Ah, Tinder, the âMcDonalds of online datingâ, the pinnacle of boredom and procrastination, and probably the only place youâve put that you like cats in hopes of finding someone you can go to the Cat Cafe with so you donât feel as awkward going alone. I personally would like to thank the people of Tinder for my growing repertoire of puns and pick up lines; you make me sound just slightly more interesting in real life. However, the app can often get repetitive when it seems like one in one hundred matches might be a decent conversation while the rest try to cleverly convince you to âsend nudesâ in three exchanges or less. Maybe youâve thought, is it like this on every dating app out there? Or am I doomed to filtering out dry conversations and gross comments until I close the app for the night?
Well, when youâre tired of Tinder, check out some of the unique trending dating apps out there:
Happn
To me, this app plays on the whole âlove at first sightâ movie trope. It is a heavily location-based in which the app shows you who was near you or you may have crossed paths with during the day. It even shows you if youâve crossed paths with the same person multiple times! For those you have crossed paths with, you can choose to secretly like them, which wonât notify the person unless they like you back, or you can send the person a charm so they notice you.
A lot of known criticisms with the app are the fact that, unless the person also likes you back or you manually dismiss the profile, they will hang around on your front page, and will climb higher to the top of your page if youâve crossed paths with this person multiple times. Can you imagine having an unrequited l and seeing them nearly every day? Awkward AF.
Her
Similar to Grindr, Her is a dating app specifically for women! The app not only allows you to meet women or those identifying who are also looking for women or those identifying, it also establishes a community in which one can get LGBTQ+ news and events in their area. When looking through profiles, users have options to like a profileâs individual photos, chat with those who have reciprocated the like, or if theyâre not looking to date, send a friend request. A community to both meet others and get updated on events specific to their area, Her is just what LGBTQ+ women needed in a dating app.
In my experience, I feel like the interface can get a bit confusing, especially when there are so many windows and buttons to swipe and click. There are several steps and options a user has to do in order to initiate a conversation with someone. While it is fantastic that thereâs an app with an established community specifically geared towards LGBTQ+, it could certainly work on simplifying its interface. And after so long, theyâve finally made an android version! Download here!
Bumble
If youâre like me and just wait for guys to respond on Tinder, this may not appeal to you. Bumbleâs unique feature makes the woman match start the conversation within twenty-four hours, or the match disappears (if you are looking for the same gender, however, either person has twenty-four hours to start the conversation). Bumble is unique in that the app forces you to start a conversation, instead of sitting there waiting for someone to say something. The app, in general, makes women make the choice and initiateâa feminist direction to dating apps.
While the freedom to initiate or not may seem to empower women, culture trends may continue to negate that. Female users frequently feel that despite the freedom to initiate, after the first message is made, men quickly bring the âball back in their courtâ to steer the conversation in their favour. While this feminist-not-so-feminist agenda is hard to conquer, the app offers a unique way to get users to choose and initiate, which is certainly doing more than leaving profiles to stay in your âkinda cute but not sure what to sayâ folder.
Coffee Meets Bagel
This one I had just heard about, and not gonna lie, the name peaked my interest more than anything. The app boasts ladies choice as Bumble does: men will receive about twenty or so profiles, or âbagelsâ. The app will then curate matches for women from the men who have expressed interest in their profiles. After that, women have a choice to start a conversation with the profiles who have expressed interest in them, making it apparently safer and more designed to women users. Â
While the cute name and supposed freedom of choice seem evident, utilizing the app may not be as straight-forward as it seems. âYour account is linked to your Facebook profile so that youâre only shown matches who are friends of friends,â one user writes, âthough you have to use âbeans,â the appâs internal currency, to see who those mutual friends are if you want to get their opinion. Youâre limited to liking or dismissing one profile, or âbagel,â a day.â Many users also claim that the app makes it seem like youâre just trying to find The Oneâ˘, a stigma that appâs founders are trying to combat through their interface. Upon trying it myself, I also found how frustrating it was to have to be meticulous in my âbagelâ choice; gods forbid if being more selective decreases my chance of being asked for nudes.
FeeldÂ
The dating app polyamorous types have been waiting for! Feeld (previously called â3nderâ but renamed due to copyright issues) allows individuals and couples to look for those specifically interested in polyamoury, kink, and/or other sexual preferences. Itâs a niche market, but certainly one that hasnât been specifically addressed in other dating apps. More and more people are starting to identify as polyamorous, and itâs apps like Feeld that allow such communities to grow and flourish.
The only issue Iâve personally faced is buggy notifications and only being able to connect to one Facebook, even if you are a âcoupleâ profile. This shouldnât be much of an issue if youâre a couple thatâs on the app with cute couple photos on Facebook (but it is for someone who likes to keep it as low-key as I do). Even though having individual photos of each person can be a hassle, it can be fixed by just uploading photos and making them visible only to you. All in all, if you and your partner are up to meet other open-relationship, polyamory-type people, download Feeld! Â