Tinder appears to be everywhere. It is the subject of multitudes of debates and prurient articles in the media, it is on Bollywood’s radar for promotion of films, and of course it is on millions of smartphones. But as its presence and popularity grows, so are reservations about it: the app has too many creeps, it allows for hooking up but not serious dating.
Enter on cue: Indian app developers.
Recognising the issues with Tinder and the diverse wishes from such a service, Indian developers have created apps that go beyond just profile pictures and casual dating. They have also made an attempt to weed out fake profiles and address the skewed gender ratio.
“Tinder is extremely shallow and disturbing,” said Krishna (who uses only her first name) from Bangalore. “You just swipe left or right on the basis of a profile picture like this is all that matters for dating people.” She left Tinder in less than a week of joining and has not returned. She does however occasionally scroll through profiles on Thrill, a dating app focused on India.
In their apps, Indian developers have tried to introduce more privacy controls and filtering options. The results are not always successful. Nevertheless, here is a look at what these apps have to offer Indians.
Singles only
Woo is trying to introduce serious dating by creating strict filters and verifying users’ relationship status on Facebook before letting them in. Those already in a relationship according to the Facebook profile are shown the door. “Woo weeds out any fake profile, those who are in a relationship or anyone in search of cheap thrills,” its website says. The results vary though.
“There are fewer people and the app seems to be still in development mode,” said Bangalore-based Sudeep who uses Woo as well as Tinder. “I went on four dates, but none worked out. The claims and realities of such apps are different.” He has vowed to stay away from similar apps.
Letting women take control
Thrill has an interface similar to Tinder’s, but stricter control on spam. It lets women vote on profiles of men who sign up before allowing the men to find matches. The idea is to prevent overcrowding of the app and to provide only relevant matches. The matches given by the app are based on Facebook and LinkedIn profiles of the members.
“Look, if you are married or think sending a message like ‘sex chat?’ to a woman is ok – don’t even bother downloading our app, you will not get access,” Josh Israel, co-founder of Thrill told NextBigWhat.
All about marriage
Truly Madly, with its strict filters, says it is for those seeking serious relationships. The app gathers information from each user during sign up and verifies it through Facebook profiles before issuing trust scores. Even though the app markets itself as a “relationship app”, there are many who could only find friends and casual dates through Truly Madly.
“The sorting on the basis of compatibility is much better than just by physical proximity,” said Apoorv from Delhi who has been on three dates so far through the app. “The good part here is that you get to know about a person beyond their profile picture.” But knowing more about a person, as we all understand, is no guarantee of an interesting date, Apoorv added.
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Enter on cue: Indian app developers.
Recognising the issues with Tinder and the diverse wishes from such a service, Indian developers have created apps that go beyond just profile pictures and casual dating. They have also made an attempt to weed out fake profiles and address the skewed gender ratio.
“Tinder is extremely shallow and disturbing,” said Krishna (who uses only her first name) from Bangalore. “You just swipe left or right on the basis of a profile picture like this is all that matters for dating people.” She left Tinder in less than a week of joining and has not returned. She does however occasionally scroll through profiles on Thrill, a dating app focused on India.
In their apps, Indian developers have tried to introduce more privacy controls and filtering options. The results are not always successful. Nevertheless, here is a look at what these apps have to offer Indians.
Singles only
App name: Woo
Downloads: 50,000
USP: Filtering
Woo is trying to introduce serious dating by creating strict filters and verifying users’ relationship status on Facebook before letting them in. Those already in a relationship according to the Facebook profile are shown the door. “Woo weeds out any fake profile, those who are in a relationship or anyone in search of cheap thrills,” its website says. The results vary though.
“There are fewer people and the app seems to be still in development mode,” said Bangalore-based Sudeep who uses Woo as well as Tinder. “I went on four dates, but none worked out. The claims and realities of such apps are different.” He has vowed to stay away from similar apps.
Letting women take control
App name: Thrill
Downloads: 10,000
USP: Selective access for men
Thrill has an interface similar to Tinder’s, but stricter control on spam. It lets women vote on profiles of men who sign up before allowing the men to find matches. The idea is to prevent overcrowding of the app and to provide only relevant matches. The matches given by the app are based on Facebook and LinkedIn profiles of the members.
“Look, if you are married or think sending a message like ‘sex chat?’ to a woman is ok – don’t even bother downloading our app, you will not get access,” Josh Israel, co-founder of Thrill told NextBigWhat.
All about marriage
App name: Truly Madly
Downloads: 10,000-50,000
USP: Matrimonial focus
Truly Madly, with its strict filters, says it is for those seeking serious relationships. The app gathers information from each user during sign up and verifies it through Facebook profiles before issuing trust scores. Even though the app markets itself as a “relationship app”, there are many who could only find friends and casual dates through Truly Madly.
“The sorting on the basis of compatibility is much better than just by physical proximity,” said Apoorv from Delhi who has been on three dates so far through the app. “The good part here is that you get to know about a person beyond their profile picture.” But knowing more about a person, as we all understand, is no guarantee of an interesting date, Apoorv added.
