Types (Niche)

Online dating has become more accessible than ever, but unfortunately, it’s also created a culture of ghosting and messaging among users that often doesn't lead to an actual date. Apps like Tinder made online dating easy and fun, but many daters have become frustrated with the game-like interface and the lack of any real connection with other daters. Many apps are trying to address this pain point by helping daters meet in person more quickly, which is key to forming romantic connections.

Dating app Stay launched last month in the iTunes store (called "Stay Dating" on iTunes) with a focus on in-person connections. The company encourages all matches to schedule dates; it's built into the app’s functionality.

With Stay, users can’t message right away, eliminating the ghosting problem that is so problematic with other dating apps. Users can only suggest times and potential locations to matches to set up a date. Once scheduled, users can start messaging (but only 24 hours before the date). If a user cancels the date or fails to show and gets reported, that user is blocked from viewing matches over the next 24 hours.

Tinders Matches Up For

Dating app giant Tinder is rolling out more options, testing a new feature to help its users better connect – this time spontaneously and in-person. The new feature dubbed “Matches Up For” allows users to set a status of what they are interested in doing that night, and see who from their matches is available to meet.

Matches Up For is intended to encourage users to connect in person. Tinder has been criticized for its “game-like” premise, and users have become frustrated with the flaky behavior of other app users. (Messaging with matches on Tinder often doesn’t lead to a date.) While Tinder still has the largest pool of singles among the many dating apps on the market, new apps are offering more relationship-focused features that encourage real-life connections, something Tinder users feel is lacking.

With Tinder’s new feature, users can let potential matches know if they are free that night, and can choose from a list of activities they’d be interested in doing.

See All Dating Apps on Map

With the amount of media attention Tinder receives, you’d think it was the only dating app on the market - or if not the only option, at least the most popular one.

But the numbers tell a different story. Technology company Quantcast reviewed over 480,000 searches from January 6, 2017 - February 5, 2017 to discover which dating services singles in America prefer. They found that not only do different states have different preferences, preferences seem to come in clusters. And they’re not always what you’d expect.

Overall, old-school dating service PlentyOfFish won the most states with its free app. It may not have the hype of its newer, fancier competitors, but in this case slow and steady won the race. POF was especially popular in the south, southwest, and midwest.

Dating app Bumble has seen tremendous success since its launch over two years ago, with more than 12.5 million registrations to date. Now, the company wants to expand their services to offer connections for friendship and business opportunities, too.

Bumble debuted as a dating app, differentiating itself from Tinder by putting the power of communication in the hands of women, who are required to make the first move. Since then, the company has launched Bumble BFF for people seeking friendships rather than romantic relationships, and it is about to release Bumble Biz to connect people for business networking.

Tinder’s reign won’t let up. The dating app is not only the most recognizable in the industry, it’s also one of the most successful. With constant feature updates, like 2015’s introduction of the ‘Super Like’, Tinder ensures it remains on top of the game.

Two of the most recent updates have proved to be highly beneficial for the app. During a panel at this year’s SXSW, co-founder Sean Rad shared that Tinder has matched some 250,000 transgender users since unveiling new gender identity options last November. The company also increased its community education and refined its approach to preventing harassment.

“We have a great algorithm that can help, but no algorithm can solve humans,” Rad explained. “We were taken aback by how complex identity is. It’s a very complex area and, at the same time, Tinder is extremely simple.”

There are more dating apps on the market than you could possibly count, with new ones popping up seemingly every week. Though they cover a diverse - and sometimes outright strange - range of people and interests, the vast majority are made with heterosexual couples in mind.

Winkd is a dating app based in Sydney which just launched this month. It hopes to take a different approach and join the likes of Grindr as a successful service built by putting the LGBTQ community first.

Founders Diana Kalkoul and Neda Robat-Meily, who are both queer, found themselves frustrated with the lack of inclusivity in most popular dating apps. But rather than giving up dating apps altogether, they decided to create their own.