Luxy calls itself a bespoke dating app for connecting “sophisticated and wealthy singles with likeminded matches”. Many of its members are models, athletes, influencers Tinder, celebrities and high-flying execs.
Since launching in 2014, the app has had more than 3.5 million downloads worldwide, with only 20-30 per cent of applicants achieving membership due to its strict criteria. According to Luxy, it’s all about targeting the top 1% of singles. Whether you qualify in that is unfortunately up to them.
Bumble: to meet the nice guy
Bumble’s USP is that it challenges female users to make the first move, basically eliminating the bro-culture of other dating platforms. In traditional apps, when women match with guys, the unspoken rule is that they hesitate to initiate a conversation for fear of seeming weird or desperate. On Bumble, women have no choice in the matter.
Its founder Whitney Wolfe told us that her feminist matchmaking tool is designed to reset the “heteronormative rules in our current landscape”, giving women the power to message their matches without stigma.
The bloke you’re likely to meet on here? Someone who’s on board with the idea of evening out the romantic playing field. Typically, those guys are keepers.
This membership-only app started as a joke, according to its 29-year-old LA product designer founder Austin Kevitch, but it officially launched worldwide at the end of last year after receiving thousands of applications.
Forbes says its membership committee is “scrupulous” and Vogue calls the app a “Jewish Raya”, though it’s not solely for Jews. Founders say it’s like a deli: “it’s culturally Jewish, but you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy it. We’re open to all levels of observance and all religions.”
To be accepted, Lox Club says it’s looking for “non-douchey, ambitious, funny, down-to-earth people who are looking for that type of person as well. Someone you’d bump into at a house party and end up talking with in a corner for hours.” The current number of applicants awaiting approval is more than 20,000 and fees start at $36 for three months.
Coffee Meets Bagel: to meet The One
It’s been described as “the anti-Tinder” – and with good reason too. Coffee Meets Bagel’s radical focus is on the quality of matches it offers, rather than an endless sea of faces you find yourself vacantly swiping through elsewhere. Every day, you’ll be offered just one single ‘holy grail’ match based on information you’ve already inputted on your tastes, preferences and hobbies.
Don’t like what you see? Hold your horses, wait until tomorrow. No one said true love was easy to find.
Taimi: to meet queer people
Taimi isn’t just a dating app, it’s the world’s largest LGBTQ+ social platform, with almost nine million users and social features from chat-based networking to video streaming.
It’s all about making users feel safe: the app uses several layers of verification, 24/7 profile moderation, live support and PIN/fingerprint/Face ID so your data and interactions are in safe hands.
Happn: to meet your park crush
Got your eye on your local barista? Get on Happn. The French app plays on natural serendipity by flagging mutual interests in real time. Maybe you’ll finally be that couple that can tell all your friends you met on the Tube.
It works as simply as this: every time you cross paths with someone in real life, their profile shows up on your timeline – handy given a recent study found that 48 per cent of people are now inclined to date locally. The app captures other users within a 250m radius of your own smartphone, giving you a cross-section of Londoners around you – and potentially your coffee house or (pre-pandemic) rush hour crush.
