Types (Niche)

We all know there's an app for just about anything and, wouldn't you know it, that includes dating. Online dating has been a popular way to find true love for many years, and plenty of singles have become couples as the result of using an online dating service. As technology progresses, it seems natural for the online dating experience to grow along with it. On-the-go, spur of the moment dating allows you to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, rather than having to wait until you get home. Use these apps to making dating easier and more fun for you as you endeavor to find true love.

• Zoosk. Find people who are nearby and interested in finding their soulmate with Zoosk. This free app makes it easy to connect with other members in your area. If proximity is important, Zoosk solves the problem of finding someone fantastic and then learning that they live hundreds of miles away.
• MatchMobile. For years, Match.com has been helping single people meet their match. Now you can take this service with you by using the site's mobile app, MatchMobile. The app itself is free, but you must have a Match.com membership to use it.
• Tingle. Flirt, text and talk to someone you're interested in to see if you want to take it to the next level without giving away your phone number. Security in any dating situation is important, but especially so when you know nothing about the other person. This free app helps you meet and screen potential dates safely.
• Skout. Weed out people who live too far away or don't meet your dating preferences before you even get started with Skout. In addition to browsing others' profiles and viewing their pictures, you can also see who's been checking you out. Skout is free and can be used to find a partner or a friend.
• eHarmony. eHarmony takes online dating to a whole new level, and their mobile app lets you take your personal life with you. Their thorough screening and matching process must work because more than one million people have married someone they met through eHarmony.
• Cupid. Access every aspect of your online profile from your Cupid dating app. Update your profile, send messages, see who's checked you out and set up your first date. This app is not free, but does streamline your online dating...a feature that's great for busy people.
• SmartDate. SmartDate works in conjunction with Facebook to connect you to millions of other users. Access your online dating information easily, meet others in a safe environment, and decide if you want to meet people nearby or anywhere in the country.

One of the greatest benefits to using dating apps to find true love is that it's secure. As wonderful as a person sounds in print or on your smartphone screen, being able to get through the preliminary stage securely is important. Once you do that, the convenience of using dating apps streamlines the process, giving you more time to enjoy your social life and meet your potential mate.

POF launched eVow back in September of 2010. Within a few months the dating site went paid. Members needed to buy a subscription to correspond with their matches and to use the advanced search features. eVow did well for a while especially when a link to the service was displayed on the Plenty of Fish website. Since then the site has seen traffic drop by about half according to Alexa. To counteract this it looks like eVow has developed a strategy which is their new dating app.

The eVow online dating app was released in October of 2012 on both Google Android and Apple iOS. The app currently has a 3.9 rating on Google Play with most of the reviews being positive and only a few minor tweaks/annoyances being mentioned. What is interesting is that the eVow app is completely free to use. You do not need a paid subscription. The eVow app doesn’t have all of the features of the website but it does have most of them. This includes sending and receiving messages, viewing your matches, and searching.

So those of you interested in using eVow I would recommend creating a membership on the dating site and then downloaded the app to message your matches. This way you can use the site for free and not pay the regular subscription fee that runs from $19.99 to $39.99 per month depending on the length of the subscription term. I am not sure how long they plan to keep the communication part of the app free so I would try it out as soon as possible.

As much as we all wish it would go away (this is 2012, after all!), online dating still hasn't managed to break free from the last, lingering vestiges of social stigma. Most of us are fully onboard the online dating boat, but for those stick-in-the-muds who are still holding out, the Internet has provided other options.

Yes, you can date online without actually dating online.

The secret is social media. Your Facebook page, your Twitter stream, your Pinterest account...each one is an opportunity to date on the World Wide Web without actually joining an online dating site. Barbara Maldonado recently spoke with the Huffington Post about her experience of foregoing traditional online dating in favor of a more social strategy.

Maldonado met her fiancé, Russell Roering, during a "Tweetup," a real-life meetup event organized via Twitter. "It was a book signing by Chris Brogan, who wrote this social media book, 'Trust Agent,'" she told HuffPo. "So we had that in common."

Online dating is going strong, but another digital avenue people are using to meet others includes something a little more - public.

Many singles are turning to social networks - Facebook, Twitter, and even Yelp to find love. While online dating sites still remain a popular way to connect romantically, people are starting to think outside the box. But what exactly does this mean?

We spend a lot of time online, and especially on social networks. We go to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the like to connect with others multiple times a day - to see what's going on in the world, and to talk about things that interest us. It's only natural to look through friends of friends for potential dates, or to check out the comments people make, to see if there might be a digital connection.

The Huffington Post even talked about Yelp being a place where romantic connections are made, simply because people connected to someone else's writing or the kind of critiques and praises they gave to certain restaurants, bars or coffee shops in their areas.

The idea behind using social networks to meet others, even romantically is this: when you can talk about a shared interest, it's easy to start a casual conversation, flirt, and eventually meet in person. It takes the stress out of dating by - well, taking the dating out of it - like the profiles and awkward emails explaining what you're looking for in a partner.

So what exactly does this mean? Just because someone is on Facebook or Twitter doesn't mean they're single - so are people just taking more chances and asking someone out anyway? Or is it a more relaxed and easier way to start talking and eventually meet up? Is there more risk to reaching out through these social networks, that you might not get someone who's truly interested, or looking, or even honest?

It's true that many people lie in their online dating profiles. But social networking sites don't always accurately reflect information either - like whether or not someone's already married or in a relationship. It's good to find out in person how available they are before you get too involved online.

While social networks make it easier for people to meet, so do dating sites. I think the more avenues you have to meet people, the more opportunities you have to meet the right person. Matching algorithms don't always mean love, but neither does liking the same bands. Sometimes, it's intangible - what attracts two people. So shouldn't you keep an open mind and look at the many ways you can meet, online and offline? Love is all about taking chances.

To find out how different social networks like Facebook and Meetup stack up when someone is searching for love, you can check out our Social Networks review category.

JDate.com is a popular Jewish dating site that has been in business since 1997. We have just finished updating our JDate review with the latest information about what the service offers to its members, and the features it provides which will make your online dating experience not only eventful but exciting. The last major update to this review happened just over 2 years ago. So what has changed since 2010 with JDate.com? Here is a list of the major changes we found:

• JDate now offers a mobile website and iPhone dating app
• For most subscription terms it is now much cheaper to use JDate
• No more audio or video chatting
• Kibitz Corner - Tell members more about yourself and catch someone’s eye with your witty or profound response
• Redesigned member dashboard that allows for easier navigation and searching
• Updated dating profile and color code personality test questions
• Revamped Likes & Interests
• JMag and JBlog are updated much more frequently. A lot more JDate Videos are now available

To find out more about this popular Jewish dating site and the changes please read our updated JDate.com review.

The social dating site Zoosk announced the other day that they have reached a number of mobile milestones. As part of their mobile strategy Zoosk has released a HTML5 version of the site that makes it much more easily accessible via a mobile phone when using the phone’s browser.

Zoosks daily mobile users now account for 15 percent of the site’s traffic. In the past 12 months mobile traffic on the Zoosk dating apps and HTML5 have increased 148 percent. Android phones make up 55 percent of app usage while the Apple iOS phones account for the other 45 percent. For mobile traffic as a whole from members, 61 percent comes from the apps themselves while 55 percent is done via the phones internet browser. This means that 16 percent of members use both the app and the mobile web. On Sundays and Mondays mobile traffic reaches its peak usually and is on average 10 percent higher. Thursday and Fridays are the low point in the week and mobile traffic can see a drop of 5 percent.

Zoosk also quotes a few mobile online dating statistics from a 2011 Juniper Research finding. They state that the mobile dating market is expected to grow from $1.3 billion in 2011 to $2.3 billion by 2016. User will jump from 650 million in 2011 to 1.3 billion by 2016 (fueled largely by China and then North America).

To find out more about this dating site please read our review of Zoosk.com.