SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – “Swipe left. Swipe right.”
Smartphones have changed the dating game immensely in the last few years. Now, choosing your potential mate (or one-night stand) is just a matter of swiping on your phone. Algorithms are smarter and sharper, and you can meet up with people in your area in literal minutes if you wanted to.
But with dating apps now a dime a dozen, how do you know which one’s best for you and your *ahem* goals?
So, we rounded up a few Rapplers to test out 5 popular dating apps – Tinder, OKCupid, Skout, EHarmony, and HowAboutWe – and tell us what they thought; and how flattered or dirty they felt after. They’ll be using pseudonyms for the sake of human decency.
Lonely Boy: Tinder’s strongest point is the fact that you can only talk to someone if you’ve mutually liked each other. There’s that extra-special ‘kilig’ factor, plus you won’t be bothered by anyone you don’t want to be bothered by. It’s also a huge deal that you always view profiles in complete anonymity; I wouldn’t want to come off as a perv – even if I sometimes am.
Also, I noticed there’s a greater chance you’ll talk to someone remotely intelligent on it, compared to other apps. Classist na kung classist, but it’s where I see the highest concentration of people from the top universities.
It’s also the simplest and most straightforward. Doesn’t take long to set up, and there are only a few tabs to navigate. Very…utilitarian.
Crazy Cat Lady: If you’re looking to chat with attractive people, Tinder’s your best bet. The app makes it easy for you to filter out the undesirables based on their looks and their short bios.
No promises on the market though. You might get a little sick of swiping left after a while but hey, at least you’re sure that the only one who gets to talk to you are people you’ve already pre-approved. I also love the moments feature where you can share things with your existing matches. If a match turns out to be a dud, hitting unmatch is always an option.
It’s easy to use and straightforward. Plus, I don’t get bombarded with messages from people I don’t want to hear from. Win-win.
Princess Twinkle: I like the thrill you get when you match with someone you find really cute because that means they also found you cute so that’s already a plus – if only to your self esteem.
One thing that irks me are the “errors” that happen since they rolled out the pro accounts (they give you the option to re-do your last swipe). This has happened to me so many times now: I swipe right on someone cute, the next person is not cute so I swipe left, just as I release it shows me the previous guy so I accidentally swipe left on the cute one instead.
Lonely Boy: This feels so much like Friendster when it comes to viewing profiles. You always see who checks you out every single time, and the free version has no real privacy settings so basically anyone can ogle you whenever they please. It’s good if you like the person, but otherwise it makes me feel kind of violated. Like, “Please stop looking at me.” At the same time, I have to ration the times I check out profiles, too. Because, you know, I don’t want to come off as desperate…apart from the fact that I’m on OKCupid to begin with.
On the plus side, though, I love how detailed people’s profiles are. And it’s actually not that tedious to fill in your own profile, thanks to the Tinder-like yes-or-no swiping game (e.g. “Would you have sex before marriage? Swipe right for yes, and left for no.”) Unlike Tinder, it’s easier to get a gauge of what kind of person you’re checking out. Then again, Tinder’s originally just for hookups so I can’t blame it too much for being that, uh, minimal.
Crazy Cat Lady: I get the feeling this app is trying to be many things at the same time. You have your profile, you have your matches, which are different from your visitors, who are also different from the people on your Quickmatch (which is OKCupid’s Tinder-ish feature but not really).
It’s a test of attention span and I’m not really sure I understand who gets filed under what exactly. I’ve been told that setting up your profile properly and answering questions will help filter your options but oh god, who has time to spend calibrating OkCupid???
That said, if you’re looking for people serious about meeting people and dating, it’s your best bet, I suppose. I mean, they took time to figure out the algorithm so they must be really into this.
Princess Twinkle: This app highlights your compatibility with a person so you can better judge if they’d be a good match but, honestly, answering the unending questions was more fun for me than browsing through the choices.
Also, why wasn’t I ever compatible with any of the cute ones? What’s the correct way to answer the questions? It’s also kind of a downer being able to compare how many people visited your profile and how many you matched with.
Lonely Boy: THIS IS A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PLACE. I REGRET STEPPING FOOT IN THIS HELLHOLE.
Where do I begin? The interface is a mess; it’s just a crowded checkerboard of tiny faces. And just like OK Cupid, you basically have no privacy; absolutely anyone can check you out and message you, and vice-versa. They also have this terrible Chat Roulette-type gimmick where you shake your phone and the app will match you up with someone who also happens to be shaking their phone, and you two are instantly put together and pretty much forced to chat! What is up with that!
And I hate to say it but the people who use this app leave a lot to be desired. The second I signed up I was bombarded with come-ons in really bad English. I was really turned off. I felt naked and afraid.
Crazy Cat Lady: This app makes me hate people and dating. I want to be a plant now. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do when I open the app and their little Shake feature is basically just asking for some sleazebag from the other side of the world permission to send you photos of himself topless.
I was complaining about OKCupid’s crazy filters but I’d like them back, please. Or let’s just be superficial and head to Tinder where if you get poorly-phrased opening lines, it’s at least from people you find attractive.
Princess Twinkle: Lord have mercy! This is too much of everything. It took all of the wrong parts of social networking and made it into some kind of free-for-all dating app. The only amusement I got from this was reading the posts on people’s walls full of jeje speak, and grammatical errors. How in the name of sanity do I delete my account?
Lonely Boy: This app is evidence of the evils of capitalism. It takes forever to finish your profile (and when it says you’re done, you’re actually only 40% done and still have a ton of follow-up questions), only to find out that you have to PAY to get any decent action in.
Technically, you can get matches for free, but here’s the catch: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE. You have to pay to see their faces! It’s insane! I’m desperate but not that desperate! And it’s such a gyp because the interface is actually really nice! Ugh.
Crazy Cat Lady: For someone who loves talking about herself, I got sick and tired of talking about myself. I do not have all day to set up my profile because looking for a date isn’t my day job. When I finally set it up, I got myself matches that for some reason have no faces. What’s the point.
Princess Twinkle: Despite the 40 minutes it took to get through all the questions, I was looking forward to finally using this app because it was being extremely thorough about the important questions. But after all the effort and built-up excitement it turns out that the app is basically pointless unless you pay up.
I do slightly appreciate the way you are able to get into contact with one of your matches (you send them 5 questions, they send you 5 back, you get to talking), but not being able to see anyone’s face is too much to ask.
Lonely Boy: I love the concept of this app. By making people think up of date ideas as part of their profile, it’s a great way to see how people think, and what they like. It’s also, kind of unfortunately, a way to weed out the idiots. You have to complete the sentence “How about we ______,” and some people don’t follow instructions. Like, there are some who go, “How about we I am a good lover,” and “How about we genuine and sweet.” It’s equal parts hilarious and depressing.
Most of the date ideas are typical, like coffee, or drinks, or restaurants, but then you come across little quirky gems that really get you excited. And it’s great that it’s so pro-active! No beating around the bush with this app.
Princess Twinkle: I am in love with the layout of this app! So sleek and neat! Also, the concept is unique and it makes things interesting. It’s fun scrolling through and checking peoples’ date suggestions. I also like that the button says “I’m intrigued”, a sign that this app was meant for people who can actually understand that word.
Unfortunately there aren’t too many cuties to choose from, but you’ll get a good laugh out of those who fill in the blank after “How about we…” with things that just don’t make sense! “How about we… hot and sexy.” Uhm, how about no.
Crazy Cat Lady cannot comment on HowAboutWe as it is currently just for iOS, which sucks, because Apple cannot, and should not, have a monopoly on true love.
Which dating apps have you tried, and what do you think of them? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below! – Rappler.com
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