The problem with Tinder is that it’s a lot. A lot of swiping to find your matches, and a lot of people on there. Like, basically everyone. The vast amount of swivelling faces makes it an exhausting and daunting process. And when you finally match, you find out you have nothing in common, or that they actually live a three-hour drive away, or that they're just an awful, awful person.
Sometimes you just wanna be a bit more specific, you know? Here are all the dating apps that AREN’T Tinder. Godspeed.
Hater
A dating app that matches people based on what they hate.
Don’t you hate going on a first date with someone, only to find out they’re a Flat Earther? Or that they (wrongly) think that pineapple belongs on pizza? Yep, us too. Introducing Hater, the app that lets you find people with the same strong opinions as you. Here’s the rundown: you swipe on a bunch of things you either love or hate (there’s a lot of GIF examples) and then go into the luuuurve section, where you can swipe left or right on potential dates. You get to see how ‘compatible’ you are with each other, based on things you mutually hate. This app is pretty rad, but the last couple of times we tried it, it crashed on us, so don’t count on it as ol’ reliable.
Date A Tradie
A dating app for people who think tradies are hot.
Want someone around the house to help you build that set of drawers that's been sitting in flatpack for the last three months? Look no further, Date a Tradie is here. The interface is kind of like Tinder, only instead of swiping, you drag a meter on how much you like or dislike someone (kinda like Instagram stories). If you want to skip the riff-raff and go straight to the goodies, check out the Tradie Of The Month—a ranked list of the hottest tradies on the app. The only downside: this app doesn’t seem super active (come on tradies, where are you?!) So it’s probably a good one to have on the side.
Happn
A dating app for stalkers people that cross your path.
Hate driving for dates? This app is probably up your alley—it shows you people who have crossed your path, so you can literally find someone within walking distance of your home. The timeline, where you can scroll through all the people that've been in the same location, can become a bit of a rabbit hole. There’s no filter system, so to get potential matches you have to scroll through everyone both ten years older and younger than you. Bit of a drag. There’s also a wee bit of a stalker feeling about it—yes, matches only happen when both people like each other but we don’t know…knowing exactly where this random dude on this app was 4-hours later make us feel a little bit creepy.
Her
An app for queer women by queer women.
Proudly spruiked as the first app for queer women by queer women, this app helps to eliminate all of those mysterious things that make us want to tear our or hair on Tinder. On Her you can see who has liked you and who’s currently online, helping to eliminate a good 30% of the awkwardness and frustration you get with other dating apps. There’s also are a really wicked Communities feature, where you can join communities with shared interests. You can even find similar people on forum-style pages and check out upcoming queer events. Nice.
Coffee Meets Bagel
An app for people that want love handed to them.
This one is for everyone who knows what they want. You spend a decent ten-or-so minutes filling out info about yourself, then you let the app know your preferences—age, height, religion, etc. Coffee Meets Bagel gives you a couple of ‘bagels’ (we’re not sure about the name either) that fit your preferences every day. You can either connect or pass. You can also scroll through ‘Discover’ to cast your net wider. This is for people looking for quality, not quantity (uh, Tinder, anyone?) as you have a set amount of ‘coffee beans’ that you use to connect with people.
Gaydar
A queer-friendly dating app that lets you filter by bed preferences.
The set up for Gaydar is the same as most dating apps—scroll through photos and like (or in this case ‘wink’) the ones that you want to take on a date. This app also features location or topic-based chatrooms, where you can talk to a bunch of people with the same interests as you. You can put up information including your home location, work location, body hair, safe sex opinion, kinks, what you’re looking for, your body type and your preferences in the bed – and you can search for people with these same filters. Details! That's we like, people!
GymBud
An app for people attracted to gym selfies.
Finally, a place for all the workout-obsessed gym-selfie takers to hang and mingle in harmony. Gymbud is a fitness-based matchmaking app that pairs people based on their fitness interests. So if you love running but hate weights, or you're mad into Pilates, you can find the lycra-clad partner of your dreams. Mirror six-pack profile shots are actively encouraged.
Dear god...a Sabrina The Teenage Witch reboot is coming to Netflix. And it looks moody as hell.
Image credit: Alexa Suter