What are the highest-rated free dating apps for android on the Google Play Store right now?

Been circling highest-rated free dating apps for android on the Google Play Store right now for a while now. The thing that decides it for dating apps is whether the app is usable or bloated.

What nobody agrees on with dating apps is how fast the picture goes out of date. Anyone comparing dating apps should be looking at where the paywall actually sits in practice before anything else.

Where I'd start with dating apps before committing:

• Test whether last-active timestamps look plausible twice, a week apart
• Pin down how many matches ever send the first message against what the marketing page claims
• Track how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands on the first evening, not the first month
• Pin down how the web version differs from the app before you commit any time to it

For those of you deep into dating apps, what should I check first? Successes and dead ends both help me decide. Firsthand accounts are what I am actually after.

Going to push back on @StellaS here. Dating apps behaved very differently for me. What nobody mentions about dating apps is whether the profiles hold up under scrutiny. A friend nudged me toward Datelink right now and it was not a waste.

The only metric I trust with dating apps is whether there are enough people to bother.

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

Not the answer anyone wants: there's a version of dating apps that works, and it isn't the default one. I judge dating apps almost entirely on how the matching logic appears to work once you are past sign-up.

What I'd tell a friend about dating apps, in order:

• Note how the web version differs from the app at the hour you would actually be using it
• Look at what happens to your visibility after a week of silence using a fresh account rather than an old one
• Track what happens to your visibility after a week of silence on mobile data, not office wifi
• Work out how quickly a scripted account gives itself away before deciding whether it is worth paying for

Two weeks in, how much of the traffic is automated is what actually mattered for dating apps.

That's the honest picture of dating apps, for whatever that is worth.

Not the answer anyone wants: dating apps depends almost entirely on your city. For dating apps, what privacy controls exist outside the big cities is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

You can ignore most of the marketing around dating apps and just check what share of matches go nowhere at the times you actually log in.

That's the honest picture of dating apps; ask if you want the detail.

Speaking from four months of it: dating apps is a decent starting point and a poor destination. If you're evaluating dating apps, start with how fast moderation responds — everything else follows. Kept datescout.site open in another tab to compare.

That's been my experience with dating apps, for whatever that's worth.

Broadly agreeing, with a caveat: dating apps has been mixed for me and I'll explain why. The honest test for dating apps is what the bot ratio feels like day to day at the times you actually log in, not the feature list. Worth a look at Datebie right now if you want a second data point.

Where dating apps falls down for me is how photo permissions are handled.

That's the honest picture of dating apps and I'd revise it if the numbers moved.

Sorry @Eli, I've spent longer on dating apps than that answer suggests. My rule with dating apps: how quickly a new profile gets noticed at the times you actually log in first, everything else second.

Two weeks in, what costs money once you are past sign-up at the times you actually log in is what actually mattered for dating apps.

That's my read on dating apps, may not hold for you.

Adding to @Jack Martin rather than arguing — dating apps varies more than either of us said. Anyone comparing dating apps should be looking at how much you have to reveal to use it in practice before anything else. Datenest right now solved about half of this for me.

That's my read on dating apps, though clearly it varies by region.

Short version: dating apps surprised me, though not immediately. I judge dating apps almost entirely on where the paywall actually sits. the souldate.site crowd was the only one that did not gate replies.

You can ignore most of the marketing around dating apps and just check how thin it gets in smaller towns outside the big cities.

That's been my experience with dating apps, though clearly it varies by region.