These are the best dating apps on the market
Are meet-cutes a thing of the past?
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At an appointment with my hairdresser the other week, we made our way through a diverse range of topics, as one tends to do with their hairdresser. At some point, I ended up explaining what a “meet-cute” is.
Merriam Webster defines the term as “a cute, charming, or amusing first encounter between romantic partners (as in a movie).” In real life, I would call it “authentically meeting your significant other.” You know, cheesy things, like touching hands at the grocery store or being in the same place at the same time.
In other words, not meeting on the apps.
The “apps” are dating apps. Perhaps ones you’ve heard of, like Tinder and Hinge, but perhaps more niche ones that target a certain demographic. Modern dating leans into these apps full-force as a way to meet prospective romantic partners.
“Are you on the apps?” is becoming a nice little synecdoche in today’s speech – i.e. a phrase that stands in to represent a bigger concept. It’s a common Gen Z colloquialism.
According to Pew Research Center, “Three-in-ten U.S. adults say they have ever used a dating site or app” and “One-in-ten partnered adults – meaning those who are married, living with a partner or in a committed romantic relationship – met their current significant other through a dating site or app.”
You might be thinking about the apps on a day like today when couples reign supreme. In honor of the holiday and all the single folks out there, I wanted to do a round-up of the best dating apps on the market. (See what I did there?)
Instead of writing my personal thoughts on each app since I’m not hip, I’ve included the iOS App Store rating, the company’s self description, and the top comment from each. (If you don’t like something, don’t blame me. I’m just reporting the facts). I ordered them by how the App Store is currently showing them, but the rankings and top comments are continually changing so apologies if something has switched around.
The majority of complaints revolve around having to pay for love. Hey, it’s a fair point. It’s also interesting to me that Tinder didn’t make the top ten – it’s number 12. That’s a dent to the ego of an app known to be the dating app.
The top ten dating apps on the iOS App Store are as follows:
10. DiHola
App Store Rating: 4.3 stars
Description: “DiHola is where Hispanic and Latino singles meet! Proudly display your country, send an icebreaker, video chat, and meet real connections today!”
Top comment: “Stupid app – This app is not well put together. It shows you a ton of profiles of people that are way off the parameters in your settings. Example: my age range is 45-50 and 90% of the profiles I see are for young kids in their 20s. When you click on the "Help" button, an add for another dating app populates and not the help button. This app is incredibly annoying.”
9. eharmony
App Store Rating: 4.1 stars
Description: “Are you ready to take dating to the next level and find the relationship you've always wanted? eharmony, the No.1 trusted dating app*, has helped over 2 million couples find real love.”
Top comment: “Near useless – Very little users, you cannot see any pictures of the person, and I after matching with a few people, I was unable to send anything other than their pointless icebreaker questions. I fail to see how this is a dating app if you cannot talk to other people. Not worth the time, and although I did not purchase anything, certainly not worth the money.”
8. Taimi
App Store Rating: 4.4 stars
Description: “Taimi is an all-inclusive LGBTQIA+ dating app for people who are 18 and older. We have disrupted online dating with the concept of fluid dating. Simply put, it is free from the limits of the hetero-dating model.”
Top comment: “Pretty decent app but major issues I’m having – 1. Please let me filter below 25, I'm 18 and don't want a bunch of people that are up to 7 years older then me. 2. The big issue, when I added the first time to my profile it worked perfectly, then after that it has a 90% chance to show none of the photos and just the folders that have no images in them for me to click and add, or like a 10% chance to show some of the photos. This could be just on my end but I can't figure out the cause.”
7. Feeld
App Store Rating: 4.3 stars
Description: “Feeld was made for you to connect with open-minded people looking to explore dating and relationships in a safe and private way. Chat & connect on an alternative dating app created for anyone and everyone.”
Top comment: “Fun! But a bit flawed – I really do enjoy the app, but something needs to be done with all the fake profiles advertising "massage services" and similar things. Every time I get on I swipe through about 20 profiles using the same photos with just slight variations on the bios. There has to be a way they can stop these kind of profiles from being mass spammed. it's not as bad as some other apps are, but it's still an issue. Otherwise it's a really cool community.”
6. HER
App Store Rating: 4.4 stars
Description: “Join 14 million+ queer women, lesbian, bi, nonbinary, trans, and gender nonconforming folks on HER - the world's most loved LGBTQ+ dating & community app. Your people are here.”
Top comment: “Love this app!!! – This is where me and my girlfriend met off of we have now been together for almost a year now and I love it so much really do love this app it works great if you are looking for someone in your area just be careful ofc but other than that I think it's good and me and my girlfriend both love the app btw even if we don't use it anymore I recommend it 100%”
Read last year’s Valentine’s Day story: To situationship or not to situationship
5. Grindr
App Store Rating: 4.5 stars
Description: “Grindr is the world's #1 free dating app serving the LGBTQ community. If you're gay, bi, trans, queer, or even just curious, Grindr is the best and easiest way to meet new people for friendships, hookups, dates, and whatever else you're looking for.”
Top comment: “Active Listening – Grindr asked our opinions on how they can approve their website and I've made several suggestions and I am glad to see a lot of them being implemented. If bills weren't so tight and if I could actually get lucky from using this app I would purchase a subscription but these guys are poo. I don't blame Grindr for that but I just wanted to give Grindr a shout out for listening and implementing new and innovative features. I hoped some of my suggestions helped.”
4. PURE
App Store Rating: 4.4 stars
Description: “PURE is a dating app for curious people to show up in their most playful version of themselves. It's a space to be honest with your intentions and clear in your boundaries.”
Top comment: “Good until it’s terrible – Like many other users I was using this app and had some good matches and then I wake up and am suddenly banned? I can't recall anything l've done for that, and haven't even shared my contacts to outside the app. I've just been saying hi. If you want these people to take your info and your pics as a woman, go ahead and download the app. But otherwise, steer clear!”
3. Muzz
App Store Rating: 4.5 stars
Description: “Muzz is the Unites States biggest Muslim marriage and social app where Muslims can mingle whether they are looking for marriage or friendship. With over 500,000 Muslim marriages and 500 new couples every day, we know Muzz works.”
Top comment: “Broke me – Ur whole app is sexy but why do u have to become gold member to like someone back thats to much u guys suppose to make marriage halal not broke people more broke 😢 please make it free i can't even like the people who liked me nor i can like anyone who liked me and its expensive i literally make 30 dollars a day and how can i spend spend 34 dollars i dont even get to safe so please kindly make ot free for people like me”
2. Bumble
App Store Rating: 4.3 stars
Description: “Bumble is a free dating app helping singles find fun, meaningful, and kind connections. It’s the dating app where kindness is sexy, and women come first – always.”
Top comment: “Great service for a mostly reasonable cost – This service does not nickle and dime you to death by making you pay extra for every tiny feature. But do pay for the Premium service. IMO the quality of connections is much higher here and I have not encountered nearly as many fake bot accounts. Verify your photos and don't connect with unverifieds. Be honest in your profile and interactions re your intentions. And don't show her what she isn't ready to see. And you can have fun from the connections here and find what you're looking for”
1. Hinge
App Store Rating: 4.4 stars
Description: “Hinge is the dating app for people who want to get off dating apps. With profiles that show your personality through text, photos, video, and voice, you have unique conversations that lead to great dates.”
Top comment: “To the one who said they’d never use a dating app – If you said you would never use a dating app and you're reading this to know whether or not you should give it a shot - you should. If you're looking for an actual relationship, this is the app to try. Second date I went on was a keeper and the reason I'm even writing this review. They're out there. Don't give up. Give it a shot and keep your heart open. It really is the dating app to be deleted!”
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🎶 What I’m Listening To: “Bad Dream Baby” by Hippo Campus
🎞️ What I’m Watching: I jumped in late to Severance, but here I am…also working slowly through Arcane, which just won seven awards and is arguably the best thing I’ve watched in a long time
🔎 What I’m Reading: 🤫
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