Mobile

The word “squad’ is ubiquitous in 2016, so it was only a matter of time before someone turned it into a dating app.

The thing is, Squad is not just the newest app on the mobile dating scene - it may be the year’s best new dating app.

For starters, the relationship experts on the judging panel of the inaugural US Dating Awards named it Best New Dating App 2016. It beat out The Catch, faith-based Crosspaths, video-centric Lively, and the matchmakers of Once. It’s also received write-ups from the likes of TechCrunch, Thrillist, CNN, Observer, and the Washington Post.

Dating app Hinge started out with some stiff competition against Tinder. Since its debut in 2012, several other new dating apps have launched and attracted a growing user base as well as media attention, including female-centric dating app Bumble. Meanwhile, after steady growth since its launch, this year Hinge has seen its numbers declining.

Hinge’s marketing and product development have always focused on attracting more serious daters. The app is geared toward young professionals in their late twenties and thirties who are looking for long-term relationships, as opposed to the hook-up reputation that has followed Tinder since its inception. The app is billed as a “grown-up” alternative to the young users of Tinder, which at first seemed to serve the market well.

Astute readers will note that there are still several months of 2016 left, nevertheless, the US Dating Awards have announced this year’s big winners.

Established in 2014 in the UK, the Dating Awards recognize both newcomers and established names in the field. This year marked the first US Awards show in New York City, where journalists, websites, events companies, and bloggers came together to celebrate 2016’s best achievements in Dating Technology, Marketing, Media, Customer Service, Expertise and Entrepreneurship.

The judging panel consisted of a variety of dating experts and industry professionals. Caroline Brealey, founding matchmaker of London dating agency Mutual Attraction, served as head judge. She was joined by Charly Lester, Founder and CEO of the UK Dating Awards, and Charreah Jackson, international coach and the Lifestyle and Relationships Editor for ESSENCE magazine, amongst others.

Dating app Momo, China’s answer to Tinder, has been a popular dating app among the country’s singles with a record 75 million users. But in recent weeks, Momo seems to be expanding out of the dating business and into something more lucrative.

For its latest update, Momo executives decided to supplement the app's location-based dating service that matches people through swiping and messaging. Now, the app offers a live-streaming function, catering to music lovers and even musicians themselves. The update allows users to watch their favorite musicians perform live, as well as giving them the ability to interact with the musicians.

Bumble Boost with BeeLine, Rematch, and BusyBee.

Female-focused dating app Bumble has been available for free to its users, but now the company is offering a premium paid service for those who want to use its brand new features.

The paid version of the app includes three important features aimed at competing with other popular “tiered” dating apps like Tinder, which also offers optional paid features to help provide a premium matching experience.

Bumble’s first feature, named “Beeline,” will offer its members a line-up of users who have already “liked” them, so they can skip swiping and match with their likes by choosing “yes,” with the intention of making the process more efficient.

Getting started with online dating has never been simpler. Where once new users had to fill out lengthy profiles and answer extensive questionnaires, apps like Tinder are increasingly relying on bare-bones profiles and social media integration. Now all a new user has to do to start swiping is sign in with Facebook.

Voila! Your pictures are instantly imported and profile details are already filled out, so you can get straight to what you came for: mindless swiping and superficial judgements of profile pics.

Press pause. Just because you can start dating in 5 minutes doesn’t mean you should. Mastering the art of online dating takes time, effort, and patience (words no one likes to hear in an era of binge watching television and 1-hour Amazon deliveries).

If you want to date with the greatest chance of success, and the lowest likelihood of burnout, you must do these four things before joining a dating app.