Around 44 percent of American adults are single, so there are more than 100 million potential Mr. or Ms. Rights in this country alone. You probably won’t meet them knocking back beers, as only 9 percent of men and 2 percent of women have started a relationship at a bar or club. In the digital age, you’re much better off bypassing those traditional haunts and adding the following apps to your tablet or smartphone.
1. HowAboutWe: Plan Real Dates
Rather than focusing on profile pics and proximity as so many apps do, HowAboutWe concentrates on connecting people with compatible interests. Users post potential perfect date ideas and wait for contact from a companion. Members can also conceal their exact location while they’re getting to know someone to protect their privacy.
It’s free to download the app and suggest dates, but you’ll need to purchase an $8 monthly subscription to message other members. HowAboutWe is available from iTunes and Google Play.
2. OkCupid: Popular Dating Site Goes Mobile
The simple design and free features of OkCupid has seen it become the fastest-growing online dating platform. Now with its spin-off app, singles can find love just around the corner with the Locals feature. Just broadcast that you’ve got some time to kill and wait for the responses to roll in. Building a profile can be time consuming on a mobile device, so the OkCupid app is best used on a tablet or laptop.
The OkCupid app is free to download from iTunes and Google Play.
3. Zepeel: Use Videos to Find Love
If OkCupid contains too much text for your tastes, you might prefer the video-based format of Zepeel. This new app encourages users to express themselves through recorded clips rather than text-based profiles accompanied by outdated photos or glamour shots. The app’s creator, Steve Szikszay believes videos provide a truer sense of a person, as they allow potential matches to see and hear them.
“It’s really to restore the faith in online dating,” he told Before It’s News. The app also features a proximity feature so you can find nearby matches and a video chatting function.
The Zepeel app is free to download from iTunes.
4. Avalable: Get Animated on Search for Love
It may not mirror the success of the social networking site that inspired it, but Avalable hopes to become the dating app equivalent of Facebook with its interactive timelines.
“I see you going out with your friend to celebrate a birthday, and then it’s easier to engage in a conversation,” app creator Nikki Assavathorn told The Next Web. She used almost a decade of experience as the founder of Thai matchmaking agency MeetNLunch to create the innovative app.
Avalable claims to use a “powerful matching algorithm” to help you find your most compatible matches. You can make your virtual chats a little cuter with Avalable’s animated stickers, or record and send voice messages if you’re too tired to type.
Avalable is free to download from iTunes and Google Play.
5. MeetMoi: Speed Date From Your Mobile Device
“We are not an online dating service,” MeetMoi insists. “We make real-life introductions.”
However, this app — which brings speed dating into the virtual world — certainly feels like a dating app. Create your profile and turn on your GPS setting to let MeetMoi work its magic. It’ll soon retrieve potential matches based on your interests and location. You get up to an hour to instant message your matches before deciding whether you want to take your conversation into the real world.
The MeetMoi app is free to download from iTunes and Google Play.
6. Grindr: GPS Functionality for Queer Guys
Gay, bisexual, and bi-curious men aren’t forgotten either with the popular Grindr app. This spin-off to the Grindr website uses GPS-based technology to help users find other members nearby. Members need only share a username to protect their privacy. They can also conceal their age, gender, interests, and sexual orientation until they know someone better. More than a million people use the app daily and 10,000 more join every day, so there’s a good chance your dream man is waiting there for you!
The basic Grindr app is free to download from Google Play, iTunes, and the BlackBerry store. An enhanced subscription-based app, called Grindr Xtra, is also available.
With these awesome apps on your phone, you can search for Mr. or Ms. Right no matter where you are!