While dating apps still aren't the most popular way to meet someone, they're not too far behind traditional methods of finding love. Dating apps have become so popular that a survey from earlier this year found that millennials spend roughly 10 hours a week on dating apps. Dating app Badoo surveyed its 370 million users worldwide to discover that when it comes to finding a match, millennials are either really dedicated or just love to swipe, because 10 hours is a lot.
While men spend more time on dating apps than women, with 85 minutes a day and each session lasting 9.7 minutes, women aren't too far behind with 79 minutes a day and 7.6 minutes per session. But while those numbers speak volumes to the fact that dating apps are being used and used quite a bit, after a while, it can become exhausting.
"Dating is already a lot of unknown; you’re literally meeting entirely new people with the intent of forming entirely new relationships, whether short-term or long-term," Jenna Birch, CEO of Plum dating app and author of The Love Gap, tells Bustle. "With that, it’s easy to default to patterns, like the apps we’ve always turned to, the same first date spot or the 'types' we usually go for. But sometimes those patterns aren’t working! Doing the same thing over and over again, to the same result, can make dating feel soul-sucking instead of exciting."
In addition to getting bored using the same apps, when you do want to branch out, it can get overwhelming — there are just so many of them to try. "Some might work for one person, but not another, but there’s really something for everyone," Birch says. "Use a few! See what feels right for your goals or which app interface you’re most into."
To curb that boredom and help you find the right app for you, here are some new dating apps to try out.
1Wingman
Wingman, which launched earlier this year, offers something new in the way of dating apps: you get to sit back while someone else creates your profile and finds you a match. Whether that person is your sister, your best friend, your grandmother, your favorite barista at the coffee shop — it's totally your call. If you're bored with apps, what could possibly be a better alternative?
“Wingman is different; it doesn’t have anything that is comparable to it," Wingman founder, Tina Wilson, tells Bustle. "It’s a platform that enables us to introduce our friends to great people, and have some fun along the way.”
2Plum
From the get-go Plum aims to be different by nipping all the "bad" behavior from men on dating apps in by bud by rewarding men who date women for good behavior on the app.
Women get to rate men from one to five on three non-physical qualities, which Birch says will weed out those who aren't respectful. Men with high ratings will get better potential matches.
"We’ve designed Plum with connection and real relationship-building in mind, and we’ve really thought about the female experience in the process,” Birch says. “So many swiping apps are tailored toward quick-hit matching that doesn’t stick — which can be good for a certain type of goal, but has made online relationships harder to achieve than it feels they should be with all those options. So many apps feel chaotic or overwhelming. Plum won’t be. You’re limited to five matches a day, so you can focus on connecting with other users and don’t get caught in the trap of mindlessly checking out profiles all night.”
Although Plum doesn't launch until January 1, you can head to the site and sign-up to get a notification via email once it hits the app store in mid-December. According to Birch early users will get a lifetime access to all Plum's special features.
3Crown
While dating app Crown was created by the same people behind Tinder and Match, matches aren't made through endless swiping. Every day you get 16 matches which are broken up into pairs. From each pair, you choose one person until you're down to four. It's those four who will get a message that they've "won" and messaging can follow from there. Every day the bracket resets, so you can play over and over, hoping to find "The One."
"The idea stemmed from a millennial team member, Patricia Parker, as part of Match Group’s internal Ideathon," Andy Chen, vice president at Match Group, tells Bustle. "Patricia was inspired partly by her own experience with dating apps since she met her husband online."
4Cove
Cove is a members-only dating app that aims to get far deeper than your average dating app. In fact, according to Cove, "The word Cove is derived from the 'co' of 'conversation,' and the 've' from 'love' (COnversation + loVE = COVE)." Members have three chances to establish chemistry "through an innovative level system" that must be completed with in 10 days. First, it will begin with texting, then will move up to voice communication, then video. The video step is sort of a pre-date before the real date.
"People are clearly bored and unsatisfied with all the available options for online dating. All signs indicate that there is a hunger for a more meaningful experience, one that respects and values everyone's time and attention,” Cove founder, Charles Messow, tells Bustle. “Cove offers an exclusive alternative for those who want deeper conversation. The experience of making it through Level 3 in Cove with a 'match' is part of an innovative and fun way to uncover someone's personality before taking the time and effort to meet in person.”
5Blindfold
The dating app Blindfold wants to put conversation and fun first. Once people are matched, they get to play a game to get to know each other better.
"Blindfold is a free app that brings singles together in a meaningful way where they play fun games while learning about each other’s interests, preferences and what the other person wants in life and a relationship,” Blindfold founder, Alexandra Menna, tells Bustle.
As Meena points out, there's no other app that allows people to learn about each other in such a fun and flirty way after they're matched.
“Blindfold also works as a new type of foreplay as the relationship progresses," Menna says. "We have decks behind a subscription that are more intimate such as ‘The Tease,’ ‘Breaking The Rules,’ and ‘Naughty Gifts,’ just to name a few. For example, if two users play the deck ‘Breaking the Rules’ they can understand how each other feel about activities such as ‘Sexting while at work’ and ‘Joining the Mile High Club’ before even sharing their first kiss.” The app's purpose is to give people topics to discuss for when they finally meet in person.
There you have it — five new dating apps that will absolutely put your dating app boredom to bed.
