So…I must admit I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to dating apps, especially the ones that find new ways of game-i-fying dating. For those of you who have never played with Tinder or Hinge or Bumble, yes, they are addictive.
Which is why I was SO excited to be invited to a party in the new “Silicon Beach” area where start-up CEOs pouring vodka cranberries and offering cupcakes while I got to play with their new dating apps. If there was a perfect evening for a dating writer, that would be it. (Props to Cuddli for those AWESOME cupcakes with little white chocolate bunnies on them. Mmmm.)
So if you are a dater in the L.A. area, good news! There are lots of interesting apps out there waiting for people to join – pretty much all of them are free, too. (I mean, users are currency in the dating app world…) Most of them are available across the country or will be after they finish with the beta testing, so if you live outside L.A. you’re not left out guys.
Just to give you a taste, here are some of the more interesting ones to download:
Siren – for those ladies who are totally over Tinder. Your photos are ghosted out and men aren’t allowed to reach out to you and send dick pics or raunchy messages. You are in charge. Yay!
2 Truths and a Lie – is exactly like the game you remember. You’re shown a photo along with 3 sentences, and you have to guess which one is the lie before you can accept or reject a match. (Note: Fun distraction as you’re waiting for your date to arrive.)
Whim.la – is my fav. For those of us who live by our calendars (don’t judge) – you pick a date, time and place or neighborhood, and the app shows you other people who are free and in the same place, too. You can set up a date without having to do all the chit chat (but you can if you want). Launches in L.A. in two months – stay tuned.
Spokeo – if you want to run a check on that new guy you met over one of these apps, Spokeo does the legwork of checking out public records and social media profiles.
There are more…check out my latest for Examiner here.
XO,
Kelly
About Kelly Seal
Kelly is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about dating, relationships, personal growth and what "healthy living" means to her. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter @kellyseal or through her website www.kellyseal.com.
Thanks for the tips! Next time I’m in LA I’m going to try them out!
Yay I’m not familiar with tinder yet but I’m going to check it out. Happy you posted this because if I need to break up with it once I try it out I’ll know what to do. Thanks
I am SO glad I bypassed the dating app thing altogether. I’m waiting for that whole electronic grid thing to happen – there was a TV show about it called Revolution – where we humans max out our planet’s capability to do ONE.MORE.THING on our phones… so everything just shuts down and there is a global blackout… When that happens, I’ll be blogging on my wall in a cave near Malibu. I’ll have an app on my wall in Malibu. LOL
I love your article! I have also tried many amazing dating service( tinders, hinge, zoosk, https://kovla.com etc) But I have never heard about your favourite one Whim.la !!!! I think ISHOULD TRY IT=) Maybe it will be one of my favourite too)
What? There are apps out there that keep men from sending dick pics? boo! ha ha. What a relief. There’s enough badgering out there at bars, nightclubs, etc. Why would someone sign up for an online service to get more badgering? Thanks for sharing these.