In the digital age we live in, striking up a conversation with the cute checkout girl has been replaced with swipes, matches, an exchange of LOLs and suggestive GIF's hopefully leading to a date, and for some, a long-lasting relationship.
Dating apps have become such a phenomenon of our modern lives that last year 59% of people said that online dating was a good way to meet people. Sounds pretty promising, right? Well, only if you know you're way around the deep waters of online dating like a pro. There are currently thousands, yes thousands, of dating apps to choose from.
With choices like 'Thrinder' for adventurous singles seeking threesomes, 'Christian Mingle' and 'JSwipe' for dating hopefuls with a religious inclination, 'Bristlr' for bearded men, the self-explanatory 'Farmers Only', 'Gluten-Free Singles' for bread-haters and even the notorious 'Seeking Arrangement' for sugar daddy hook-ups, where does one even begin to sort the good dating apps from the bad?
Well, we've done the hard work for you with a run-down of what we believe to be the 10 best dating apps, and how they'll score you a date. Stop your aimless swiping, scrolling and stalking and check out the list below.
#1 OKCupid
OKCupid is rather straightforward and features a massive pool of users, about 30 million to be exact. The app is also constantly looking to improve itself, adding features like 'Flavours', a function that allows users to quickly view different genres of potential matches e.g. 'Kinky Nerds', 'Beard Lovers', 'World Travelers' etc so you can weed out the definite no's.
OKCupid also features personality quizzes, Instagram integration and a premium subscription service that can give you the ability to see users who have liked you.
Median age: 32.
Perfect For: Adventurous dating hopefuls with specific tastes and perhaps a few skeletons in the closet.
#2 Tinder
It's an oldie, but a goldie, and perhaps the most well-known dating app that is out there. Inspired by gay dating app Grindr, Tinder encourages you to make yes or no decisions based on first impression profile pictures, swiping right if you approve and left if you don't. Both parties swipe right? You've got yourself a match, sir. Tinder has most recently added GIF messaging, and the ability to 'like' chat messages.
Median age: 26.
Perfect For: Mirror selfie enthusiasts who value a good first impression.
RELATED: A Guide To Maximising Your Success On Tinder
#3 Hinge
“Cut the clutter. Cut the creeps” is Hinge's motto, a dating app that tries to take the awkwardness out of meeting randoms by only connecting mutual Facebook friends. To use Hinge you log in via your Facebook account and every day at noon you'll be served up a fresh batch of matches. Only showing its users 10 matches on average per day, Hinge is all about quality over quantity.
“The number one way to meet people still today, despite the growth of online dating, is through friends. Your friends say a lot about you - your history, your interests, your socioeconomic status,” Hinge CEO Justin McLeod told Digital Trends.
Median age: 27
Perfect For: Nervous nancies who want to avoid being catfished or don't want to stray too far from their group of friends.
#4 Coffee Meets Bagel
The adorably-named Coffee Meets Bagel is a female-centric dating app that, according to Forbes, has helped to create more than 50,000 happy couples. Unlike apps like Tinder that give you endless swiping power, Coffee Meets Bagel awards each user with a small number of 'bagels' (matches) each day at noon. This means you won't waste your precious time aimlessly swiping, and if you do get a match you have only 7 days to respond and set up a date. If you're pretty active on Coffee Meets Bagel, you'll be rewarded with 'coffee beans' which act as currency to buy more bagels.
Why is it so good? Apparently, it has the highest concentration of women. Yes, that's right. Coffee Meets Bagel boasts a whopping 58.6% female users. In fact, Coffee Meets Bagel's female to male ratio is so skewed that the app has created #LadiesChoice, a new iteration that encourages women to make the first move.
Median Age: 30
Perfect For: Young professionals frustrated by the shallow pool of ladies around them.
#5 Grindr
Boasting the title of the “world's largest gay social network app”, Grindr has come leaps and bounds since it launched in 2009. In 2014, the app had achieved more than 10 million user downloads and had more than 5 million active monthly users in 192 countries. “Grindr shows you, using GPS technology down to the nearest few feet, the men in your vicinity looking to meet other men. Probably not to exchange recipes. Thus, in 2009, human civilisation evolved to a point where one could immediately find the nearest gay, bi or greedy man looking for sex,” Grindr founder Joel Simkhai told The Independent. Pretty self-explanatory, then.
Grindr comes in both free and subscription-based versions (Grindr Xtra) and works by presenting a grid of men, arranged from nearest to farthest away. If you're keen, tapping on a picture will display a brief profile for that user, as well as the option to chat, send pictures, the share one's location. There are even 'Tribes' on Grindr like Bear, Twink and Jock to declare your own sexy type.
Perfect For: Gay, bi and curious guys who don't want to beat around the bush.