Smart flirting: Is your next date just an app away?

There is no doubt app-powered dating is on the rise. According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, a recent survey of 20 top mobile dating apps revealed that almost 17 million active users used those apps in January 2013 alone, for a combined 2.1 billion sessions. It’s obvious that finding love on your phone is the future of technically enhanced match making. But with so many apps on the market, which is the best place to start?

Two of the most popular apps appeal to different demographics based on cell phone preferences.  Tinder is available for iOS users only while Swoon was designed for Android phones and promises to have an iOS version on the market soon.  Both apps rely on using your existing social graph through Facebook Connect and your current geolocation to find potential partners.  The selection process is similar to the one used on HotOrNot.com – a site that lets people rate strangers based on appearance.

After signing in with Facebook, users are shown images of nearby singles, and then asked to check “yes” or “no” based on a few photos.  Neither app posts any information to Facebook timelines or elsewhere. Users are only notified if a mutual match is made. Both apps allow you to quickly browse people and anonymously select those that you may be interested in meeting.  Because the matches have to be mutual attracted before contact can be made the clutter of unwanted messages is greatly reduced, streamlining the dating process.  Once both users agree on that initial spark of attraction, the ability to chat with each other is enabled. After that it’s up to them to decide to meet or not and take the flirtation to the next level.

Thanks to the explosive growth these apps have experienced over the past few months, the pool of potential partners willing to turn to mobile to find love has increased exponentially.