People Tell Us About Their Dating App Nightmares
You could very well find someone who loves you for your obsession with “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” and for your love of Danish hip-hop. The musical context offers an immediate ice-breaker, which is cool. Despite that out of the apps I reviewed, POM is where the chat was the deadest, and also where men were most likely to develop an attitude once I revealed I wasn’t actually looking for love. It’s also so glitchy it made me never want to date again. That alone knocks two points off the score. 4/10.
The Sauce
The Sauce felt like a TikTok-dating app hybrid. You scroll vertically through profiles, each with at least two videos. No photos are allowed, except for your profile picture. Lip-synching in shared kitchen videos seem to be the bread and butter of most users, but people also post themselves missing goals, hanging out with their friends, playing guitar. It definitely adds some spice.
“I think it’s a better concept than Tinder and Bumble because it’s got quite a raw feel to it,” says Jeremy, 24. “Videos are a better way to showcase who you are than photos and text.”
The demographic was a lot younger compared to the other apps on this list, the majority of users seemingly being between 21 to 28. The Sauce also seemed to have a healthier balance of women to men and of white people to people of colour (still not amazing, but at this point I was just grateful). I also matched with the app’s CEO and co-founder Sachin Karia, 31, who’s on there for research purposes.
“We are currently building features like adding music and in-app video editing. The great thing is [that] video gives people who otherwise may not get a chance (not being photogenic) to show how funny, cool and charismatic they are,” Sachin said via Whatsapp. “Our goal is to bring it closer to real life.” Thirst-trapping in motion is trickier than static thirst-trapping.
It could feel a bit like a highlight reel, but people really are out here putting clips of their drunken selves singing along to Oasis at 4AM, which does feel a lot more authentic than the manicured texts and images that most apps offer. 8/10.
Jungle
Dates are better with mates, says Jungle. Are they? You and your friends can join as a pair or even as a three in an effort to match with other groups. The premise could offer a less awkward first-date experience — you have someone to bounce off of and a funny story to share at the pub afterwards, should it go totally wrong. But the format throws up a lot of questions.
What if you and your friend fancy the same person? What if you really fancy one of them, but your friend wants nothing to do with the other? How are you going to find two people you both find attractive? The odds on that count shrink even further if there’s three of you. What if one your mate ends up having a long-lasting relationship with someone you joint-matched with, but you just go on a couple of dates, have mediocre sex and block the person you met on every platform possible? Will you be able to face them at your mates’ wedding?
“I haven’t really come across many people I’d like to date,” says user Noah, 24. “The pool of people does seem small, and there aren’t as many like-minded or attractive people as there are on Hinge.”
It’s an interesting concept if you can put up with the what ifs (clearly I cannot). For me, dating is messy enough as it is, without entertaining the idea of bringing a whole other two (maybe even four!) people into the mix. On top of that the dating pool is so, so small that it feels like there’s a total of 12 people using the app. It’s a miss for me. 4/10.