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Wellness > Sex + Relationships

Dating During a Pandemic: Which Dating Apps are Worth it?

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois State chapter.

Dating is hard and a pandemic doesn’t make it any easier. Here are the top five dating apps with the rundown on how they work and which apps are really worth your time. 

Hinge

Hinge is the BEST app for anyone looking for long-term relationships and real people. Hinge only allows you a limited amount of likes per day and one rose per day. They pick out front runners each day based on your preferences and provide video calling for dating through the app. The limited amount of likes requires users to pick a handful of matches per day meaning the matches are much more serious in nature. Hinge’s rose feature makes you feel like you’re on the bachelorette and who wouldn’t want that! After matching, you can rate each match so the app knows whether or not their profile represents them and will adjust who they recommend that profile to in the future. Hinge only allows users to chat if they both like each other and also allows users to see who liked them. All-in-all Hinge provides you with profiles that match your type and only connect you with those who like or matched with you. 

Hinge is the perfect app if you are looking for a serious relationship.

Tinder

Tinder is the most used dating app. It’s interface is fool-proof and the profiles are never ending, so you have tons of options. Tinder is great if you are looking for casual dating in your area. The biggest downside to tinder is, while you can verify your profile that does not mean the person behind the screen matches the profiles you see. Tinder does have many catfishes and with that I say swipe with caution. Tinder also provides a video calling feature, but ultimately Tinder is just the bridge between meeting people and moving the conversations to Snapchat. 

If your aim is to meet new people or date casually, Tinder is the app for you.

Bumble

Bumble is right there with Tinder, but provides a twist- girls make the first move. While this may seem daunting to most, it definitely gives women more power over who they can match with. Similarly to Tinder, you can only chat with those who mutually like you and one you message them they only have 24 hours to respond or they will no longer be a match. This feature makes it certain if they like you they’ll reply in a day! The biggest downside to Bumble is the same as Tinder, while you can verify your profile that does not mean the person behind the screen matches the profiles you see, making it a great place for catfishing. Regardless, this app is great for women who are more extraverted and want to make the first move. 

Bumble is the perfect app for women who are looking for casual and/or a serious relationship.  

Iris 

Iris is a relatively new dating app that aims to remove the catfish animosity of online dating. Iris is unique in that it does have facial recognition, so what you see is what you get, finally no catfishes! Iris tests your type prior to swiping by having you swipe through stock photos to determine what physical attributes you are attracted to. The biggest downside, unfortunately, is that you only get three potential matches in your “lineup” each day and their pairing isn’t always spot on. 

If you are new to the dating scene and are looking for the safest dating app, Iris is for you.

Hily

Hily is, to put it simply, not my favorite. However, the reason it is on this list is because there are far more worse apps than Hily. Hily stands for “Hey I Like You”, and is more of a dating community than a dating app. There you can stream from your stories and can meet people all across the country. Hiluy allows anyone to reach out, comment, like, and match with you which can be overwhelming. Hily has a lot going on and is not the most user-friendly app. Regardless, if you feel like you are having zero luck at any of the other apps, Hily is your go to, simply because regardless if you’re looking for a relationship or not it is a HUGE community where you can just talk to anyone and everyone. 

If you want to make friends, meet new people, or are bored of talking to your pets all day, Hily is the app for you. 

Morgan Fritze

Illinois State '22

Hi I'm Morgan! I'm a marketing major at Illinois State University who loves working out, playing volleyball, graphic design, crafting, and challenging myself. I'm apart of the Alpha Gam Delta sorority at ISU and I participated in the Disney College Program in Orlando, FL this past Spring.