Student Special - Alternative dating apps to Tinder

Tinder: Tinder is a great way to meet people in your area but, like so much of the dating world, it has major problems. These include creeps, bots, ghosting and unwanted dick pics, as well as a slew of other issues. Still, its success has helped spawn a wide variety of copycats that offer alternative options. While none of these apps have the same amount of users in the university age range as Tinder, they give an imaginative spin on the usual formual and can provide some interesting experiences.

Bumble: The feminist alternative

Founded by a former head of Tinder, Bumble has an almost identical interface, with the same swipe left or right approach. The main difference between is that with Bumble, only women can initiate conversations after a match. Thus, the app has been cited as the first feminist dating app on the market. It also features other modes like Bumble BFF, which can help you find friends in your area.

Tastebuds: Find someone you are not afraid to give the aux cable to.

This is a more specialised app that allows you to find people who share your taste in music. It’s free and follows the same format as Tinder. As you swipe through the selection of users, you will be able to see their favourite songs and bands as well as the usual selfies. Although Tinder has added a partnership with Spotify to allow you to see music tastes in, Tastebuds has this as their primary focus, and provides another way to judge your potential matches. So if you’re looking weed out any folk with a Nathan Carter fixation, this is your solution.

Happn: The Pokémon GO of dating apps

This app first started in Paris, the city of love. The mechanism that ties this app together is that it matches you with people that you pass near to over the course of your day. This way there is more chance of you living in the same area with your match. The founder designed the concept to bring serendipity and reality back to the dating world. With over 10 million users, it’s worth downloading Happn and seeing who pops up as you head to class.

Bristlr: The beard appreciation society.

Do you love beards? Do you dream of running your hands through the thick, lustrous whiskers of a burly mountain man (or lumbersexual hipster boy)? Well, Bristlr is a speciality app designed for men with beards and the people who love them. With another Tinder-style interface, the app makes it easy to log on and start looking for some of that beardy love. Men, start grooming. You are being judged.

The real world: Get the hell off your phone!

While apps and websites are great ways to meet people, they still produce a lot of problems. Most of the time people only get about half a second before they are swiped away. If you find that dating apps are not working for you, then try getting out and joining a society, or any other number of clubs that cater to your interests. Get a job and meet people that way. Being able to meet someone face-to-face is the best way to gauge your chemistry and really find what is attractive in another person. Remember, dating is a great part of life but don’t get lost in the pursuit of other people. In order to live a healthy life, the person you need to be the most comfortable with is yourself.