1. Tinder
You can’t talk about dating apps without mentioning Tinder. It’s ubiquitous; ingrained into current western culture in the same way as Nando’s and Uber.
The design is unequivocally straightforward: you're shown a profile of a fellow dater selected on the basis of a few of your stated preferences, and you swipe right if you're interested or left if you're not. It's simple but effective: Tinder's right and left swiping function is now the blueprint for most dating apps.
It’s estimated that well over 50 million use Tinder every month, and over half are men. It appeals to blokes because of its straight-shooting ease – and the fact that it often attracts people vying for a fling, rather than marriage.
2. Hinge
Hinge has been heralded as the ‘sophisticated Tinder’ – an app that works in a similar way, but isn’t so tuned into the premise of casual digital dating.
Instead, the app attempts to connect people who are already in extended friendship circles. By matching users with friends of friends (like Tinder, it uses Facebook as its underlying database), it should appeal to the man who's interested in refined dating, not here-today-forgotten-tomorrow-morning flings.
Last year, Hinge boasted well over 60,000 users.
3. Fuzzy Banter
If Essex were a dating app, Fuzzy Banter would be it. And not just because its roots stem from the county, or the fact that it’s been endorsed by Danny Dyer. No, it’s because Fuzzy Banter is exactly what its name suggests: farcical fun for lads in chinos, possibly flying off to Marbella.
Dyer himself said: "It's like Tinder, but with more b******s and mystery." There’s that reference to Tinder again – but this time it goes in the opposite direction to Hinge; instead moving into the territory of less charm, more unabashed naughtiness.
FuzzyBanter offers the intriguing prospect of not being able to see possible matches, which may well appeal for the more outlandish men among us. It’s a network where people swipe if they’re interested by bio descriptions, and the blurred out shape of whoever’s popped up on their smartphone. You can reveal yourself gradually to those who say yes.
It’s relatively new, so the app hasn’t published user figures yet, but chances are they’re minimal. FuzzyBanter is the very definition of niche. Its inability to take off may too reflect the fact that while all its PR and celeb backing purports a world of fun and frivolity, hiding your face is surely an idea better suited to shy men.
4. Grindr
An app that certainly isn’t one for the shyer guys among society is Grindr, a platform for the gay or curious community.
Grindr is known for its promiscuous nature and its carefree attitudes. But it’s also, unquestionably, the best place for those seeking homosexual relationships to get together, because of the sheer number of people who use it.
In the US, for example, there are more than 1.5 million users – so for men, you can hardly imagine an interactive world with more, let’s say, engagement.
5. 3nder
From straight or gay, 3nder removes all social barriers and opens up the threesome market – it’s Tinder for the three-way. Something, no doubt, which appeals to men who fancy themselves as some sort of James Bond of the dating app game.
It’s unblushingly different to the other creations out there, in that 3nder has a functionality feature built in that means after three days of talking, if you haven’t closed the deal, the possibility of that special something is over and you have to look elsewhere.
As the name suggests, the app connects singles with couples, or the other way round. And as a basis, 3nder uses the tried and tested method of asking users to write bios and upload photos.
Apparently more than 100,000 people signed up to 3nder within two months of the app going live back in August. Given it’s often confessed as a particular fantasy for many males, no doubt vast swathes of those were men.
6. Happn
Here is an app from France that acts as a platform for spontaneity, gumption and tales of romanticism and delight … supposedly. For men, it grants something for those who might have forgotten to get the girl’s number at the bar, or not quite had the courage to say hello at the bus stop.
Granted, Happn has been vilified as some sort of stalker’s dream, as it works by picking up those within a 250 metre radius who have also signed onto the app. If you like who you see, you click a little heart, and hope they do too.
Happn is one of the larger dating apps out there, boasting more than 700,000 users regularly log in and help to create a real-time digital playground for those on the search for love.
7. Double
A more traditional way to tackle shyness (rather than the weirdness of FuzzyBanter) is the double date.
Again, Double echoes the Tinder blueprint, but for when it’s time for two – or four, really – to tango. For men who find single searching a lonely place, a world where you might be slapped on the wonderful Tumblr blog straighwhiteboystexting at any moment, Double provides a little cushion and a camaraderie.
Double works with the same simplicity of swiping, but allows users the option of going on double dates. People team up with friends and swipe in pairs – it sounds fun, but having only launched in February in the UK, there aren’t any statistics to tell us how popular it’s proving to be.
8. Bristlr
We all know we reached peak beard a while ago, so it’s unsurprising that there’s now a dating app dedicated for men who grow facial hair.
Bristlr is for men with beards, and those who like to stroke them. The app explains that it’s not so much for hooking up, but is more geared towards light-hearted and warmer conversations – all pinned to a mutual admiration of hirsute faces.
According to Bristlr, there are more than 85,000 people who log on to stoke the hairy flame. A must for men with beards.
9. Voice Candy
Not all men are graced with the voice of Barry White – but those who are will appreciate Voice Candy. The venture proclaims to be revolutionising the way people break the ice: rather than what you look like or how you describe yourself, it revolves around the sound of your voice.
To give that a less PR-varnished spin: Voice Candy lets users ask questions, put out opinions, and submit vocal responses to others close by, all in the hope of appealing to the chosen sex via a new dimension.
It’s an intriguing prospect, not least because it relies on another skill in the dating game – that is, something other than what you look like.
Voice Candy is not without competition – apps such as Revealr and Tone both utilise the potential pulling power of your sonic waves – but it differentiates itself by gamifying the process. The app is not just about hooking up, but also about asking silly questions and encouraging people to chat almost mindlessly about any subject.
Voice Candy is brand new, so there isn’t data on how many people are using the app.
10. Ten
You will probably dislike yourself for it, but chances are you have played the rating game where you measure someone out of 10 – however ludicrous and degrading that may be. Well, there’s now a dating app formed solely to do just that.
Ten, which launched in May, lets people rate people in the near vicinity from 1 to 10, just as you would in sixth form. The app explains that it helps users determine who is ‘in your league’. Debatable.
In all other ways, Ten follows the general curve of digital matchmaking, with a bio, a collection of photos, and a journey of discovery via finger-flicking browsing. Because it’s so new, it remains to be seen whether or not it takes off, and indeed how many people are using the app. But it’s definitely one to look out for.
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