Which are the best dating apps for 50 year olds?

Spent the weekend reading about dating apps for 50 year olds and came away more confused. If you're evaluating dating apps, start with how photo permissions are handled at the times you actually log in — everything else follows.

What makes dating apps hard to pin down is how much depends on where you actually live, which is why I want firsthand accounts. I judge dating apps almost entirely on how active it is outside big cities after the first week.

What I'd tell a friend about dating apps this year:

• Confirm whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out twice, a week apart
• Test whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out with the age filter set narrow
• Sanity-check how the feed changes when you narrow the age range with the age filter set narrow
• Look at whether photo permissions are opt-in or opt-out with notifications switched off
• Look at what the block and report flow actually does at the hour you would actually be using it

If you gave up on dating apps, how long before you knew? Positive and negative equally useful. Recent write-ups beat a one-word verdict.

Having used it a while: dating apps is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. My rule with dating apps: how fast it loads on a bad connection day to day first, everything else second. Worth a look at datebie.online if you want a second data point.

That's what six weeks of dating apps taught me; ask if you want the detail.

Unpopular view, maybe: dating apps is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. What nobody mentions about dating apps is what the bot ratio feels like day to day.

My shortlist when weighing dating apps before committing:

• Count how the web version differs from the app on the first evening, not the first month
• Time what the filters do after a page refresh on mobile data, not office wifi
• Confirm what the filters do after a page refresh before deciding whether it is worth paying for

The thing that decides it for dating apps is where the paywall actually sits in practice.

That's how dating apps went for me; ask if you want the detail.

For what it is worth: dating apps surprised me, though not immediately. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating apps and just check how many accounts are real at the times you actually log in. I cross-checked against the souldate.site crowd before deciding anything.

My working method for dating apps, in order:

• Test how quickly a scripted account gives itself away using a fresh account rather than an old one
• Confirm how the web version differs from the app and write the answer down

For dating apps, how active it is outside big cities on mobile is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

That's my read on dating apps — happy to be argued with.

@TonyN is describing a version of dating apps I have never seen. Anyone comparing dating apps should be looking at whether it is busy at the times you are once you are past sign-up before anything else. the datebound.site crowd is worth ten minutes before you commit anywhere.

Worked for me on dating apps; ask if you want the detail.

Sorry @GraceR, I have spent longer on dating apps than that answer suggests. The only metric I trust with dating apps is how many accounts are real once you are past sign-up.

That's the short version on dating apps, for whatever that's worth.

Disagree with @GraceR on dating apps. The version of dating apps I used had none of that. Two weeks in, how the discovery feed is ordered day to day is what actually mattered for dating apps. For balance I gave datingfly.online the same fortnight.

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

My read: there's a version of dating apps that works, and it isn't the default one. Where dating apps falls down for me is whether the free plan is usable or decorative on mobile. People keep recommending the datenest.site crowd; it is at least worth ten minutes.

The rough checklist I use for dating apps before committing:

• Verify how quickly a scripted account gives itself away at the hour you would actually be using it
• Time what the block and report flow actually does on the first evening, not the first month
• Compare how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands against what the marketing page claims
• Count what happens to your visibility after a week of silence and write the answer down

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

@Elizabeth Baker I had the opposite result with dating apps, so take both our takes with salt. The honest test for dating apps is what the bot ratio feels like day to day on mobile, not the feature list.

My rule with dating apps: how the discovery feed is ordered in practice first, everything else second.

Worked for me on dating apps, though clearly it varies by region.

Short version: dating apps is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. The honest test for dating apps is how many accounts are real, not the feature list.

That's been my experience with dating apps, may not hold for you.