All around you people will spending valentines day together. So why not check out our top dating apps in the hope of finding love before that special day.
Before you consider those options maybe you should should give Internet dating a go. It’s no longer a taboo, people will not vilify you like a pervert for scrolling through pics of Jess/James from Dalston. Now you can do it on your smartphone thanks to the technological revolution of the smartphone. One can still happily find his/her future love interest on the bus, at a coffee shop and now on the toilet. Saying the latter a few years ago and people would have looked at you like George Michael.
We’ve put together another comprehensive list, this time for you lusty folk. What you see in front of you are dating apps that are worth your attention, and some not so much. Compiling this list has been an awkward, draining and arthritis causing experience. But above all it has been fun and quite eye-opening to be a part of this new age of human interaction. Gone are the days of approaching someone that catches your eye, instead you’ll be hoping to “happn” upon them. Finding love isn’t easy, it still isn’t despite the massive leg up technology has provided for us. Now go on out there and discover your inner Carrie Bradshaw. If you’re a Miranda, well go you, just be safe.
Starting off with the dating app of the moment. Tinder has brought online dating to the mainstream to a point where it is now a verb. “Tindering” is common practice and is dangerously close to being the verb to describe all dating apps. Tinder has forced itself into the public consciousness by being unashamedly shallow. Swiping left and right will always be associated with Tinder and that’s all you have to really do to start having some fun. The days of Tindering all day are no longer as recent updates have implemented a cap on the amount of profiles you can like.
Tinder on Android proves to be quite buggy, or maybe Kendra from Chelsea is really that persistent. Aside from repeating profiles, Tinder also has a problem with a fundamental feature; messaging. We found difficulty replying to message a times, eventually we figured out a ritual to send a simple “hello,” which involved restarting the app several times, appointing ourselves as a muezzin and chanting a smartphone version of the adhan. When it does work Tinder is effective, whether you get a date is up to you. We also found Tinder to have a lot more choice, unsurprisingly.
We hate and love Bumble. Definitely the most unique out of the bunch as it forces women to initiate conversation first! That’s right fellas no more will you have to Google cheesy pickup lines or memorise God-awful puns. Now the shoe is on the other foot and all you have to do is chill. Well you can if you’re reasonably attractive, if you’re somewhat average like the What Mobile team, you might be waiting a while. The app itself is responsive although a bit slow for those who like to go on swiping marathons. One annoying thing is how once in a while the app wants to remind you about ‘backtrack.’ Which allows you to go back to the previous profile you swiped left to. Quite obnoxious, stop it you bumbling app (It can be turned off, too late we’re already annoyed). Swiping for the same sex takes away Bumble’s unique trait, with either side able to start the conversation.
‘People You May Know’ on Facebook is an intriguing area. It’s probably the place where most of us spend on Facebook, delving into the unknown, looking at photos and statuses of friends of friends. What if you can date these people? Hinge has your back as it connects you to people within your network. Meaning you can get a character reference of the person you’re about to meet, which really helps to gain a connection.
Everyday you get 13 new profiles to closely inspect, Hinge is also going the opposite way of Tinder, encouraging quality over quantity. The app is solid, extremely responsive with some decent features. If you’re a Facebook addict with lots of pictures, Hinge allows up to 16 pictures to be uploaded onto your profile (just don’t go crazy with shirtless selfies). Extremely easy to set up with the only effort coming from writing that blasted bio about yourself.
Coffee Meets Bagel incorporates the sense of currency into its ecosystem. You are given coffee beans everyday, given more through sharing the app on social media and of course you can buy some. Sadly buying a plot of land in Columbia and enforcing child slavery won’t get you infinite beans. At first it seems a bit unfair to be so limited, but the limitation forces you to be more picky with your choice. Feels quite seedy¦ which one is worth your beans?
You are given one match (bagel) a day. That’s right only one for you to mull over and decide whether he/she is worth a coffee and bagel. If that’s not enough you can spend your beans in ‘give and take,’ where you can like a profile which they will be notified on. Coffee Meets Bagel is one for those done with having fun and looking for fun.
Something is fishy about Plenty of Fish (POF) and it’s not actual fish. POF is the world’s largest dating site with over 90 million registered users. So the numbers game is there, you’re more likely to find someone to connect with on POF. But you’ll have to wade through a lot of chum before you get your catch of the day. The reason for this is because POF offers more advanced searching for the magical price of free. Competitors like Zoosk and Match would demand £29.99 a month to find someone who likes pets, doesn’t smoke and enjoys a spoon.
POF still has in-app purchases to tempt you with, ‘meet me’ is POF’s take on Tinder’s no likey no swipey, with the difference being price. Have no fear, you won’t have to pay the £39.99 a month if you’re on iOS. Why you ask? Because the app is poorly built with an exploit. When a match happens it’ll appear on your notifications and reveal the username of the person who wants to meet you. Simply search their name and start messaging them. Simple.
First review on the Play Store: “very easy to use and it totally did what it was supposed to do¦ it found me some dick!” Pretty much sums up Grindr. Grindr is the app to use to meet gay and bisexual men for dates and whatever else comes to mind. Grindr’s layout looks like as if PornHub and Tinder had a baby, a baby that enjoys phallic imagery popping up in its notifications.
Grindr doesn’t really give you the means to look for “the one” more showing you what’s available there and now. By using your location Grindr will show you 100 guys closest to you. It’s quick and easy, no galleries to go through, just a profile pic and the means to message your target. Sending photos is allowed, very unique for a dating app. The app is responsive and you will be chatting with someone almost straight away.
What makes Fuzzy Banter standout from all the other is that it’s the only dating app to be endorsed by Danny Dyer, who describes it “like Tinder. But with more bollocks and mystery ;).” More the former Danny, more the former. Fuzzy is in the name because it encourages you to fuzz your profile picture, only revealing it to whoever you match with. This is done to try and encourage people to like each other for the things that they have in common. So basically it’s like Tinder but allows you to look back on all the people you ‘nudged.’
It differs more from Tinder by being quite badly built. Swiping left or right is laggy with the touch interface being exceptionally poor. We had to be careful where we touched, if you touched accidentally touch too far left on the screen you could be discarding your dream girl.
A dating app that requires you to be out and about, well¦ that’s what Happn wants you to think. Happn works using your location, displaying people who you have ‘happned’ upon during your travels. If you live in London there are 300,000 Happn users for you to cross paths with. It’s a romantic idea to cross eyes with a beautiful stranger and then seeing her again in bed, on your phone. It works particularly well if you live in the heart of London with an endless stream of faces for you to choose from.
Happn takes a leaf out of Coffee Meets Bagel with in-app credit which helps you gain the attention of anyone that you particularly want to date. You spend the credits to ‘charm’ the object of your affection, quite like how Magpies flirt. Users can send voice notes to get a better sense of each other’s personality.