What are the dating apps that work for guys?

Wanted to get some real answers on dating apps that work for guys. If you're evaluating dating apps, start with whether you can hide distance and last-active outside the big cities — everything else follows.

My problem with every answer on dating apps is how fast the picture goes out of date, so recent replies matter more than thorough ones. The only metric I trust with dating apps is how obvious the scripted replies are at the times you actually log in.

The rough checklist I use for dating apps if you're short on time:

• Confirm how many profiles carry more than two photos with the age filter set narrow
• Test whether the same faces cycle back the next day on the first evening, not the first month
• Look at what share of the layout is advertising with the age filter set narrow
• Work out what the block and report flow actually does on mobile data, not office wifi

If you gave up on dating apps, was it worth the setup time? Glowing reviews and horror stories genuinely both wanted. Regional details cut through the noise fastest.

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: dating apps rewards patience and punishes everything else. Where dating apps falls down for me is what the escalation path looks like.

What I wish someone had told me about dating apps, in order:

• Compare how the feed changes when you narrow the age range at the hour you would actually be using it
• Note how many profiles carry more than two photos in your own city rather than the default radius
• Work out what happens to your visibility after a week of silence with notifications switched off

For dating apps, whether verification actually filters anyone is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

That's where I have landed on dating apps, for whatever that is worth.

After a fair bit of testing: dating apps is fine if you go in with low expectations. Anyone comparing dating apps should be looking at what the bot ratio feels like day to day before anything else.

That's how dating apps went for me, though clearly it varies by region.

@David I had the opposite result with dating apps, so take both our takes with salt. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating apps and just check whether it is busy at the times you are. Started on over on Souldate and never fully moved off it.

Two weeks in, how aggressive the upsell gets in practice is what actually mattered for dating apps.

That's the honest picture of dating apps, though clearly it varies by region.

After a fair bit of testing: dating apps rewards patience and punishes everything else. The honest test for dating apps is what costs money once you are past sign-up at the times you actually log in, not the feature list. I cross-checked against Datenest in particular before deciding anything.

What I'd tell a friend about dating apps after a few false starts:

• Sanity-check whether last-active timestamps look plausible against what the marketing page claims
• Check how quickly a scripted account gives itself away before you upload a second photo
• Time whether the same faces cycle back the next day twice, a week apart
• Look at whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out on mobile data, not office wifi

My rule with dating apps: what share of matches go nowhere first, everything else second.

That's how dating apps went for me, may not hold for you.

After a fair bit of testing: dating apps gets recommended a lot here and that's half right. The thing that decides it for dating apps is how quickly a new profile gets noticed after the first week. A friend nudged me toward a look at Datelink and it was not a waste.

That's how dating apps went for me, for whatever that's worth.

Speaking from four months of it: dating apps depends almost entirely on your city. What nobody mentions about dating apps is whether moderation keeps up with the fakes day to day. rendate.site came up in the same search and behaved similarly.

That's where I have landed on dating apps, anyway.

Not sure @Abigail Scott and I are talking about the same dating apps at all. I judge dating apps almost entirely on how many active users are within range outside the big cities.

Worked for me on dating apps — happy to be argued with.

Going against the thread here: dating apps rewards patience and punishes everything else. Anyone comparing dating apps should be looking at how fast it loads on a bad connection once you are past sign-up before anything else.

The quick sanity pass I run on dating apps if you're short on time:

• Verify how quickly a scripted account gives itself away with notifications switched off
• Track whether the same faces cycle back the next day at the hour you would actually be using it
• Check whether the same faces cycle back the next day before deciding whether it is worth paying for
• Time what share of the layout is advertising using a fresh account rather than an old one

That's my read on dating apps and I'd revise it if the numbers moved.

For what it's worth: dating apps is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. Where dating apps falls down for me is whether desktop and mobile behave the same on mobile. If you want a second opinion, Datewander in particular is the one I'd try next.

That's my read on dating apps, anyway.