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The Ultimate Guide to Dating Apps in 2022

Whether you are freshly single or just looking for an easy way to meet singles, dating apps have become the norm for finding singles to connect with. Today’s world is full of connections at your fingertips - It wouldn’t be too surprising if most relationships started from swiping while using the restroom… The convenience of dating apps has a lot of positives, but it also brings its own challenges. In this guide we will help you choose the best dating app for you, and give you pointers on how to set up your profile and start messaging people.

Breakdown of what’s to come

What are dating apps?

Dating apps are programs built for you android or iOS device that allow you to connect with other people who are looking for some type of relationship.

In the past if you wanted to find someone to date you were stuck with limited options. You could go to a bar and try finding someone that catches your eye, or maybe go grocery shopping and hope for a spontaneous encounter. Nothing is wrong with either of these (though they may not suit you personally) but traditional methods of dating have some serious drawbacks.

The biggest issue with dating before dating apps was the lack of visibility into who was available, limited number of people, and no information about who you are about to talk to. With dating apps you are able to see thousands of singles in your area, as well as interests and other information that can help you decide if they are a possible match with you.

[ INFOGRAPHIC ON ONLINE DATING PENETRATION ]

What types of dating apps are there?

Like everything, if you can think of it, someone has built it; dating apps are no different. There are dating apps for every race, religion, interest. You might think that if you are into fitness you should check out FitnessSingles, but in reality many if not all of the active users on these specialised apps are also on the big dating apps.

With that in mind, lets go over the top dating apps available right now.

The top dating apps

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You can see our full list of dating apps by tapping here

Should I use a free dating app?

Luckily, almost all dating apps are freemium; meaning they are free but have some paid features. Most of these apps like to push people to purchase by gating some nice-to-have features behind a subscription, but that is all they are nice-to-have. You don’t need to purchase anything on any of these sites, though subscriptions usually come with two key features:

  • The ability to see who has ‘liked’ you
  • More visibility into your profile for other users

Our opinion is that you should start off free and see if you could benefit from either of these features. If you have the money and are serious about finding singles to date you can't go wrong by subscribing to any of these apps.

Which dating app is best

One little trick dating apps don't want you to know about… is that there is no best dating app. The best way to go about using dating apps is to try them all. In fact, studies done by Match (and other dating companies) show that on average most active online daters have over 3 dating apps installed at a time! So don’t limit yourself and try them all.

[ INFOGRAPHIC ON BEST DATING APPS FOR DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS ]

Starting your online dating adventure

Before you start using the dating apps you have downloaded, take some time to think about what you are looking for and prepare to endure some ups and downs.

How to build your dating app profile

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Swiping and Messaging

If you are a man and you’ve used a dating app, you probably have tried just swiping right on everyone and hoping for some matches. Different apps will treat this differently, some will block you from swiping thinking that you are a bot, some will ask you to pay at a certain level, some will make it seem like your swipes are working but they actually aren’t being sent. Ultimately people should try to avoid this method, even if it does seem like you are casting a ‘smaller net’.

We would recommend swiping with intent, meaning put some effort into only swiping right on profiles you could see yourself having a connection with. When you get a mutual match it is much more satisfying when you know the person on the other end is someone you have specifically chosen. Remember, you will have ups and downs on dating apps, so will others, so try to be considerate of other people on these apps. No one wants to have a match only to find out the other party isn’t actually interested.

The data available when swiping varies depending on which app you are on, but our recommendation is to swipe based on physical attraction. Think of this stage as looking around the bar to see if anyone catches your eye. You will have plenty of opportunities when actually messaging someone to find out if there could be a connection in a real life meeting.

When you do have a mutual match, we recommend messaging them right away. The goal of a dating app should be to meet someone in real life, so there is no point in delaying the next step towards that goal. In the next section we will go over some best practices and things to avoid when messaging.

How to craft messages that will get responses

The dreaded message, a lot of people do not look forward to this part of online dating but it is the most critical. In order to achieve our goal (meeting people in real life) we have to message them.

The key is to have fun. If you think about it too much or get too worried about if they will or won't respond you will end up sending awkward messages. This is primarily a concern for men, for women the difficulty with messaging is usually the high volume of low quality messages. Some apps try to alleviate this issue, most notably with Bumble requiring women to message first - but as someone great once said “be the change you want to see in the world”. So men, put some effort into your messages, it doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking, but I think I speak for some women when I say stop sending creepy, overly complicated jokes, and the prevalent ‘sup’.

Try to incorporate an element of the person's profile into your message. Keep it simple and short. Try new things, like everything in life practice makes perfect. There is no secret formula to get responses, just be yourself and show that you have some interest beyond physical with the person you are messaging.

Most importantly, don’t message someone forever. You should be exchanging contact details and trying to setup something in real life within the first 10 messages. Nobody wants breadcrumbing (check out other dating slang here).

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Meeting someone in real life

So you’ve been swiping and messaging and finally have a real life date line up, you’re probably thinking ‘What should I do?’ The number one consideration you should have is how to keep the conversation rolling. Most bad dates stem from having nothing to talk about. First dates involving dinner plans are prime examples of this. You and your date, who you’ve known for a a few minutes, are stuck at a table with no clear exit or changing scenery to help provide talking a points. You will probably be okay for a while, depending on how much you talk, but there will be a point where you both have said all you can think of saying.

One thing to keep in mind when you are on a date, this is a complete stranger! Thats good for a couple reason. One, it doesnt matter if you make a fool of yourself (but don’t be inappropriate). Two, you know nothing of the other person and they know nothing about you, so you can ask simple questions and follow up on them.

Top places for first dates from dating apps:

  • Food trucks (tons of variety and walking gives you something to talk about)
  • Coffee or drinks while walking (a simple beverage and scenery to encourage talking points)
  • Activities aligned with their interests that you might enjoy (even if the date is bad you can have fun!)

Potentially bad places for first dates from dating apps:

  • Sit-in dinners
  • Movie theatre’s
  • Activities not aligned with their interests

The key is to avoid situations where you can be stuck in a boring, bad or dangerous date.

Safety tips for dating apps

So, you’re meeting a complete stranger from an internet dating site, what could go wrong? We’ve all seen stories in the media or heard of bad encounters from friends. The reality is these things do happen, but we can do our best to avoid them.

Here are some tips to help you stay safe when meeting someone for the first time: -Keep personal details to a minimum -Don’t feel pressured into ANYTHING, it’s okay to say no and just leave (this is why picking a good first date activity is important) -Don’t meet in private -Tell someone you trust when, where, and who you are going out with -Always trust your gut, if something isn’t sitting right leave

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