On September 1, 2012, Hatch Labs launched its new Tinder app — a new online dating platform. By January 2014, the number of site users reached 10 million people. By the end of the same year, 40 million.
At that time, Tinder was something completely new. The search for potential partners by location, gamification through swipes, a nice interface — all this made the platform really interesting and distinctive. Year after year, the audience only grew. At the same time, the number of users on other dating sites and apps also grew.
But this growth could not be endless, and Tinder’s developers haven’t always followed the path that users expected. For example:
- In the spring of 2015, they launched the paid tariff TinderPlus, the cost of which started at $9.99 per month. Subsequently, more and more functions on the platform became paid.
- Instead of a real fight against spam and bots, the developers worked on implementing new and unnecessary functionality. At one time, Tinder was a hotbed of spambots. The situation is much better now, but questions still remain.
- Many of Tinder’s innovations turned out to be just a copy of the functionality of other platforms. A striking example is the video chat function, which was added quite recently. But video chat sites have existed for more than 12 years — since 2009.
“But the audience for Tinder and other dating apps is only growing because of the pandemic”, you may say. And you’d be absolutely right. But there is a caveat.
The audience for Tinder and other dating platforms really grew in 2020-2021. And it looks like it will continue to grow in 2022. The question is, what is this audience? During the pandemic, the number of scammers on apps and dating sites increased significantly. The same with spambots. Not so long ago, the company RT-SOLAR analyzed 12 popular dating platforms and studied their security levels. Tinder and Badoo rated 0.5 out of 5 points. This is exceptionally low!
On top of that, the Tinder format itself and similar sites have plain annoyed users. Swipes and matches, which initially seemed interesting and exciting, turned out to be not very effective and quickly bored everyone. It is not surprising that users began to look for more interesting and unique alternatives.
Best alternatives for those who are bored of Tinder
One of the most popular new dating apps in Europe is Once. It currently has over 10 million users and is rated 4.3 on Google Play. The main feature of Once is its special approach to the selection of a potential match. You fill out your profile (the more detailed the better), and Once starts looking for the perfect candidate for dating. Then you have 24 hours to get to know each other. You can communicate via text chat or video call, with the aim of eventually arranging a date. If you don’t, you won’t be able to contact the same person again after 24 hours. Once will pick your next match.
A popular alternative to classic dating apps is Clover. At first glance, Clover is not too different from its rivals. But it has a unique feature — Live Mixers. This is a section with local events and themed online meetings, which you can join, find like-minded people, get acquainted, meet future friends and even a soulmate.
Another interesting dating site is PlayMe. Here, in order to contact a user you like, you must first take a test based on their hobbies and score the required number of points. The more popular the profile, the more points you will need. This is a very interesting approach that successfully eliminates bots and users who aren’t really interested in dating.
A lot of people like Jungle Dating, which focuses on double dates. You can invite a friend to the app and find girls for a double date together. Not a bad option for those who are embarrassed to meet one-on-one and need friendly support.
The last app on our list of Tinder alternatives is The Sauce. Its key feature is video instead of a profile photo. You record a short video clip, introduce yourself, and others can watch it and contact you. A video carries much more information than a photo. And this saves a lot of time when meeting.
Random video chats: the choice for those who are looking for something completely different
So what should you do if you don’t like the format of apps and dating sites themselves? Are there alternatives? Of course there are! Look at chat roulettes — you’ll surely like them. For example, Chatrandom offers gender and geographic filters and search by interests. In addition, there are themed chat rooms where you can communicate with a whole group of like-minded people. Very handy!
And what about OmeTV, where, in addition to gender and geographic filters, there’s an automatic message translation function? An excellent option for those who want to meet foreign speakers, but don’t know the language. Forget about using third-party translators — this tool is already built into OmeTV.
Another interesting option is Chathub video chat. There are gender and geographic filters here too, but something else is more important. Chathub has some unique features. For example, you can completely eliminate repeated connections with one person. No multiple connections. Chathub also focuses on security and privacy, which many video chat apps lack so much.
Fans of classic webcam chats will be satisfied by Bazoocam. Nothing superfluous, just one-on-one communication via video link. Plus online mini-games that help diversify the dialogue and liven it up. A separate section of Bazoocam offers video streams. You can start your own broadcasts or watch someone else’s. But here you will find some very explicit content, so keep that in mind.
For the male audience, stranger video chat VideoChatUS has become a real gift, as it connects men only with girls who have confirmed their identities. Only real online dates without fakes, bots and other problems. Plus excellent moderation and a modern website. There is nothing like this in most chat roulettes. Everything for your convenience!
Many will also like Emeraldchat, a platform that combines chat roulette and instant messenger. Here you can meet in text or video chat, exchange photos and media, and also find people by interest. Plus, Emeraldchat uses an original karma rating system. Depending on your karma, the algorithm selects potential partners with the same level. It’s nice and easy.
The last one on our list is Camsurf chat. It partially resembles the already mentioned OmeTV, but has several differences. For example, in Camsurf, you can hide your location, use a safe search feature, show a verification badge to other users, enable an introductory message, and even collect followers for your social networks. Most of these features are only available to premium account holders, though basic functionality is free.
There are better things to do than swipe
Popular dating sites and apps are at a crossroads right now. It seems that the developers themselves do not fully understand in which direction to move. Meanwhile, niche platforms continue to lure users who are fed up with Tinder, Badoo, Match and others with their monotony.
Many people have completely abandoned the use of classic dating sites and switched to video chat roulettes. This format is very different from anything that regular online dating platforms offer. And sometimes trusting in chance on chat roulette is much better than swiping photos of strangers on some Tinder hour after hour. The choice is yours!
