Types (Niche)

First Dating App Screen Shots

Modern dating tends to follow a predictable path: swipe right, start chatting, hope you don’t get ghosted, meet in person, continue chatting, hope you don’t get ghosted…

A new app aims to shake up the status quo by skipping straight to the meeting - no swiping, no chatting, just good ol’ fashioned face-to-face contact. First invites singles with a sense of adventure to brave the ultimate, tech-assisted blind date.

The basic premise is simple. You post a date idea and a time. Other users can submit to join you. You pick a winner from the submissions. And then… you just show up for the date. There’s no communication ahead of time, no hours wasted trying to decipher each other’s emojis. It’s either your worst nightmare or exactly what you think online dating lacks.

Though a dating app may seem like the closest thing tech-obsessed Millennials have to a matchmaker, the ancient art of playing cupid isn’t dead yet.

Wingman, a new mobile matchmaking app, recently conducted its first Wingman Assisted Romance Survey. The study reveals that most Millennials (90%), whether they’re single or in a relationship, say they would enjoy acting as matchmaker for their friends. And what’s more, they’re confident about their skills. Almost 70% said they thought they’d be better at picking matches for their friends than their friends would be at picking their own dates.

“A large majority of the people we spoke to at length felt that they knew their friends well enough to pick people they should meet and many felt they absolutely knew them better than their friends know themselves,” said Wingman founder Tina Wilson. “Millennials tend to be confident and that confidence clearly extends to the widespread belief we found that many millennials are convinced they can be great matchmakers for their friends." 

Modern romance looks more than a little different from love stories of the past. Instead of meeting at religious services or social dances, today’s singles swipe and click their way to dates. Many have embraced it as the new normal, and there’s no shortage of dating services eager for their business.

But other singles are clinging steadfastly to an old-fashioned approach. They’d rather meet in-person or through friends, and remain skeptical of dating apps and websites. For the naysayers, there are services like My Friend’s Friend.

My Friend’s Friend is helping singles in Perth, Australia, find love with a Facebook friend request. Curious daters add My Friend’s Friend as a friend on the social network, then receive a message from a woman who goes by Lucy Date (though the name is fake, she’s a real matchmaker who has spent years playing Cupid for friends and clients).

Are you a mindful single and looking for someone who’s also interested in meditation, green living, and conscious eating? Then look no further than Denver-based dating app MeetMindful, who recently raised $1.8 million in investment money in the saturated dating app market.

This seed round included funds from top investors in mindfulness, dating, and SaaS technology, including the CEO of Hay House, a popular publishing company among the mindfulness crowd, and Bridge Builders Collaborative.

"We see significant potential in MeetMindful to facilitate authentic relationships for the millions of people pursuing more mindful, healthy lifestyles," said Bridge Builders Collaborative's Operating Partner Charlie Hartwell in a statement.

Online dating companies are thinking outside the box, thanks to the flooded app market and growing consumer base. Popular dating apps Tinder and Hinge are now offering wedding competitions to users who meet through each of their respective dating apps.

Tinder announced that it would offer to pay $100K towards the cost of an LGBTQ wedding for a couple who met through the app. The move was a nod in honor of Pride Month in June.

Tinder launched a new feature last year to include “transgender” as a gender choice, along with almost 40 other options with which users can choose to identify. The company saw an additional 250,000 new matches made as a result of the inclusion, and now, they want to encourage one lucky LGBTQ couple to tie the knot. Tinder also discovered via a recent study that these users are more likely to want a serious relationship, rather than a hook-up. According to an article in Elite Daily, the large majority of gay users (66.4 percent) and lesbian users (62.1 percent) agree that using Tinder will lead to a long-term relationship.

Speed is essential to life in 2017. A quick internet connection is almost as important as heat and running water, and we swipe through potential dates faster than you can say “It’s a match!” Before you know it, we’re chatting, sipping lattes on the first date, and making it Facebook official.

But a new dating app wants users to take things slow - real slow - using the retro strategy of actually talking to each other to seduce matches.

Appetence, which is now available to download for free in the iTunes Store, believes conversation is your sexiest attribute. “True and long-lasting love isn't found through images alone,” reads the website. “On Appetence your details are completely private. Only you decide when to display your full profile and who gets to see it.”