Love at first 'swipe': Cupid goes digital

Forget love at first sight. It’s about love at first ‘swipe’ now, as a bunch of apps are taking the concept of dating to a different level

Aristotle has famously said: 'Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.'

But what if love were composed of a single soul inhabiting two 'smartphones'?

As strange as it may sound, for all those who have been using dating apps, this concept rings true.

People are now increasingly using the digital platform to meet a new 'person'.

Here’s a look at a few of the trending apps and how users are taking to them.

Tinder

Tinder is the one that set the ball rolling in the dating and match-making app categories.

While the app is hugely popular in the US, it is slowly attracting a lot of users in India as well.

Aided by a smooth user interface and fun features, Tinder finds people in the user’s vicinity.

It has a pretty simple concept, you like someone’s profile and if the same person likes your profile, too, it’s a match.

Swipe right for a 'like' or left for a 'nope'.

A chat window pops up immediately and that person gets added to your “matches”.

Tinder also has a 'Moments' option.

Users can upload pictures that show up as moments in their profile. 

Tinder usually displays the age, pictures and interests.

If you log on from Facebook, it shows interests and friends shared with other users, making the compatibility process easier.

Akriti (keeping privacy in mind, these apps only display the first name), who works in the TV industry, believes these apps are rapidly gaining popularity.

“These apps are getting popular because you quickly get to find like-minded people.

"They let you filter the results, so you can avoid any unnecessary pings.”

Akriti, who used TrulyMadly and Tinder for a while, believes these apps are attractive because they are women-friendly as well.

“Such apps are flexible.

"But ultimately, they might just prove to be only a good medium.

"People will eventually want to return to the old routine of meeting new people.”

Woo

Developed by U2opia Mobile, Woo is currently active in the National Capital Region, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Like Tinder, Woo also displays any common friends you have with a user.

But going further, it lets you ask your common friends about the user, which works more like an introduction.

In terms of the user interface, Woo is not that smooth and takes some time to come up with search results.

It works on the same concept of 'liking' a profile.

Instead of the left and right swipe, Woo comes with swipe up or down option -- up if you don’t like a profile and down if you think you can take the conversation further.

Sumesh Menon, founder and chief executive, U2opia Mobile, says one of the ideas behind Woo was 'the increasing number of urban singles primarily because of migration'.

“Their social groups are minimising due to work pressure. Consumers are also evolving and they want a balanced proposition to meet new people.

"And technology gives you a personal experience -- on your smartphone.

"The rise of the ‘smartphone people’ also played a key role since they are now leaving behind a digital footprint,” says Menon.

TrulyMadly

According to its Google Play Store page, TrulyMadly is “India’s best relationship app”.

It comes with a more stringent user verification process.

Users can build their 'trust score' of 100 per cent by completing details such as Facebook info, photo ID, LinkedIn profile and so on.

And if you are looking for more personalised results, then you can take a personality match quiz on values, adaptability and happy-to-do activities.

We found the app’s profile info display a bit cramped up -- all that information along with a picture on a screen does look muddled at times.

Where is the love?

We caught up with another Tinder user from Mumbai working in the digital media.

Requesting to remain anonymous, she told us such “dating” apps would cater to young people who were always online and remained connected.

“Tinder was fairly easy to use since it connects to your Facebook page.”

Does she think that these apps will slowly replace the routine way of meeting new people?

“They will slowly catch on.

"There are so many people who have grown up in the same social circle.

"These apps might help them meet people from different backgrounds.

"It doesn’t happen everyday that you bump into a musician or an artist.

"These apps help you to do that -- meet new people.”

Menon believes these apps could replace the conventional method of meeting new people.

“This is possible.

"If you look at the conventional way, it involved meeting new people in your friend circle.

"But look at how scalable it is.

"Nothing can replace the real-life experience, but these apps help you with information upfront,” adds Menon.

Available on Android and iOS, these apps are only a few of the lot.

There are other contenders, too -- Thrill, DesiCrush and so on.

Menon also adds that there is good competition in this category: “The whole dating-app section is a young category.

"And it is good to have competition.

"But in the long term, if we don’t control the crowd, then the people who joined the app and made it popular in the first place will slowly flock out.”

Here’s an insight into how they could fare.

Smartphone reach in India is growing rapidly, while on the other hand, phone manufacturers are caught up in a rat race to come out with affordable smartphones.

Add to that a work-heavy lifestyle, and you have yourself a smartphone-toting user 'swiping' left and right to meet 'someone new'.

Photograph: Sanjay Sawant/Rediff.com