Dating App Issues and Our Solutions
Dating apps have fundamentally changed the way we meet people, but they come with some significant flaws. These issues are often rooted in business models, features, and mismatched incentives. In this article, we’ll highlight the main problems with traditional dating apps and explain how our app is working to solve them.
Don’t just take our word for it! OkCupid pointed out this problem many years ago before they were bought out by Match Group.
1. Misaligned Incentives in Subscription-Based Apps
The Problem:
Most dating apps operate on a subscription-based model, which creates a misalignment between the app’s goals and the users’ needs. When users successfully match, the app loses two customers—one for each match. This incentivizes apps to keep users engaged, but not necessarily help them find a meaningful connection. The result is a platform that keeps users swiping in hopes of a match, but rarely delivers long-term satisfaction.
How We Fix It:
We’ve reimagined the business model with a pay-per-mutual-match system. Users only pay when they mutually match with someone, aligning our incentives with theirs. We want to help users find real connections, and we succeed when they do.
2. Superficial Matching and Bias Toward Appearance
The Problem:
Most dating apps rely heavily on photos, leading to quick, surface-level judgments based on appearance. While photos can give some insight, they don’t tell the full story of compatibility. This bias toward looks can make it hard for users to form genuine, meaningful connections.
How We Fix It:
We go beyond photos with our double-blind matchmaking system. Users are shown profiles, but the photos and personal information are scrambled. They decide based on deeper aspects like answers to questions, lifestyle preferences, and personality traits, not just looks. Users only send a “pledge” (like) when they genuinely connect with a profile they find compatible.
3. Unscientific Matching: Hobbies and Interests Aren’t Enough
The Problem:
Many dating apps match users based on simple, surface-level factors like hobbies and interests. While these aspects can be part of a connection, they don’t account for deeper, more scientifically backed measures of compatibility. Without a solid understanding of personality, values, and communication styles, these connections can feel superficial and unsustainable.
How We Fix It:
We’ve moved beyond hobbies and interests by using evidence-based, scientific matching methods. Our app incorporates the Big Five Personality Test, along with other validated methods, to assess key traits like openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. This allows us to match users based on traits that predict long-term compatibility, rather than just shared hobbies.
Additionally, the questionnaire asks users not only for their own preferences but also for how they’d like their potential partner to answer. Some people prefer someone with similar answers, while others may enjoy differences in certain areas. By understanding both sides of compatibility—what users want for themselves and what they want in a partner—we can offer more precise, personalized matches.
4. Lack of Trust and Verification
The Problem:
Online dating can feel risky due to a lack of transparency and verification. Users may wonder if the person they’re chatting with is being honest, or if their profile accurately reflects who they are.
How We Fix It:
To address this, we’re introducing a web of trust feature. This allows users to verify each other when meeting in person or by getting mutual friends to vouch for them. Additionally, users can see how many mutual connections they share with someone, adding a layer of trust and security to their interactions.
5. Privacy Concerns
The Problem:
With growing concerns over online privacy, many users worry about how their personal data is being handled. Conversations on dating apps can be intimate, and users want assurance that their private information stays secure.
How We Fix It:
We prioritize privacy with end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for all in-app communications. This ensures that users’ conversations remain private and protected from outside interference. We also give users control over their personal information. In our app, users only see the multiple-choice answers from the questionnaire and scrambled photos until they decide to match. Even after a match, users only exchange usernames—no personal details are revealed until they choose to share them.
This approach ensures that users are in control of their privacy from start to finish, protecting their data and allowing them to decide when to reveal more about themselves.
6. Bots, Scams, and Adult Ads
The Problem:
Freemium dating apps are a breeding ground for bots, scams, and adult content. Since creating an account is free and minimal effort is required to interact with users, bad actors can flood platforms with fake profiles designed to scam, catfish, or promote adult services. These behaviors erode user trust and degrade the quality of the dating experience.
How We Fix It:
We’ve designed our platform to be hostile to bad actors through a pay-per-match model that introduces real economic friction. Unlike freemium apps where bots can spam thousands of users for free, our system requires payment for each mutual match—making mass abuse costly and unappealing.
Our double-blind system adds another layer of protection by hiding bios and links until after a match. Since scammers can’t display content upfront, fake profiles offer little reward and quickly become a dead end.
By combining economic friction with pre-match anonymity, we make the platform functionally useless to scammers, while keeping it safe and meaningful for real users.
Conclusion
Traditional dating apps often fail to provide meaningful connections because their business models, superficial matching systems, and lack of privacy protection don’t align with users’ needs. We’ve built our platform with a focus on science, trust, privacy, and meaningful connections. With our innovative approach, we aim to help users form genuine relationships based on true compatibility, not just swipes and appearances.