Dating App SwoonMe Offers Avatars and Audio for Finding Matches

SwoonMe is a new dating app that offers users avatars and audio clips in place of real photos and videos to encourage “less superficial” interactions, according to the company.

The app requires users to take a selfie and creates an avatar based on the photo. According to Tech Crunch, the user then records an audio clip for their profile, where they can share what they are looking for in a partner as well as give a brief introduction to who they are. Users can also answer questions, like what kind of relationship they are looking for and what their love language is. SwoonMe’s platform also encourages voice messages and ice breaker games to get to know each other, rather than messaging and photo sharing. 

The more a user communicates with a match, the more the profile photo underneath the avatar is revealed - until you can see the actual person. 

SwoonMe Dating App Features

SwoonMe founder Tanvi Gupta, a former product specialist at Facebook who worked on the company’s messaging app redesign, says that she saw how people gravitated to Clubhouse, the popular audio-only social networking platform, to have deeper engagement and conversations around topics of interest. She felt that this format would benefit dating app users, too. SwoonMe users could build better connections because their initial reaction to a match wouldn’t be based on photos.

“The dating world always felt super-indexed on looks, given the proliferation of apps like Tinder and Bumble,” Gupta told Tech Crunch. “And what I felt was they were not solving my personal need for somebody who wants to connect for a long-term relationship,” she says.

SwoonMe isn’t the first app to use avatars in place of profile photos. Anomo launched back in 2013, marketing itself as the dating app for introverts, because similar to SwoonMe, the app offers avatars that slowly reveal a profile photo over time. But the app members communicate primarily through messaging, not voice or audio. Tech Crunch noted that social discovery platform Hyperconnect, which was purchased by Match Group, also has AR-powered avatars. Avatar-based social platforms are popular in Brazil and Asian markets but have not quite taken off in the U.S. and other western markets, at least as of yet.

Gupta also told Tech Crunch that the app is intended to create a more inviting space for women to interact without being objectified, since they are often asked to share photos rather than strike up a conversation when they are matched on dating apps. This is a very different approach from new TikTok-style apps like Snack, which place video front and center to attract young Gen Z users.

The app launched in July and is currently focusing on San Francisco and L.A. markets. The team is also working on raising a million dollars in seed funding, according to reports. To find out more about this dating service, you can visit the SwoonMe website.