Wearables

You've heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but how about wearing your heart on your wrist?

Purchase an Apple Watch and you could do exactly that.

Tim Cook called the gadget Apple's “most personal device yet,” so naturally developers jumped at the chance to make it even more personal. The smartwatch won't only shake up how we keep time, but perhaps also how we find love on-the-go.

Several of the biggest players in the online dating game were quick to introduce apps when the Apple Watch launched back in April. Match.com, OkCupid, and Tinder (coincidentally – or not – owned by the same parent company) all released apps designed for the device. Each one is an easy extension of your regular online or mobile dating activity.

But it's not just the biggies who are getting in on the ground floor. A few lesser-known dating services have also sprung up for the smartwatch.

1. Watchme88: This watch-first app helps users meet other users nearby in real-time. Set your preferences (gender, location, age) and when a match shows up within the specified radar, both Apple Watches start to glow. If you're shy, you can send your match a message or a wink before approaching in person.
2. Jack'd: Jack’d claims to be the first Apple Watch app for guys looking to meet guys. Users receive notifications in real-time whenever their profile is viewed by someone nearby. The app also offers key insights on who’s viewed your profile and other revealing stats.
3. The Inner Circle: Think you have what it takes to be part of the inner circle? If the answer is yes, try out this app, which prescreens members to “maintain the highest quality.” The Inner Circle has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, ELLE and more.
4. PlanetRomeo: PlanetRomeo claims to be one of the world’s largest online dating and social platforms for the gay/bi male and transgender communities. Use your Apple Watch to browse profiles, read messages, and save users to your favorites so you'll be notified when they're online.
5. Close Encounter by 3nder: Feeling adventurous? Try a “real-time blind dating app for open-minded people.” The app does away with profile photos to focus on personality. Your watch will vibrate when a potential match is nearby, then you can decide whether to reveal your location. Close Encounter doesn't exist quite yet, but you can read more about its proposed features on Medium.

Or maybe you're not into the big names or the underdogs. In that case, you have a solid middle-of-the-road option in Coffee Meets Bagel. The company released an Apple Watch version of its popular app that simplifies the dating process by focusing on only one potential match each day.

This month, eHarmony and Match.com both announced the release of new dating apps available for smartwatch users.

According to eHarmony, 50% of new users come to its service via their mobile devices, so the company has made a push towards more mobile-friendly technology; part of that initial push includes their dating app being accessible through wearable technology – specifically Android Wear and Samsung Gear S devices.

Not to be outdone, Match.com is launching its own dating app – but for the Apple Watch instead. Match’s new dating app for wearable technology joins Coffee Meets Bagel’s app, the first dating app to announce its availability on the Apple Watch.

Match’s app for Apple Watch is clean and visually based. It works through three basic steps: “Glances,” which provides a quick look at your app and how many matches you have in the queue; “Discover” which allows you to accept or reject a match alongside his/her photo, much like Tinder; and “To send a message,” where once you touch the profile, you can choose from one of the message options or tap the microphone to use voice-to-text dictation to compose your own email.

eHarmony’s new app is a little more complex, as the service is known for matchmaking and their longer communication process rather than for quick swipes to accept or reject a photo. Both the Samsung Gear S and Android Wear smartwatches will display notifications that are synced with the eHarmony users’ phone. When a match sends a communication, the member receives a push notification to their phone and an “enhanced” notification to their smartwatch. The enhanced notification includes the match’s name, age, and location, as well as their primary photo and personal message sent through eH Mail. Users are also informed when they receive a “smile” or questions sent using the company’s Guided Communication options. The member can then select Open Profile, which will open the eHarmony app on the connected Android device, and load their match’s profile.

“Mobile represents a huge opportunity for us to capture new market share and broaden our impact and we are seeing this happen at an accelerating rate in recent months,” said Armen Avedissian, Chief Operating Officer, eHarmony. “New entrants in the online dating category are helping drive interest in eHarmony, while taking market share away from competitors. Combine this circumstance with eHarmony’s powerful brand and industry-leading outcomes and we have the perfect recipe to grow substantially. We are pleased to announce these new releases.”

eHarmony and Match dating apps for smartwatches are available now in Android and iTunes stores respectively.

Apple Watch sales have been through the roof since the product launched, and it is creating a media frenzy (as many of Apple’s product debuts do).

Not many dating apps can be downloaded for the Apple Watch, but Coffee Meets Bagel is one of the first. The company recently announced its launch on Apple’s wearable technology.

Coffee Meets Bagel is a dating app that works through your social media connections, finding matches in your Facebook network and introducing them to you one at a time. At noon every day, CMB presents users with one personalized match or “bagel” – then each user has 24 hours to decide to like or pass. If there’s a mutual like, they can chat over a safe and private line. However, messaging is not indefinite – users will have only a week to set up a date before the private chat line closes.

With Apple Watch, CMB works a little differently. This might signal a new wave of dating technology, since swiping left and right isn’t really an option with an Apple Watch. (Sorry, Tinder.) Instead, apps rely on more hands-free technology, such as voice-to-text functionality.

According to Dawoon Kang, co-founder of the dating app, the Apple Watch app will complement the existing mobile app by "enabling members to do everything more quickly and easily," not to mention hands-free. Apple Watch’s Glance feature allows members to check their daily matches at noon. The watch will display the match’s basic profile and photos – (likely not much information will be available on the small screen, however).

Instead of manually liking or passing, members can “like” or “pass” matches hands-free using the Apple Watch’s voice technology. If two users match, then they are connected and able to chat using voice-to-text technology.

This is good news for those looking for a Tinder alternative. But is wearable technology going to be a new platform for dating apps? Considering CMB works through voice technology (i.e., talking to your Apple Watch) – it might be a little intimidating to use when you’re out at a bar. Do you really want people around you to know that you’re liking or passing on a date, or to overhear your text conversation? Tinder is much more subtle, and no voices needed.

Still, that isn't stopping people from buying the new watch. No word yet on whether CMB's dating app will also be available for wearable Android products.

Once upon a time, we dated by meeting someone at a bar or through friends. Then we graduated to speed dating. Then online dating. Then mobile dating.

It's been a long, strange road – filled with stigma and scandals and, yes, success stories too – and it's about to get even stranger. Now that online dating is old news, and dating apps have been tried by pretty much everyone with a smartphone, we're ready to tackle a new frontier.

That new frontier is “wearables.” For those unfamiliar with the buzzword-y term, wearables are miniature electronic devices that are, as the name states, wearable. Think smartwatches and fitness trackers. These devices integrate with the user until they practically become a prosthetic, and can be used an extension of the wearer's mind and/or body.

Welcome to the future. It sounds like a gadget from a sci-fi flick, but it's happening now. Towards the end of last year, Match.com launched its first wearable app to be used with Android smartwatches. The app is designed to make it even easier for singles to date on the go by focusing on quick, easy to view features. The list includes:

• Messaging: Notifications for all winks and messages are sent straight to your Android wearable. To reply, simply swipe to read an incoming message and respond using the app's voice command feature.
• Daily Matches: Daily Matches appear first thing each morning. Swipe to view their full profile, then rate each match Yes or No.
• Location Functionality: Since mobility is the point, the app locates singles in the area to find matches nearby. When one appears, it's easy to tap, speak, and send a message.

Match.com isn't the only one exploring the brave new world of wearables. Lunar, a San Francisco-based design studio, created jewelry-like devices to help wearers overcome dating anxiety. One is a pendant that gathers information from your social networks, Netflix habits, iTunes playlists and more, then vibrates when there is a compatible partner in the vicinity.

And let's not forget about Google Glass. Similar wearables are bound to follow, and no doubt they too will change the way we go about meeting and mating.

Newsweek has speculated about what else we might have to look forward to on the wearables front, and it's a fascinating mix of cool and crazy. They predict a biological approach to dating, in which your body's signals are used to register responses to your dates.

“There will be contact lenses and ear inserts,” Newsweek writes, “all capable of measuring our pulses, our body temperature and other physiological reactions to determine whether or not we are attracted to someone. Those signals will be fed into the dating sites, with their databases and algorithms, all the better to help us find true love.”

And after that? Well, microchips, naturally, and the transition “from humans to cyborgs” will be complete.

For more information on the dating service please read our Match.com review.