If you’re busy, dating can be difficult. You don’t always have time to hang out at a bar or club hoping to find someone new to talk to. This is the beauty of dating apps: you can meet new people and talk with them whenever, wherever.
Here are seven of the best dating apps in the world that will help you find love no matter how full your schedule.
1. HowAboutWe
The HowAboutWe dating app leaves the getting to know your potential partner better for the actual date. So how do you find people who share interests with you and have things in common, if the app doesn’t focus on who you are? Simple: it asks you to summarize your perfect date.
You tell the app, and its users, what kind of dates you have in mind. Let’s say your ideal first date would be to go skydiving. You can search to see if there are any other people using the app who would also be interested in going skydiving as part of your first date together. In a way, you dream up the date together. If all goes well, the two of you meet and embark on a grand adventure.
2. Tinder
Tinder is a simple and fair app to use when you are just casually browsing for someone new to talk with (and maybe, eventually, something more). You create your profile and use any picture and information you want to show your potential matches. Then you can start looking for a possible significant other.
If you don’t like someone, you ‘swipe’ their profile to the left. If you like them, and want a chance to match with them, you swipe their profile to the right. You will only be able to connect with someone if you both swipe right to each other’s profiles. Otherwise, if you tell the app you don’t like someone, there’s no going back once you swipe left, so decide with caution.
3. Bumble
Bumble makes finding a match fast and easy. If a girl and a guy match, the girl is the one who has to send the first message – and she has to do it within 24 hours, or the match goes away. This 24 hour rule makes sure that you get to connect with people you are interested in, no more excuses or waiting for days for something to happen.
Bumble is most favorable with its users because of its prominent code of conduct. The app promotes a safe, clean and friendly environment for people to connect with one another without having to worry so much about being disrespected or receiving unwanted communications.
4. Coffee Meets Bagel
Coffee Meets Bagel is similar to Tinder in that you are only ‘matched’ with people when both of you show interest in each other. However, one of many unique features of this app is that it uses your Facebook profile to connect you with mutual friends of friends, so you are not technically interacting with complete strangers. It also connects you with people living relatively nearby.
Each day at noon you are given one ‘Bagel’ – a potential match. You can view his or her photos, age, occupation and other information about their likes and dislikes. Their name remains hidden unless both of you ‘like’ each other. If both of you do press that like button, a private chat opens up, and stays open for seven days so the two of you have the chance to get to know each other.
This app is currently only available on iOS operating systems.
5. The Grade
Like many other dating apps out there, The Grade Dating App uses your Facebook profile to help you fill in information. Other users can ‘like’ your profile as a way of connecting you with potential matches. However, there is one unique features of this app in particular that sets it apart from all the rest: a grading system.
Once you create your profile, users can immediately view it. When they do, however, and if they ‘like’ your profile, your ‘grade’ remains in good standing, and increases the more likes you receive. Grades are based on judgment: whether they like the way you look or the information you enter into the profile itself. The higher your grade, or rating, the better your chances of getting matched. If someone engages in inappropriate behavior – anything x rated or unfavorable – and receives a grade of F, they are immediately kicked off the app.
6. OkCupid
The OkCupid Dating app is one of the highest rated dating apps out there, and for good reason. Instead of matching you with potential significant others based on things like appearance and simple profile markers and preferences, the algorithm involves answering specific questions and matching you with people whose answers are at least similar and hopefully compatible with yours.
You not only answer a series of questions when filling out your detailed profile, but also let the app know what you want your potential partner’s responses to reflect. Everyone who visits your profile, or vise versa, has a compatibility score related to you to let you know how well your answers match up. You are in control of who you connect with, at least much more than many other dating apps.
7. Hinge
Hinge is a sort of hybrid of Tinder, Coffee Meets Bagel and OkCupid, so if you like some of their features but not all, this might be the perfect combination for you. Similar to OkCupid, you begin by answering a series of questions: like Tinder, you swipe left or right depending on whether or not you want to answer yes or no to a question.
The app matches you not only by the answers you give, but by using Facebook to connect you with friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends (similar to Coffee Meets Bagel). So if you are curious about someone you might be interested in, your friends might be able to tell you more.
All of these apps, at least their most basic features, are free, which means you can find potential dates without having to spend any money first. Apps are a fast and safe way to find love when you aren’t sure where to look. What are you waiting for?
