Who’s got time to go out and meet people the old way? Of course, if the old way is a gaggle of auntyjis rounding up eligible, or not-so-eligible, boys and girls for you, there really is no escaping it. You’ve got to find your own way out. But if you’d like to be up to date about dating apps, and find out what you can expect from different dating apps, we’ll sort that out for you.
But remember, please, that a consistent complaint across most platforms is that they usually have far more men than women, possibly because women worry about meeting axe-murderers and others of that ilk. Of course, men have all those fake profiles to worry about. Still, we’ve a handy guide to help you answer that question: how to choose the right dating app for you.
Tinder
First and the most obvious, Tinder is for those who don’t like rejection and don’t really like emotional entanglements. You swipe right if you would like to let somebody know you’re interested. They swipe right if they’re interested too, or they swipe left. There isn’t much self-esteem to be invested in one swipe, and there’s a big list of people to swipe left or right, so you can move on to the next before you have time to feel bad. Are you outgoing and do you believe that you live only once? This is for you, though we can’t guarantee that you won’t meet any axe-murderers.
Available for: iOS, Android, Windows phone (via third-party app 6tin)
Hinge
It’s the Hinge for not-quite-extroverts who constantly wonder if people they meet are secretly serial axe-murderers. It works much the same way as Tinder, but you don’t get to see all single people in your area. You only get to see friends of friends on Facebook, so there’s at least somebody you can ask if you’re not sure if he/she looks like they’ve got their dead mother mummified and sitting in a chair at home. With this app, you get a new set of potential matches every day at noon. It was launched in India earlier this year. It’s for sensible and relatively cautious people.
Bumble
Everybody should celebrate this one, but somehow men’s rights activists have a problem. One thing men complain about is that women get to just sit around and wait for men to ask them out, while men have to face rejection every time. This app works like Tinder, except that the first message has to be sent by women, so men have every opportunity to ignore them. This should mean that women face rejection, just like men, and there’s the added advantage of women not being approached by people they find uncomfortable. Apparently, it works. Bumble announced that 60 percent of their matches result in conversations. So this is for more emotionally and mentally mature people.
Available for: iOS
OkCupid
The good part about this one is that you can go the quick-swipe-done way of Tinder, or you can do the compatibility-based way of meeting somebody. There’s something for both kinds of ‘seeking singles’ people. You get lists of matches and you can go through their profiles, sending a message to anybody who interests you. It’s for people who like to have their options open – it’s for the buffet people.
Available for: iOS, Android, third party apps like OKC Lite might work for Windows phones
TrulyMadly
This is only for desi love. It works a lot like Tinder except that there is a ‘trust score’. You can increase that score by doing things like linking your Facebook account to your profile, even using an offline ID card to prove that you’re real and using your real identity. The site’s algorithm will check on the activity level of your linked social media accounts, so if you’re not connected, you might not get matches. Once you have a match, you can talk on Whatsapp or Facebook. This service is free still, but there are plans to roll out paid features. This is for Indians who are actually looking to date, not just for a booty call.
Available for: Android, iOS, plans to be rolled out for Windows phones
By the way, for those of you wondering why Plenty of Fish is not on this list – Indians were banned from PoF in 2005, and I can find no indication whether they were unbanned, because I found a total of two profiles on a rough search. If anybody knows more, please let me know!
