THE GUARDIAN – May 5 – Some couples use Swipebuster, FlexiSPY and mSpy to track each other's texts and Tinder swipes. Swipebuster scans Tinder's public database and reveals whether someone has a profile and the last time they used it for $4.99. FlexiSPY and mSpy, once covertly installed, enable remote surveillance of a person's phone. On the more ethical side are apps such as Couple Tracker and mCouple that allow partners to access each other's texts, calls, Facebook activity and GPS location.
Category: Outlets – The Guardian
Match.com Ad Criticised For Suggesting Red Hair And Freckles ‘Imperfections’
High-end Dating Apps – The League, Luxy And The Inner Circle
THE GUARDIAN – Jan 3 – The League dating app heavily vets members, claims that only 20-25% of those who apply are allowed in, and has ~75K people on its waiting list. It launched in America last year and is now coming to the UK. Applicants must provide access to their profiles on LinkedIn. One selective dating app already operating in the UK is The Inner Circle, which has 22K members and ~24K on the waiting list. The app will launch in the US this year. Luxy dating app bills itself as "Tinder without the poor people". To be accepted, users must be either rich or beautiful.
by Gareth Rubin
See full article at The Guardian
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Mouse Mingle Is A New Dating Site For Disney Fans
THE GUARDIAN – Dec 5 – People post their pictures and information, rate users, and answer Disney-related questions, as well as share their favourite Disney moments. The site works on a freemium model. It's free to sign up, but $12.55/month to send private messages.
Mobile Dating Apps Spur HIV Among Asia’s Teenagers
THE GUARDIAN – Nov 30 – United Nations research has found the growing use of mobile dating apps by young gay men is a major factor in a new HIV epidemic among teenagers in Asia. While global HIV infections are falling, the number of adolescents aged 10-19 officially living with HIV in Asia has grown to ~220K. Grindr runs in-app announcements encouraging testing at local clinics. Online Buddies, the parent company of the gay dating app Jack'd, set up a research institute focusing on gay sexual health.
by Oliver Holmes
See full article at The Guardian
Apps For Loneliness
THE GUARDIAN – Aug 17 – Technology is often blamed for social isolation. We’d rather message our friends than meet them. Chatbots take this to the next level. Cortana, the Microsoft creation, will text-message users back and forth about everything. In China, Xiaoice has attracted millions of loyal followers since its introduction last year. Dubbed the "girlfriend app", the chatbot uses artificial-intelligence software to remember details from previous discussions and mines the web for question-and-answer style conversations.
“The League” App Is Like Tinder For The Elites
THE GUARDIAN – Aug 8 – "The League" dating app is for ambitious driven, young professionals that want to date other ambitious, driven young professionals,” explained Amanda Bradford, founder of The League. There’s a waiting list 100K people long to be accepted into The League. Once accepted, members receive five new matches every day at 5pm. The app is linked to LinkedIn. It launched in San Fran in Nov 2014, then in New York and expects to launch in LA and London soon. Another apps for the elites is BeLinked and Luxy that self-described as Tinder without the poor people.
Tinder Hits Back At Research Claiming 42% Of Its Users Have Partners
THE GUARDIAN – May 8 - Tinder has rejected research that estimated that 42% of its users are either married or in a relationship. "The results of this tiny, 681 person study in the UK is a totally inaccurate depiction of Tinder’s user base", said Tinder's spokesman. "The largest age group on Tinder (over 50% of users) is 18-24. More than 93% of UK residents in that age range have never been married, according to the UK's office of National Statistics. Simple logic should reveal that it's essentially impossible for any of these claims to be accurate." GlobalWebIndex has defended its methodology. "Our data is based on interviews with a panel of ~170K Internet users worldwide."
Bumble, Siren, The Grade – Female Friendly Dating Apps
THE GUARDIAN – Apr 12 – There are now ~91M people on dating apps – and most of that is thanks to Tinder that makes 21M matches and processes 1.5B swipes every day. A new generation of app developers, many of them women, are launching female-orientated dating apps where women are the gatekeepers. One of them is Bumble, founded by Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe. "Bumble is about establishing equality", she says. "When some men feel rejected, they respond with aggression. So if we eliminate the rejection, what is there to be aggressive about?” Susie Lee is the creator of Siren, an app where a woman’s photos are hidden to men until she chooses to match with them. Siren is expanding globally in the summer. Even more interesting is Wyldfire. The app's initial unique selling point is that only men invited by women could be a part of the app, though it has recently introduced an “election” feature where men can offer themselves up to have their profile vetted by female members. The Grade marks users from A+ to F depending on their popularity, quality of messages and responsiveness.
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen
See full article at The Guardian
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Nearly Two Thirds Of Mobile Dating App Users Are Men
THE GUARDIAN – Feb 17 – 62% of the 91M people using location-based dating apps are male, according to research firm GlobalWebIndex. 16-34 year-olds are the largest group of users, accounting for 70% of the audience for these apps. Just a fifth of dating app users are paying for an online dating service.