?

edit: I guess it would be relevant to mention she has trust issues from a previous relationship

tl;dr downloaded tinder for professional purposes but girlfriend doesn't trust me

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