When looked upon with the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, the dating we did in our 20s was the stuff of romantic comedies, especially when compared with what it’s like a decade later. While it’s actually easier to date in your 30s in the sense that you know yourself better, by the time you reach a certain age you’re just, well, SATC’s Charlotte said it best: “I’ve been dating since I was 15. I’m exhausted. Where is he?” Sheer exhaustion is the reason going to bars is a no-go most nights—especially given the inevitable epic hangovers and a lack of single girlfriends with whom to wing-woman—but luckily, this is the digital age, so we can meet lots of men without ever leaving our Netflix accounts unattended. Here, 12 apps to try if you find yourself single—and ready to mingle—in your 30s (plus, how to take a perfect selfie for your profile).

Homepage Image: Adam Katz Sinding

Coffee Meets Bagel

In a recent study, analytics company Applause ranked apps based on their user reviews, and this one came in third, which is promising. While the app once sent daters only one match per day, which was helpful for those who feel the 'shopping' element is a little icky, it recently switched things up so that men receive 21 matches per day whereas women receive just five. Before you delete it based on this inequity, know that the well-intentioned people at Coffee Meets Bagel made these changes based on user feedback—apparently, men like quantity and women like quality. Shocking!

If you don't want to lose the serendipitous aspect of real-life dating, you should probably sign up for Happn. This app promises to match you to people with whom you've crossed paths in the non-virtual world, somehow making things feel a little more organic. If you, like us, live in a sprawling city like Los Angeles, you know how important convenient geography can be in terms of making a relationship last.

The 5 Best Dating Apps For Serious Relationships 2021 Hinge. Branded as the dating app “designed to be deleted,” Hinge markets itself squarely to people looking for serious. Like Match.com, Match’s dating app. RELATED: 9 Best Free Dating Sites That Work For Serious Relationships. Why is dating so hard in your 40s? For people over 40, finding love or even finding a date can feel like walking through a.

1. The App: Whisper. The Pitch: “Share, Express, Meet”. What we think: Technically, Whisper isn’t a dating app, but many a wedding has come out of it. The app is an anonymous social network.
2. The League has recently shifted its strategy somewhat to become events-focused, as it's hoping to transition into something akin to a members-only club like The Soho House rather than just a dating app. The League is only available in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and its waiting list is allegedly 100,000 people long.
3. As a dating coach, I will often take on a client only to find that they have been dating on an outdated site or app for years. No wonder they aren’t getting any results! Dating apps are tools and in order to be the most effective, you need to be using the right one. Here is my recommended list for the best dating apps for relationships.

Sparkology requires that men be graduates of top-tier universities in order to join, which feels a bit gross considering it doesn't have the same standards for women. Men are also subjected to a points system, which is purported to help ladies know which ones are serious (a feature we can definitely get behind). In order to join, technically you must be invited by a current member or the Sparkology team, but if you click on the 'Join' button, you're asked to link your Facebook profile for evaluation.

We don't think anyone should be ashamed to be 'caught' online dating; however, some of us may not so much appreciate our colleagues or future colleagues knowing what's up in our romantic lives, so the fact that The League hides your profile from LinkedIn and Facebook contacts is a big plus in our book. Another thing we like about The League? The platform kicks people off if they're not actively dating: No looky-loos allowed. The League has recently shifted its strategy somewhat to become events-focused, as it's hoping to transition into something akin to a members-only club like The Soho House rather than just a dating app. The League is only available in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and its waiting list is allegedly 100,000 people long. Good luck!

Most of the women we know who frequent dating apps at present are on Bumble and report good experiences—it ranked fourth on that aforementioned list based on user reviews. This app is known for tasking women with the first move (once a match has been made)—which is great if you'd like to reduce the number of obscene things total strangers feel justified in using as pickup lines on some apps. On another note, Bumble's just announced the launch of BumbleBizz this fall, which is basically swipe-based networking. We're intrigued.

If you're one of the 'old people' who has gotten on board with Snapchat in a big way, you might want to try Lively, the newest app on the market. We have a feeling its demo will skew 20s, so if you're looking for a slightly younger man, this could be the perfect platform for you. Your Lively profile will pull videos and images from various apps on your phone and edit them together to tell a complete story about you. The app comes to us from the creators of dating website Zoosk.

If you think your life is a rom-com, or should be, Tindog might be the app for you. It matches your dog with another dog, which is definitely the perfect setup for a meet-cute if ever we've heard one. Something to consider before joining, however, is how hard it is to be rejected in online dating. Now imagine how hard it will be for you when your beloved, perfect pet is rejected, as happened here. We just don't want you to get hurt....

If you're into astrology, Align is pretty fun, and it'll save you the trouble of finding out your signs are incompatible down the line. We don't know how serious the contenders are on this platform—we don't use it as, to be honest, we barely even know our own sign—but if nothing else it will provide a welcome distraction from the tedium of scouring the digital universe to find your cosmic match.

OkCupid has a patented Compatibility Matching System, which uses complicated algorithms to pick your matches. Given that all we've been doing thus far to pick our men is saying, 'He's hot,' we can't help but think this would be an improvement. Though you can choose to select less commitment-focused options in terms of your dating goals, OkCupid tends to feel more adult and therefore more serious in nature than other apps. This can be a good thing if you're looking for someone who will step off the dating carousel with you at long last. It was also ranked number one by Applause in terms of user reviews.

According to Time Magazine, 82% of Match users were over the age of 30 as of 2014. This has likely changed somewhat given that in the same year, Match redid its mobile app to include features more akin to Tinder than OG Match. Still, Match tends to draw a more serious crowd than many other apps, in part because elements of the platform require payment.

Some of us have personal feelings about this one—which we won't share because, diplomacy—but suffice it to say that you will definitely meet a specific type of person on this platform. Raya is exclusive and basically requires that you have a cool job, know cool people and have a lot of those cool people following you on Instagram. If that sounds like your kind of filtration system, we say go for it. Just be warned in advance that it's unlikely that the attractive celebrity with whom you're matched will be dating only you anytime in the near future.

We recently added Canada to our list of countries worth moving to. Maple Match hilariously promises to enable your move north by partnering you with a Canadian. We're pretty sure this app is a joke—you can only join the wait list for now—but we're hoping someone invents it for real, stat.

By our 30s, ideally we've broken bad habits and patterns and are now only dating people who would make appropriate partners. If you, however, laughed out loud at that statement (we did), you might want to consider signing up for Wingman. This app leaves the fate of your dating life in the hands of your friends, who are the sole deciders when it comes to who you will or will not go out with. We're guessing the results of such an experiment would be vastly different than anything we've experienced while steering our own ship, and we're so down to find out.

There was a time when I was spending hours a day on dating apps. I had recently moved to New York, and I was determined to find a new relationship to go along with my brand new life. But despite all my efforts (I was on five apps at once, y’all), I wasn’t connecting with as many people as I had hoped. Chances are, if you’ve tried online dating, you can relate to this. Sometimes it feels like you're not matching with people on dating apps, even when you’re giving it your all. What’s going on here?

The strategy of online dating can be confusing, and part of it just comes down to luck. Some people get on apps and meet a great potential partner within the first week, while others spend months or even years trying to make a meaningful connection. And yet, according to 2019 data from Match.com, more singles met their last date online than anywhere in person (at a bar, through friends and family, or during a work or school event). Online dating is working for people, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. And if you’re not getting many promising matches, you might be wondering if you need a new approach.

According to a Bumble spokesperson, the app sees an average of 23 million matches per week around the world. That’s like, 0.3% of the number of human beings on earth — it’s a lot. But if none of these matches are showing up in your personal queue, there could be a number of reasons for that. The first is that your profile may not capture your individuality. “This is your opportunity to show off your amazing sense of humor and let your next potential match get to know a little bit about you,” the Bumble spokesperson tells Elite Daily. “Everyone loves a funny, unique profile.” Don’t hold back on expressing your specific quirks and interests on your profile — after all, anyone who dates you IRL will need to get on board with these qualities, too.

If your photos are blurry, or if you leave sections of your profile blank, you’re less likely to attract people to you. “Give specific examples or anecdotes that show your matches what sets you apart,” the Bumble rep explains. “If you like to cook, what’s your favorite dish to make? Have you been to a great concert or festival recently? What’s your favorite local spot on a Saturday night?”

In the age of Instagram influencers, capturing your authentic personality online isn’t easy. You may be tempted to manufacture a highlight reel to show off to potential matches. But what you lose when you do this is your real, unfiltered voice and personality. Sure, you could be limiting the pool of potentially interested parties when you make your bio super specific, and that probably feels counterproductive to your goal of meeting more people. But actually, data shows that unique bios are more attractive to people. “Show off photos that show what makes you, you,” Melissa Hobley, Global Chief Marketing Officer at OkCupid, tells Elite Daily. “This makes it much easier for people to reach out — you're giving them an easy intro message.”

Most potential matches appreciate when they feel a connection to you, and this can only really happen when you share things you care about. Hobley also suggests keeping your bio updated and refreshing the photos every so often. “An estimated one in three dating app users don’t update their profile once they put it up — but adding new pictures increases your likes by at least two times,” she explains.

Dating Apps For People In Relationships

You should also make an effort to look as much like your natural self as possible. A Tinder spokesperson tells Elite Daily that hats and sunglasses are a definite no-go: “Anything that hides your face decreases your chance of a right swipe by 12%.” It also helps when you’re clearly facing forward and smiling in your photos — and when your photographs are clear and bright (portrait mode for the win!) without looking overly staged.

Whether you're looking for a relationship or a hookup, be honest in your bio about what you want. “Your bio is a space where you can show off your personality, likes, dislikes, and most importantly set your intentions,” the Tinder rep explains. This will help you avoid matching with people who aren’t on the same page as you.

New Dating App For Women

Ultimately, the best way to increase your number of matches is just by being yourself. It sounds cliché, but in reality, you want your profile to reflect your personality as much as possible. You won’t match with everyone in the universe this way, but you’ll connect with people who are intrigued by what you have to offer. And that’s truly the best way to spark a happy relationship, whether it’s a quick fling or a lifelong bond.