Struck Dating App for Astrology Fans Makes Debut

Struck, a dating app focused around astrology, has launched this summer after some initial delay from Apple’s approval process.

Founded by a team of former Apple engineers made up of mostly women, including two women of color and one LGBTQ+ member, the app is notably different from mainstream dating apps in look and functionality. According to Tech Crunch, the app recommends matches based on detailed birth charts, not just your sun sign. So instead of photos being front and center, charts are the main draw. You can toggle back and forth between someone’s chart and their profile which includes a short bio, age, preferred pronouns, height and sexual preference. Nadine Jane is the company’s resident astrologer and expert.

The look of Struck is unique too, with pastel colors and a typeface font that give it a soft and feminine vibe. Co-founder and CEO Rachel Lo told Tech Crunch: “For us, it’s 2020. It’s shocking to us that every dating app looks like a slot machine. We want to make something that has a voice and makes women feel comfortable. And I think our usership split between the genders kind of proved that.”

Struck Match Requests and Profile

Image: Struck

Struck was created to give dating app users a different experience from apps like Tinder – where daters can focus on conversations and getting to know someone via their astrological chart rather than just looking at a photo. There’s no limitless swiping because the company put a cap on it – you only get four matches per day, and you can only message one of those.

A user’s knowledge of astrology doesn’t have to be deep – the experience is meant to be fun and aims to be inclusive of both experts and novices, and believers and non-believers alike. The company advertises “skeptics welcome” on its website.

Struck ran into some problems getting accepted by Apple because of the App Store’s new guidelines. According to Tech Crunch, it took almost 10 attempts over several months, and in most of the rejections, reviewers labeled the app as “spam” – “either due to its use of astrology or once, simply because it was designed for online dating,” as Tech Crunch noted.

The App Store is currently flooded with dating apps trying to get a portion of the billion-dollar market share, so Apple has included more rules and restrictions for new dating apps in the approval process. The current guidelines state that developers should “avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated,” and lists dating apps as one of those categories.

The App Store also issued new restrictions in March of this year regarding “fortune-telling apps,” which may explain why Struck was rejected for its astrology focus. 

The team was taken aback when they got rejected. “We come from an Apple background. We come from a tech background. We were very insistent on having a good, quality user interface and user experience,” Lo told Tech Crunch. “We honestly didn’t expect any pushback when we submitted to the App Store.”

Now however, the app has been approved and is available for free on iOS currently in select areas of California.