There’s a dating app for everyone, whether you’re seeking for a long-term commitment or a fast booty call.
There are numerous possibilities, ranging from the hyper-specific—FarmersOnly, JDate, 3Fun—to the more broad ones we discuss here that cast larger nets.
Bars, nightclubs, and other traditional gathering spots may be reopening, but are they safe? With new services popping up all the time, dating sites and apps are the way to go these days.
Is it possible to have a dating app that only functions on Thursdays? What an idea! As we’ll see later, several have dedicated video services designed expressly to deal with dating in a post-COVID environment.
How do you find your perfect, loving match with so many options?
Getting Started With Dating Apps
The first thing you must determine is your level of commitment.
As in, how much would you be willing to spend to make your heart skip a beat? Plenty of Fish, for example, allows you to view profiles and send messages for free.
Most of the others allow you to examine your possible matches for free, but you’ll have to pay to reach out to them without limits if you want to communicate with them without limits—especially if the interest is one-sided.
While the monthly fees for the apps we examine here range from $10 to more than $40, most of them provide a discount if you sign up for a longer period of time, such as six months or a year.
(Are you not terrified of making a commitment?)
Staying in Touch
All of these services, including Match, which has been around for decades, have iPhone and Android apps.
Most have desktop counterparts for when you’re at work and want to set up a weekend tryst while you’re away from your spreadsheet.
Just keep in mind that the functionality of the app and desktop interfaces can differ significantly.
Tinder’s browser version, for example, does not allow swiping.
Hinge and Facebook Dating are only available as smartphone apps.
Prepare for a deluge of notifications and emails once you’ve installed these applications and joined up for the services.
Some, such as daily match suggestions, are beneficial, while others, such as alerts that notify you of each new “like” you receive, can be irritating.
The good news is that you can simply customize these alerts by going into the settings menus of each app.
Any activity involving meeting strangers over the internet entails some level of danger.
All of these applications allow you to block and report users who haven’t taken the hint if you find yourself in a toxic situation and need to cut off contact.
These services make an effort to vet their users’ accounts and prevent incorrect content from appearing.
With AI, Bumble blurs nudes. If you’re on a really horrible date, Tinder allows you to quietly alert emergency services.
Third-party solutions are also available.
safe is a voice-activated, hands-free personal safety app with features for online daters who want to meet up in person with their matches.
It’s especially enticing not to have to use your hands during a viral epidemic, which leads us to the following segment.