Daring New App Wants You To Date First, Ask Questions Later

First Dating App Screen Shots

Modern dating tends to follow a predictable path: swipe right, start chatting, hope you don’t get ghosted, meet in person, continue chatting, hope you don’t get ghosted…

A new app aims to shake up the status quo by skipping straight to the meeting - no swiping, no chatting, just good ol’ fashioned face-to-face contact. First invites singles with a sense of adventure to brave the ultimate, tech-assisted blind date.

The basic premise is simple. You post a date idea and a time. Other users can submit to join you. You pick a winner from the submissions. And then… you just show up for the date. There’s no communication ahead of time, no hours wasted trying to decipher each other’s emojis. It’s either your worst nightmare or exactly what you think online dating lacks.

First, which launched in the United States for iOS on June 13, is the work of 25-year-old Los Angeles resident Truman Kain. Kain told Mashable his goal is “getting you off of your phone and onto the date."

New users sign up using their Facebook login and create any date experience that tickles their fancy. They name the time and place, and the info is then put into the feed of open dates. People who meet a user’s location, age, and gender preferences may respond and the original poster chooses the winning bid. At no point is anyone offered the option to chat. They’re not even given each other’s contact details.

It may seem harsh, but it’s intended to force users off the app and into the real world, and to weed out any who are just “dabbling” to see if they get picked.

A date closes four hours before its start time. In the event of an emergency, users can contact customer service to cancel a date. They will, however, get marked as a no-show, and First’s strict “No Flakes” policy states that anyone who gets two no-shows is banned.

After a date, users can rate each other (though the rating isn’t publicly visible). Mashable reports that the rating system is “mostly just for weeding out those who aren’t right for the app.” A few successful dates will earn you a glowing checkmark verification on your profile, which can boost your chances of getting picked in the future.

In some ways, First seems antithetical to everything dating apps stand for. Why be matched by simple demographic data, when dating services have sunk so much time and money into developing sophisticated algorithms? And isn’t the whole point to minimize effort by learning as much as you can about a person by their profile and their chats before meeting up?

Kain argues that dating-apps-as-usual are “a huge time suck” and “have turned into more of a social or entertainment platform” than actual matchmaking services. His approach is practically old fashioned by their standards, but he believes it’s more efficient to meet someone up front, and know sooner rather than later whether there’s a spark.

If you feel the same way, First is now available in the iTunes store.