Reviews

Tired of the selfies you see populating dating apps like Tinder? Would you like to know a little more about the person before you start messaging? The folks behind Twine Canvas think you do.

The free new app allows you to create a visual "canvas" of pictures that show your interests and hobbies, rather than revealing photos of yourself to attract someone's attention. The idea behind this is simple: it allows people to begin to engage on a deeper level than just a superficial selfie or headshot - marketers are labeling it as the "anti meat-market app."

Twine Canvas is a brand new app, separate from the original Twine, also created by developer Sourcebits. After studying user feedback, the company decided to create a new app altogether rather than just revamping the old app.

Getting started with Twine Canvas is pretty simple. You download the app to your iPhone or iPad (no Android version yet), and login with your Facebook account. You can create your own "personality canvas" to add to the gallery, which expresses what you like to do or what your hobbies are. It's basically a type of virtual vision board, with a mosaic of user-generated pictures - from a cup of coffee (coffee lover) to a sailboat that shows you love to be on the water. You can also describe yourself in a few short words, shown underneath the canvas.

Then you can start searching through a gallery of other user's canvases to "like" them (swipe down for canvases of people you want to meet). You can adjust your filters to sort by age, gender, and location. If you both like each other's canvas, your profile photos are revealed and then you can start messaging.

"Twine Canvas adds creativity and personality to flirting by giving men and women a unique way to express themselves. When someone creates their canvas of likes, hobbies and experiences, it's far more insightful than a shallow selfie or an impersonal stat," said Rohit Singal, founder and CEO of Sourcebits.

The developers also claim that the app was inspired by the visual self expression of other platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Whisper and Tumblr. They wanted to allow people a certain level of creativity and visual expression when it comes to mobile dating.

While daters might get frustrated with not being able to see what potential dates look like until they are mutually matched, it's an interesting idea to engage people visually as with Instagram. Now I'll be waiting for the Android version.

Writing about yourself is never easy. At the best of times, it's an exercise in uncomfortable narcissism. At the worst times, it feels like a soul-crushing failure that may require you to rethink your entire identity. Those of us who are still in the earlier years of our (hopefully) long lives have an advantage: we grew up with the Internet, and social networking sites grew up with us, which means we've always had a sixth sense for presenting ourselves online.

But what about those for whom technology isn't second nature? What about the 40-somethings, 50-somethings, 60-somethings, and beyond, who don't have a clue what a hashtag is or what that funny little thumbs-up symbol does? Enter It's A Date!, Deborah Sloan's service that offers "online profile help for grownups."

It's A Date! helps single, divorced, and widowed daters over the age of 40 learn how to stand out from the crowd. Of course, not every mature single has difficulty navigating online dating, but for those who are less tech-savvy, professional writers and interviewers can make all the difference.

In a recent interview, Sloan had plenty advice to give about putting your best foot forward on the Internet:

When you're dating online, someone who sounds great on paper can turn out to be a total flop in person. How can online daters solve that problem?

• It's almost impossible to predict what another person will do, so it's up to you to lay the most solid foundation possible. "Your online profile will help you attract other people," Sloan advises, "so you should take it as seriously as anything else you'd prepare for, like a job interview." The more thoughtful your profile, more thoughtful the people it's likely to attract. And the better targeted it is, the better chance it has of attracting the kind of person you're actually interested in.

What's the number one profile killer?

• "Talking too much about past relationships," says Sloan. "Yes, you want to mention you've been in a relationship to show you're capable of having another one, but don't talk in detail about exes or previous lovers." The same goes for dates. Other potentially uncomfortable topics include children and finances.

Why should someone give online dating a try?

• There are plenty of reasons to give online dating it go. It's an opportunity for a fresh start. It's a chance to meet people you know are also looking to date, unlike meeting people in bars or clubs. It's a great tool for singles who are shy about approaching people in real life. And most of all, it works.

Have you ever come back from a bad date, wanting to warn other women about how badly it went and how much of a jerk he was? Well, now you have that opportunity.

Lulu, a female-friendly social networking app, provides a way for women to communicate to other women privately about a man they have dated. And while there might be more motivation to rate a guy negatively after a date gone wrong, there are also some positive reviews following good dates.

On Lulu, a woman can rate men in different categories, like ex-boyfriend, crush, together, hooked-up, friend or relative and then take a multiple-choice quiz which gives him his rating from 1 to 10. Female users can also add hashtags, depending on what specifically they want to communicate to other women, like #neversleepsover.

Users are verified by their Facebook logins - women can only review and read reviews of guys who are Facebook friends. Everyone who participates must sign up through Facebook. The site assures users that nothing is ever posted publicly on Facebook, however.

Though the site is designed for ladies (founders Alexandra Chong and Alison Schwartz felt like women needed more of a safety net when meeting men they didn't know for a date) - men can use it in a limited way, too. They are allowed to see how they are faring in terms of reviews when they download the app and check "My Stats" (with Facebook verification). They can also add photos and hashtags about themselves. Some men ask their friends and family members to review them since Lulu provides the option.

And what about the obvious question - can women use Lulu as a type of revenge site against an ex-boyfriend?

Lulu's website claims that they have built a lot of protection into the app so a man's reputation won't be undeservedly damaged. Unlike Yelp, the reviews are multiple choice quizzes, so women can't leave long rants about specifics. Second, the guy and girl must be Facebook friends. Women are able to agree or disagree with the assessments of other women, so one review doesn't skew the rating. And if a guy doesn't want to be reviewed on Lulu at all? He has the option to remove himself completely.

Chong claims that the app was conceived with the end goal in mind - figuring out if a man was kind and date-worthy, rather figuring out if you should meet him based on his particular likes and dislikes from a dating profile. Lulu provides some sense of security, which is a welcome addition to the dating scene.

Are you the shy type? You're not alone. Many daters have trouble approaching someone new, striking up conversation, and asking someone out - even online.

That's why a new dating app called Anomo could help you in breaking the ice. Created by James Sun, a self-proclaimed introvert, the app helps shy people create an avatar - or "anomo" - to hide themselves while they strike up new conversations. In essence, they can hide behind a mask.

This might seem risky in today's dating environment, but the app verifies its users through Facebook. (Nothing is posted or shared from Facebook, and other users can't see your profile, but they do see your verification.)

This might be the craziest thing I've ever seen. And with the complete insanity that makes up most of my life, that's saying a lot.

Coming home for the holidays is a drag for plenty of single people. Some of us are lucky enough to have families who don't demand that we settle down, but for the rest of us, holiday singlehood comes along with a whole lot of disapproving looks from family members who can't believe we've chosen to focus on our careers instead of our hearts.

Enter Invisible Girlfriend, a site that does exactly what its name suggests: creates a virtual relationship with the (nonexistent) girl of your dreams. Subscribers to the nascent online service receive text messages, real voicemails, random gifts, a Facebook relationship status change, and even "emergency interactions" (whatever that means!) with their faux SOs.

In an interview, Invisible Girlfriend creator Matt Homann said "Our audience might come from a variety of situations: maybe they're in a same-sex relationship they're hiding from disapproving relatives, are trying to avoid the unwelcome advances from a coworker, or have chosen to focus on their work instead of romance."

Here's how it works:

• Step One: choose a plan that includes both virtual and real-world relationship "proof" to create a believable Invisible Girlfriend.
• Step Two: customize your new Invisible Girlfriend's personality and specify how the two of you will interact.
• Step Three: get back to living life on your own terms, and not on others'.

Right now, the company (which is still pre-launch) offers three monthly subscription packages to choose from: "Just Talking," "Getting Serious," and "Almost Engaged." For as low as $9.99 a month, you can create a significant other through texts, automated phone calls, and simple gifts. For $29.99 per month, you can receive premium gifts, real voicemails, and a Facebook relationship status. And for the highest price point, $49.99 per month, you can get custom girlfriend characterization, live phone calls, and the ability to personalize your own story.

"We're not trying to build a girlfriend they can believe in - that's a whole other level of technology," Homann told Riverfront Times. "We're giving them a better story to tell, even if the story isn't true."

The story of the company is itself a good story to tell. Invisible Girlfriend was pitched for the first time at Startup Weekend as a joke, but the idea quickly caught hold and a team created a rough product in just 54 hours. "It went from, 'Let's have some fun. Let's make everyone laugh,' to, 'We have the making and talent to build something that works,'" said Homann. They ended up walking away with first place in the competition, $3,000, and plans to launch an Invisible Boyfriend version.

Mobile dating apps like Tinder have been getting all the attention because of their hook-up potential. But what if a dater wants the convenience of an easy-to-use mobile app like Tinder but with a little more promise that a meet-up might progress to a relationship?

Enter new dating app Hinge.

Hinge started in the Washington D.C. area and is now moving to other parts of the East Coast, including New York, Philadelphia and Boston. According to founder Justin McLeod, there are about 110,000 single college graduates in the D.C. area, and about 20,000 are actively using Hinge. The total user base is 30,000 and the average age of the users is 27. It's made about 200,000 matches, which are pretty good odds for a mobile dating app.

Part of the appeal of Hinge is that unlike Tinder, it relies on your Facebook networks (friends and friends of friends) rather than a location - (like who is single within a two-mile radius of the bar where you're having a beer). A good amount of information is pulled from your Facebook profile too, so there is a lot more transparency and more qualified matches than with other dating apps. You can only join Hinge if you already have friends on the app, so networking really works to your advantage. Also, it displays your last name along with your age, workplace, school and mutual friends so there's no hiding if you're behaving badly.

Hinge generates the basic profile but there is a bit of personalization you can do, including adding your height and religion as well as "personality tags." These tags are created by Hinge and offered as a list for the user to choose from, adding a little creativity to your profile ("Zombie Survivalist" and "Lawn Game Champion" are a couple of examples.)

Hinge borrows a bit from dating app Coffee Meets Bagel, where a set of matches appears every day at noon. (CMB offers only one match however, whereas Hinge offers five to seven.) The point of restricting potential dates is to ensure you have enough friends of friends to last for a few months, rather than trolling through all available singles in your network right away. You rate each other with either a heart or an "X," and like CMB and Tinder the hearts must be mutual for you to be a match.

This app might end up attracting more women, since Tinder doesn't really offer the same kind of pre-screening for its potential matches. Hinge is definitely an app to watch.

And I'm sure 2014 will keep offering us better and better options for mobile dating.