Mobile

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.

Think Tinder is only about hooking up? Not so much. The app is now venturing outside of being a dating app and into the friend zone.

The latest version of Tinder (on the iPhone) keeps the same basic functionality of choosing each potential date based on a photo and a few bits of information gleaned from Facebook. But this time, you aren't just rating a date, but a potential friend - also with one swipe. Once you and your platonic interest have selected each other as friends, you can add each other to your "friend" list and be able to chat via Tinder. (I'm guessing you can swap notes on people you are hooking up with.)

The list feature in the latest version of the app allows users to customize according to how they want to categorize the people they've approved/ met over Tinder. Maybe according to city where they live, hair color, or height? If you are spending a lot of time meeting people on Tinder, it's a good way to keep everyone straight.

Another addition to 3.0 is the ability to add up to six profile photos, so you don't have to rely on just one to prove how hot you might be. (All photos are visible at the same time, so you don't have to worry about which one potential matches will see first.) Tinder has also improved its algorithms so that you end up with more accurate potential matches.

Founder Sean Rad told website TechCrunch that "eventually, Tinder will create automatic, dynamic lists for users, based on its relevancy algorithm and user preferences, location and interests." In other words, Tinder will notice where you are and who you are interested in (and for what purpose - dating, friendship, work, etc.) and become smarter about sending you matches based on your past swiping preferences.

But the ability to distinguish your Tinder contacts into categories that suit your life - dating, work, or friendship - is a huge breakthrough according to Rad.

"You have certain co-workers, acquaintances, and whatnot, and it would be socially awkward if you added them on Facebook," Rad says in TechCrunch. For instance, if you were to come across a co-worker or colleague on Tinder, you could swipe right and be added to each other's business contact or friends list. It replaces the Facebook dilemna of whether or not to add someone when there isn't much of a personal connection - and perhaps there are some things you post that you don't want them to see. "That's the breakthrough with Tinder," he adds. "That signal has been gone until now."

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.)

Could you fall for someone if you never saw their face?

Yeah, me neither, but the creators of Twine, a new dating app available for iOS and Android, are hoping that daters are ready to move beyond those superficial impulses.

These days, apps like Tinder and Bang with Friends are exploding. Apparently what singles want more than anything is a reason to spend even more time staring at the screens of their smartphones, swiping through photo after photo of potential partners. As convenient as those apps are, you've got to admit they can also feel kind of shallow. And that's where Twine comes in.

In the words of its founder, 35-year-old Rohit Singal, Twine aims to pair users based on a "personality first and looks later" philosophy. Matches are made on the location-based app through interests listed on users' Facebook profiles and - here's the catch - once they connect and start chatting, users can only see blurred-out versions of each other's profile photos.

Think of Twine as Tinder's nicer sibling. Both are used on mobile phones, but Twine eschews the hot-or-not model encouraged by Tinder's rapid-fire photo scrolling. Twine prioritizes quality over quantity, just like a real-life matchmaker, and even limits the number of matches members can receive each day to 3 in an effort to discourage excessive window shopping.

"Every other dating app is trying to show you a photo and pick people who are good looking," Singal says, and that approach has worked because "it expedites behavior in real life-we want to connect with attractive people whether the connection's meaningful or not." Singal, however, is determined to blend the easy access of mobile dating with connections based on a deeper level of compatibility.

But don't freak out - you won't be going into a date completely blind. The app's motto is "Flirt first, reveal later," so rest assured that you will get to see your conversation partners before agreeing to meet in person. When you're matched with someone, based on your Facebook interests and age range, you begin the conversation with a blurred version of their Facebook profile photo. If all goes well, you can choose to reveal your names and photos to each other.

Twine also makes another interesting promise beyond more meaningful matches. The app claims to be the first gender balanced flirting network, to ensure an even ratio of men and women. If the ratio is off at any point, new users are put into a queue and aren't allowed to begin using the app until the ratio is in balance again. New sign-ups can bypass the queue simply by inviting a friend of the opposite gender to join with them.

Twine is certainly taking a risk by taking physical attraction out of the picture, but I, at least, am excited to see where it goes.

Every year, Julie Spira and the team behind Cyber-Dating Expert release a list of the best and newest mobile dating application available. This year's 4th annual list couldn't have come at a better time. A recent Pew report on online dating and relationships examined the impact of mobile dating to find that it is rapidly stealing the spotlight from web-based dating services.

Pew found that 7% of mobile phone owners report using a dating application on their smartphone. There's just something about the convenience of dating with a tiny handheld device that's impossible to resist. And not only does it result in meeting more people, Spira says, it also speeds up the process from first communication to meeting in person.

Since 2008, Cyber-Dating Expert has been a go-to source of online dating advice. With dating coach and two-time author Julie Spira at the helm, the team behind Cyber-Dating Experts helps singles improve their chances of finding love on the Internet and their mobile phones.

The 4th annual Cyber-Dating Expert "Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps" list compiles the best-of-the-best that mobile dating applications have to offer. In a world that's becoming increasingly smartphone-based, Spira and her team say these are the 5 best apps for tech-savvy singles: